Have You Noticed?

Have you noticed that geraniums seem to bloom profusely inside many a charming English country house? They certainly did at Daylesford, the John Fowler-decorated house of Lord Rothermere, seen above.

And at Deene Park, Northamptonshire.

Nancy Lancaster had some scraggly ones at the Coach House.

More lush were those at Bentley in Sussex.

There were some tucked away near the bookshelves at Wellingham House.

Nicky Haslam has a basket full of them at his Hunting Lodge...

...while Lady Caroline Somerset chose a terracotta pot for her fiery crimson specimen.

David Hicks supercharged his Britwell House dining room with bold crimson walls and curtains and bright pink geraniums placed directly on the floor.

But what has to be one of the most charming displays of geraniums is seen in this bedroom, which was decorated by David Mlinaric.  The chintz? Colefax & Fowler's " Climbing Geranium", sadly discontinued.

Revisiting a Buckhead Classic

I hope you'll get a chance to read this month's issue of Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles.  I had the opportunity to write the cover article, which features a Buckhead house decorated by Margaret Bosbyshell and Clary Bosbyshell Froeba of Margaux Interiors.  Think the house looks familiar?  That might be because it was featured once before in the magazine, when the house was occupied by the previous owners.  The twist to the story is that both sets of homeowners hired Margaux Interiors to decorate the home.

To see additional photos and to read the story, click here to visit the Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles website, or, if you're in Atlanta, visit your local newsstand.



Article photos are copyright of Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles, Erica George Dines photographer.

I Spy...

I really enjoy decorator and writer Annie Kelly's entire Rooms to Inspire series of books, but I have to say that my favorite is probably Rooms to Inspire in the City.  And some of my favorite photos in this book (shot, of course, by Kelly's photographer husband, Tim Street-Porter) have to be those of decorator Russell Bush's home/ office on Park Avenue. (See above.)

What I would do to spend one day in that room, peeking around the book shelves and stacks, searching for titles that I might need to add to my own library.  Of course, the room's other furnishings are quite attractive too, making them the icing on the cake.  Actually, now that I look at these photos, I think that my day in Russell Bush's apartment would need to begin late afternoon on a winter's day just as dark sets in, then lingering well into the evening.  I say this because it seems this room is an ideal nighttime room, all warm light and coziness.  Well, a girl can dream, can't she?

Because I have studied these photos at length, I can share with you a few titles that I spied...just in case you want to add some new titles to your book wish list.  I know that I did, and now my wish list is up to 555 titles.  (Seriously.)  How I'm ever going to whittle this list down, I haven't a clue, especially considering that anytime I see photos of rooms filled with books, I inevitably add quite a few new titles to the list.

The Great Houses of Paris by Claude Fregnac and Wayne Andrews. (Available via Amazon and Barnes & Noble)

Italian Splendor: Great Castles, Palaces, and Villas by Roberto Schezen. (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and IndieBooks)

English Interiors 1790-1848: The Quest for Comfort by John Cornforth. (Amazon)

Paul Poiret by Yvonne Deslandres. (Amazon and Barnes & Noble)

The Early Work of Aubrey Beardsley by Aubrey Beardsley (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and IndieBound)

A History of Valentines by Ruth Webb Lee (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and IndieBound)


Photos of Russell Bush's apartment featured in Rooms to Inspire in the City by Annie Kelly, Tim Street-Porter photographer.

Star and Nicky Haslam

In his 2009 memoir, Redeeming Features, designer Nicky Haslam devoted an entire chapter to his time spent in Arizona, where he lived on Black Canyon Ranch with his former partner, Jimmy Davison.  A gifted writer, Haslam wrote at length about the ranch, detailing the ranch's decor as well as its staff, which included a Hopi Indian cook by the name of Star.  Haslam recounted that when Star arrived at the ranch, he knew little about fine food.  But, after a little instruction by Haslam, Star went on to become "a genius in the kitchen within a fortnight", according to Haslam.

Funny enough, I found an August, 1971 article in House & Garden that had been photographed and produced by Haslam.  Titled "An American Summer Cook Book", the article featured Star Duwyenie and his son, Tarquin, picking fresh watercress and foraging for fresh herbs and vegetables.  According to the story, Star found his culinary inspiration from cook books, especially those by Elizabeth David and Lady Sysonby. I assume that Star was introduced to Lady Sysonby's 1948 cookery book by Haslam.

The article's summer menu suggestions, compiled by Haslam, were rather extensive and included such classic yet elegant dishes as Lobster in Melon, Cold Duck Salad, Quail with Oranges, Mrs. Beeton's Roast Chicken, Prune Souffle, and Iced Cheese.  Also included is Jimmy's Pasta Dish, a macaroni and cheese recipe that had to have been named after Davison. I include the recipe below, just in case you want a taste of what Haslam's life was like on a stylish Arizona ranch.

Jimmy's Pasta Dish

2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
Salt, freshly ground black pepper, cayenne
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
8 oz. package cream cheese
1 1/2 cups grated Cheddar cheese
4 oz jar pimientos
Nutmeg
1 pound elbow macaroni, cooked
Paprika

Melt butter in top of double boiler and slowly add flour, stirring constantly. Season with salt, pepper, and a dash of cayenne. Add cream, milk, and the cream cheese and stir until smooth. Add 1 cup of the grated Cheddar and the pimientos. Check seasoning and stir in a sprinkling of nutmeg.

Combine sauce with macaroni, cover with remaining Cheddar, sprinkle with paprika, and bake in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Serves 6.

Star picking fresh herbs.

Shrimp and Eggs

Grilled Bass garnished with lemon and dill

Star's Heart of Cream, which is a Coeur à la Creme with Strawberry Sauce

Chocolate Mousse with a sign of the times dusted on top.

In with the Old : Classic Decor from A to Z

After a year of hard work, late nights, early mornings, and weekends spent sitting in front of a computer, I can finally share with you a very special project on which I have been working: I wrote a book.

I’ve had book ideas swirling around in my head for years, but it took me some time to organize my thoughts and to cajole them onto paper. I wanted to write a book that was different and unique. The book needed to be smart and informative, but, more important, a fun read, too. And, it had to be in the spirit of those classic decorating guides that still inspire us today. (That upbeat enthusiasm of Dorothy Draper was very much on my mind as I wrote this book, especially during those times when I was fighting “the will to be dreary”!) Now that my book is written, I believe that I can say I achieved all of my goals. I hope that you will agree.

My book, titled In with the Old: Classic Decor from A to Z, will be released on October 22 both in the U.S. as well as Canada, the U.K., and Australia. (A big thank you to Clarkson Potter for publishing it and to Alexa Hampton who generously wrote the book’s foreword!) The book profiles one hundred classic decorative styles and details, all of which have illustrious histories and which still look very stylish today. Included are entries on trompe l’oeil, campaign furniture, verre églomisé, tented rooms, and the like. For each decorative element, I take you through its history and explain what makes it timeless and how you can decorate and live with it in ways that are modern and fresh. The great decorators and aesthetes whom I so admire, including Elsie de Wolfe, Albert Hadley, Van Day Truex, Angelo Donghia, Fowler and Lancaster, Mario Buatta, Diana Vreeland, and Bunny Mellon, are all very much present in this book, too, for I included all of the wonderful ways in which these style setters have used classic decoration to sublime effect.

And, because no design book is complete without art, each entry is accompanied by either an original photograph (shot at some very fetching Atlanta homes) or an original illustration. I’m proud to say that my sister painted all of the illustrations, while photographer Erica George Dines shot the photos. In fact, two of my sister’s illustrations made the cover.

I am currently planning my book tour, and I hope that my lectures and book signings around the country will give me the opportunity to meet many of you in person. I’ll keep you posted on events and will share some excerpts from the book over the next few months, but in the meantime, I invite you to visit the online book sites below so that you can learn more about my book. Many thanks for your readership and your support!

In with the Old: Classic Decor from A to Z on Amazon

In with the Old: Classic Decor from A to Z on Barnes & Noble

In with the Old: Classic Decor from A to Z on Indiebound

Everything is Coming Up Roses

I adore flowers, not to mention porcelain. And I'm particularly keen on porcelain flowers, especially those so delicately crafted by Pamela Tidwell of Vieuxtemps Porcelain. (I awake to her sublime grape hyacinth every morning.) But the little porcelain flowers that I'm featuring today lack pots. In fact, most of them lack stems, too. They beg to be cradled in one's hand, don't they?  And they seem to cry out for company, too, if the Christie's website is any indication.  Over the years, most of the 18th and 19th century flowers that they have auctioned off seem to be parts of great collections.  It's easy to understand how one ceramic floral bloom might lead to another, and another, and another.

While some of the most prominent examples of these stemless porcelain flowers were made by Sèvres (favorites of both Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour), others were made by Meissen, Chantilly, and other European porcelain makers. Even if porcelain isn't your thing, you have to admit that a profusion of these delicate flowers make for some really striking photos. They make for really striking bouquets, too.

Photo at top: An assortment of 18th and 19th century Continental porcelain flowers, which was auctioned off at Christie's last year.  The estimate was EUR 3,000 to 5,000, but the realized price was EUR 20,000.

Collection of fifty-one 18th and 19th century Continental porcelain flowers, sold at a 2012 Christie's auction.  Price realized, $8,750.

Photo via Wikimedia, source Patrick.charpiat

A collection of thirty-two 18th and 19th century Continental porcelain flowers, some with tole stems.  Sold at 2001 Christie's London auction.

Nineteen 20th century porcelain flowers, part of the Gutfreund collection that was sold at Christie's last June.

Tiptoe Through the Tulips

Through the years, the classic Paule Marrot fabric, Les Tulipes, has made appearances in quite a few well-appointed residences. Take, for example, the home seen above. Located in Bermuda, the house was decorated in the mid-1940s by Ruby Ross Wood, who chose the orange colorway of Les Tulipes for the living room's sofas and slipper chairs.

Wood's protege, Billy Baldwin, was also a fan of Les Tulipes, having used it on at least two occasions.

  

And then there was Stephen Mallory of Mallory-Tillis, who, like Wood and Baldwin before him, favored Les Tulipes, although this time the fabric was used to vibrant effect in a bedroom. (That vivid orange-red background must have been like a jolt of caffeine when viewed upon waking.)

In the 1970s, Toronto designer Robert Dirstein selected the fabric for his cozy, jewel-box library. Les Tulipes looks less floral-y when surrounded by dark painted walls, chrome, and smoked glass, don't you think?

Paule Marrot's tulips also figured prominently in the living room of this Otto Zenke-designed home in County Clare, Ireland, although here they were joined by irises and daffodils.  This Marrot print is known as Guermantes, which is still available today through Brunschwig & Fils.

In fact, Guermantes' most recent appearance was in a home decorated by Miles Redd and David Kaihoi, which appears in the current issue of Architectural Digest.  This house was located in the Bahamas rather than Bermuda, but the effect was much like it was in the Ruby Ross Wood-decorated house.  Cheery, upbeat, and fresh as a, well, daisy.  (Bjorn Wallander, photographer.)

Up, Up and Away

So, what do we think of balloon shades?

I ask myself this question whenever I ride in a taxi down Park Avenue, because as you might have noticed, there are quite a few apartments that have windows festooned with balloon shades.  In fact, there was a time when balloon shades made appearances quite often in both homes and in shelter magazines. But today, they are rarities, perhaps owing to the fact that they require expensive fabric yardage and labor.  Then again, their scarcity might be explained by the gradual paring down in decor that has occurred over the past few decades.  Whatever the reason, I do think that there are some balloon shades that still have appeal today.  (Take a look at those by John Stefanidis, seen both above and below.  He did an excellent job designing balloon shades.)

So, what do you think? Blast from the past? Or classic window treatment?

The three photos above show rooms decorated by John Stefanidis.

In the home of Manuel Canovas

Room by Mark Hampton

David Mlinaric decorated the three rooms above.

A room by Keith Irvine. Appropriate that the chapter title reads, "Park Avenue Perfection".


Photos: #1-3, Rooms by John Stefanidis; #4 from The French Touch by daphne de Saint Sauveur; #5 from Mark Hampton by Duane Hampton; #6-8 from Mlinaric on Decorating by Mirabel Cecil and David Mlinaric; #9 from Keith Irivne: A Life in Decoration by Keith and Chippy Irvine.