Two favourites in one great post

Last week's favourite blog photo also turned out to be my favourite post story wise. I adore this room, everything about it. It certainly suggests the owner is interesting, makes you want to spend some time there and find out just how interesting......... pour a drink and turn that corner, tell me stories and start at the beginning. Exceptional interiors usually do reflect exceptional people and this is one is certainly no exception. Go here to read all about this most fascinating woman, her portrait by Ambrose McEvoy is right above the marble shelf. 







Image by Derry Moore found here

warm gray feathers

Loving warm gray tones today, this gorgeous room seen at Trouvais, these feathery earrings especially.
Reminded me of this post by Lynn at Paris Hotel Boutique........ 
wearing feather extensions in her hair on a Steve Tyler whim.
I say have fun with style. 
And fun for me would be a pair of feathery gray earrings to wear with white linen this summer.  
Aren't they spectacular? The room too.




Happy Week and a stylish thank you to the new followers and readers who stopped by to comment. So sweet. 

Top photo from blog Trouvais/Bottom photo via Tumblr

Gilded fashion...................and rest

The best thing about blogging is that you can do it while you are sick in bed. Both my husband and I are down and out, he is taking a sick day for the first time in 37 years of practice. I was supposed to have a fun girly outing today and so I am amusing myself between naps with my current fashion obsession and girly things of a gorgeous nature. Have a most wonderful weekend and I will be wrapping again soon, just in case you noticed I have sidetracked on my blog subject lately. That is the other good thing about blogging, there aren't any rules except the ones you make yourself.




Photo from We Heart This via Pinterest.

a warm welcome...............to my home

A reader recently asked if there was any chance I would show the inside of our home..............all you had to do was ask. But there is two things you should know before you step into my home. One, I haven't changed a thing in the 11 years since we built our Jack Arnold home so if it looks at all outdated, you would be absolutely correct. Two, I took these photos with my iphone...........so they could probably look a bit brighter and better. I do have professional photos that were used years ago for publication but I kind of preferred this more informal look.........since I am opening the door so to speak. The grainy quality hides the dust and imperfections quite well too. Nevertheless, you are welcome to come in and take a peek. 

One of the features I loved about French country design is what is referred to as a  Keeping Room. It is a small sitting area attached to the kitchen and makes for a cosy spot and guarantees you always have company while tending to kitchen tasks. That chair on the left is where I sit and watch TV, you can't see it but there is a matching one for whoever plunks down and wants to chat. We caved last year and took down a lovely pair of framed prints and put up a big flat screen which everyone (but me) thought would wreck the room. I think it makes it downright perfect. The rule is whoever is doing the cooking gets to pick the programming. So far, this one only plays Oprah, HBO, and sappy movies.

The other thing you might notice about my home is that I don't seem to have any good area rugs over all that limestone tile.  Our adorable Shih Tzu that we had for 14 years never quite got housebroken perfectly (totally my fault) but we did accommodate his one flaw. Just in case. With another new puppy soon on it's way, I think I best leave the rug purchase to a later date (just in case). This is our "traffic" hallway which leads to the kitchen on the right, the dining room on the left, and the living room straight ahead. Our house looks like a ranch from the outside but there is a second floor to the rear where our son has his rooms and a guest room. Our bedroom is on the main floor on the other side of the living room. That is where the largest TV resides, the one with TSN and constant channel clicking. 

Our dining room is probably our favourite room and I admit a bit under-used at the moment.  One of my favorites pieces is our dining room table which is a platinum finish with antique mirror. It reflects the crystal and lighting so warmly that I find I rarely use table cloths. It also has two extensions which I use for holidays. 

Though the scale of this room is larger than it appears, these mirrors with their ornate tops are approximately 6' tall and became one of my signature pieces for traditional interiors. Everyone wanted one. With the symmetrical pairing on each end the pair beautifully reflects the chandelier and makes for a sparkly room when the candles are lit and the wine poured. 

Our chocolate brown velvet dining chairs are quite generous and high-backed. I never could understand the use of delicate chairs in a dining room, they make me all fidgety. I like something cushy so you can comfortably settle in for the evening, you know keep serving the food and pouring the wine. I really do have to start cooking and entertaining again. 

Though this is our front entry, it is quite understated in size and demeanor which is typical for French Country design. We have another entry which everyone prefers so this tapestry goes unnoticed for the most part. Too bad, it was one we found in a Vermont barn many years ago and was one of those great finds you come across now and again. 

I have some new plans for our Living Room this year besides finally adding a gorgeous area rug. I think I might re-upholster the sofa in a rich jade embossed velvet, something antique looking and replace that large oil painting with something more modern. I have been lusting after a large, distressed wood library table so I can can lay out all my books and reading material across from the sofa, pretend I am going to study history (I am someday). And a huge gorgeous lamp with a red fabric shade. A winter spot. Maybe plan some company menus? 

If you see some gaps in furniture it is because I "borrowed" a few things for the POP UP store.  Off went my leopard begere chair and a few other smaller things. So this room looks a bit overly-monochromatic and looks like the cocktail table needs a bit of re-arranging as well. My main area of design was new home building and I loved seeing a home being built, any size, any shape, any style. Our Jack Arnold French Country home is well-used and well- loved. You can't ask for much more than that. 

Everyone has a special thing in their homes. For me, it is this 27-yr. old photograph of our son and his new dad. Besides the cute red hair, the sweet little rattle, the little sport team shirt (already) the photo has a most precious detail that a close-up would show you. Droplets of drool are about ready to fall off his bottom lip. Hey, and his father is looking pretty good too! Retro mustache and all. This photograph always makes me smile.

All photos by Sande Chase ~ A Gift Wrapped Life

Bottom photo by friend Charlie Morgan

Sidetracked..........into sweet and pretty

Someone in the world of social media sent me over to Elle Decor yesterday, I can't remember who but I did have a good time peeking into the personal world of good design before the rest of the world woke up. Look closely at the custom wallpaper using the Andy Warhol graphic, this book jacket effect can be found in the vibrant guest bathroom of Candace Bushell. I am not sure I would want my face plastered all over the bathroom (or anywhere) but in this case it certainly makes sense for the best-selling author. In fact, I think it is downright clever in her case.

She has a pretty sweet living room as well. Bushell scored this gorgeous antique settee from novelist friend Jay McInervey and I love how Bushell and her designer friend Susan Forristal re-upholstered this Louis XVI settee in blue velvet and then layered the room in varying shades of blue. If you head over to this blog link you will see how J. Crew is showing the exact mood of these sweet colours for spring fashion. Go take a quick look, see how interiors influence fashion, or is it the other way around? Maybe a bit of both?

I have to do a major closet purge in January and if my smaller dressing room ended up looking this glamorous I would be a happy and blissful gal. This "salon" dressing room is owned by fashion designer Nanette Lepore and the combination of velvet, antique mirror, and crystal makes it one sweet confection. Lepore stores vintage clothing in one section and her own designs in another. Lately I am thinking that I will introduce some vintage into my wardrobe too. Oh wait........I am pretty sure some of these un-purged outfits might qualify as vintage by now. Perhaps I should consider a small upholstered ottoman for my tiny puppy that will joining our family over the holidays. I will tell you all about her/him soon, my canine companion is ready to enter the world at any moment. He/she is the cutest toy breed ever, but I am keeping that little secret until that puppy is in my hands. Along with closet purging in January, I will also be house-training our new bundle of joy. Hope it is a girl, help me decide what to keep and what to throw. 

The older I get the more I love shoes, too bad my mature age and lack of need force me to be practical at times. I miss the days of wearing 4-6 " heels all day along. Speaking of sore feet, heels, and arches, did you hear about these Kushyfoot-Flats To Go? Small enough to fold up and tuck into your purse and bring you Emergency High Heel relief. Sorry, I got sidetracked to comfort and so back to shoes. Is there anything more entertaining (on a women's level) than to study a personal shoe collection? This colour-blocked collection belongs to Jenna Lyons, the creative director of J. Crew. Figures doesn't it? I love how each pair is arranged to see both heel and toe. How come I never thought of that?




All photos from ElleDecor. com

A Short Break............for serious Kitchen Lust

While digging in some photo files today I ran across this magnificent, breathtaking, gorgeous, fabulous kitchen that has me seriously thinking it is time to build a new home. And that it was time to take a short break from my Summer Camp Gift Wrap challenge. My husband and I talk about houses while we do our little power walk at night (yes, cycle in morning, walk at night........I will tell you why I am getting so oddly determined in a week's time) as we take peeks at the neighborhood homes. We still wonder if we should have built our downsized version of the Charlotte Moss home seen in her book Winter House, indulged in that one-room living we find so cosy. But we didn't, our Jack Arnold home was only 5 years old and when it comes right down to it, we love our home. We recently had this discussion again while looking at the Ralph Lauren home display on the 3rd floor of the Chicago store a month ago. This cosy idea keeps rearing it's head. One spectacular room for living, dining, cooking and a bedroom off to the rear or side. But when I see this kitchen............. seriously, wouldn't this Susan Arnold (designer wife of Jack Arnold) kitchen make you want to build a whole new house?




Photo from Jack Arnold 

Diane James......a lasting gift

Though I adore the real thing, as a designer I know that faux flowers have their place in any well-appointed home too. I went around and counted and I do have 14 silk arrangements of varying size and style. From a large forsythia arrangement in a black tole container in my living room to a petite rose arrangement in our guest bedroom, they graciously add colour and shape to many corners and settings in any home. Of course these days I use silk flowers to adorn gifts, but I do think these gorgeous silk flower arrangements by Diane James would make for the loveliest of gifts for a variety of occasions. I know there is a great debate on real vs. faux but I have never had a problem with faux flowers when they are of beautiful quality and realistic style. I am not the only designer to think this of course, high profile designers such as Michael Smith, Barbara Barry and Mario Buatta turn to Diane James for silken arrangements in their well-appointed interiors as well.  So I am in some very good company. I look at these arrangements in another way as well (especially the petite styles) as a beautiful bedside gift for someone recuperating at a far distance, for a special birthday, or as a most gracious housewarming gift. Something to remind them of you and your good thoughts on a daily basis.

You could head over to Bergdorf Goodman, Gracious Home or Neiman Marcus for a Diane James faux arrangement or order online at Diane James Home. Here Diane James has fashioned a table setting at Neiman Marcus with faux flowers. Makes me want to have a lovely garden party.

~ A Table Setting for Mustardseed & Moonshine in Neiman Marcus ~

The Diane James Home website is well-designed and neatly organized by size, colour, season, and flower so finding the perfect arrangement and price is easy and most visually pleasant. Diane James Home also has a floral inspired blog The Buzz which shares divine design ideas and sources with a botanical twist.

All photos from Diane James Home

Hermes boxes............unadorned but still sparkly

When I first put this post together, it really was just to show you how great boxes, in this case the iconic Hermes boxes, could be used unadorned. As in design, stacked, layered, and not a ribbon or bow in sight. I judge the effectivness of an arrangment and its value in a room by visually removing it. Does it look better with it, or without it? Lovely without........... fabulous with that jolt of orange of course.

I got the same answer here. Four shots of Hermes orange to match the lovely Hermes "box stack" on the ornate gilt console. But, really this setting just illustrates how little effort it takes to add colour with accessories. The right ones. And how about that fashionable photograph?

Yesterday while I was visiting new blogs I came across this photo of the way model Christy Turlington choses to use a Hermes box. PS. Actually it wasn't a model but another blogger who put this glamorous collection together. This is Glamorous gave me the heads-up on this correction. This image is from blogger Kiratomic and was then posted on TIG. Strange thing is I didn't know when I took this idea and ran with it that Kiratomic had originally done just that. Hermes must inspire us in a similiar way. Go see, she is a much better photographer than I. As you may remember, I was given a generous stack of these boxes last fall from a person who really does shop at Hermes. The light went off,  I think this idea is so fashionably clever I am going to show you my own version. A few of my favorite pieces.

I have tried a zillion ways to store jewelry so I see it and wear it. I've tried the layering it in bowls and trays (too messy), organizing in boxes in drawers (forget about it) and when I saw this idea I thought if  I rotated the items on a weekly basis and left them on my dressing room vanity then I would use them more. A stylish reminder so to speak.

My largest pair of sparkly errings from many years ago. At times I have given away some of my jewelry but now I am  holding on to all of it and someday, someone will get a great stash of vintage jewelry.  I really should wear some of these pieces again.

I have this thing for those Herve Leger form fitting bandage dresses (especially the long ones) that I am way too old too wear so when I saw this 6" Herve cuff  with the cut glass floral pattern I thought it would satisfy my fix. And it does for me. I do love the look of it peeking out under a summer sleeve of linen. Only problem is that everyone says the following to me " when did you hurt your wrist" and "that is so cool that you decorated your tensor band". Jeez.............so much for my stylish fix. My square Altanus watch from Italy is one I miss wearing as it was a gift from my husband and I love the oversized Italian style. It's quite simple, you just don't need a watch when you work at home so I wear it when I shop. So much better to have a time limit on the spending.

This is a fun costume-quality necklace that I bought at a trade show. It is quite large but all fun and sparkly with 8 strands of clear crystal and this large blue center. Do you love interesting and beautiful jewelry, the kind with a story behind it? I will introduce you to a very cool new advertiser in the next week............now we're talking all sparkly and bright. You'll see.

Photo 1 and 2 from Traditional Home/Photo 3 via the blog This is Glamorous/All other photos by Sande Chase ~ A Gift Wrapped Life

Going groovy with Lavender

Hey, I am all for computer upgrades, things moving faster and 100's of new fonts. I did ask for this. This photo is supposed to be at the bottom of this post but today is the day of computer reckoning. One failed attempt after another while I go on a blind date with something that I am supposed to love in the end. I love computer technology, just not the dating part. I am trying to make friends with Windows 7 and Adobe Photoshop on one computer and all those Mac programs on another. I don't know why these two companies just don't get married and get it over with once and for all. Life and technology could be so much more pleasant and zen-like if they did. This is like dating two guys at once........not that I ever did that before.

The physical characteristics of our Master Bedroom are very similar to the room above so beautifully designed by Jeffrey Biluber. The high ceiling slope, the windows, the generous proportions, and a well-used fireplace . Our walls are painted a warm and cosy "milk chocolate' (the husbands request), the furniture of large scale and a beautiful design. So why on earth do we not have a headboard and draperies (we do have shutters) that will grandly finish this room once and for all? A son in school, a business launch, a designer hiatus, and a whole lot of indecisiveness about what that defining colour should be, the one colour that will sweep me off my feet and keep me happy for years to come. I am not and never have been a short-term designer. But I am a very patient one.

To be fair to myself, when we built our custom Jack Arnold French Country home eleven years ago every other interior room was 99.9% done and decorated, every paint colour, every wallpaper, furniture placed, every picture hung, every accessory in its spot, so it's not that I was a design slouch. To this day there is little I would change and I still love my home. Every once in awhile I get the urge to downsize into the smallest little cottage, but that usually passes for now as it does with most of us. When I came across these photos using varying shades of purple................well I knew I had found the "it" colour. Milk chocolate and lavender, maybe some accents in eggplant. My teenage attic bedroom was a groovy purple so it will be a sentimental choice even if I twist the tone to a more elegant one. I also have a thing for natural linen so sometimes one photo, one colour combination, can answer all your colour questions.

Colour trends mean nothing to me and never did even when working with clients. If anything, it meant that that colour was going to saturate the market quickly and you know what happens when it starts showing up everywhere.........it becomes dated real quick. To some clients who were eager to jump on what they saw as being current, I appeared like I was out of the loop. If anything I was always trying to protect them, to see past the expired date that was just ahead. It is one thing to wear a fashionable and trendy colour, quite another to dress up a whole room or house. The easy answer is to do what decorating magazines tell you to do when you want to indulge a colour whim, test it out. Throw pillows, a couple vases, or some framed prints. And this theory does work, a temporary dose of aqua has quickly told me this tranquil colour just doesn't have the drama this room wants and needs. I am going to go for it............a groovy kind of lavender. My heart is telling me it is the colour of my dreams.

Top photo by Polly Wreford via Sarah Kaye/2nd photo by designer Jeffrey Bilhuber via Southern Accents/3rd Photo by Dallas designer Shannon Bowers via Veranda/Bottom Photo via Traditional Home

Subtle Weekend Glamour

Every time I look at this well-appointed settee, I want to go and buy a ballgown. Something in duchess satin worn with an understated but sparkly diamond necklace. Or maybe the one at the bottom of this post. Is this bolster pillow not the most exquisite? That damask in the background is almost identical in colour and pattern to my ensuite wallpaper, a subtle platinum with everything else in ivory and white. So I should dress up and sit in my bathroom? It does have a chair and a chandelier, it is a party prep room perhaps. Funny how design can conjure up associations, make you rise to the occasion. This is the best part of design. It can make you feel good. Glamorous. Every time you walk in the room.


If I was a purist, the rest of my home would be all tonal, shades of ivory. Like this home so perfectly executed by Canadian designer Julie Charbonneau, sometimes wish I could personally handle a monochromatic palette on a daily basis. To do so would mean excluding all my favorite colours and truthfully I would miss them and could never leave any of them behind. When I have done this look for clients I found I didn't want to leave their house upon project completion which is a big clue right there where my second personality resides (my husband would say I am selling myself short, there is at least 10 personalities going at any given time). It has a soothing countenance that I find elegant and orderly if that makes sense. My eye keeps going to the book collections, today all in ivory, last post showing a red collection in the Charlotte Moss townhouse den.

We all know mixing shades of ivory with white in a bathroom is truly a classic and timeless palette. It just never gets old does it? If you do this look and are aiming for ballgown glamour, upgrade your fixtures to polished nickel. The subdued palette loves a bit of sparkle. White towels, not ivory. I love how Charbonneau has hung the framed prints right over the window frame.

A sink cantilevered over a mirror.............creative glamour. These photos are from our stylish and hip Canadian design magazine House & Home. We have some incredible Canadian design talent that I will share over the next few weeks. Next week will be "Not so mellow.......Yellow" as I heard the daffodils are peeking out early this spring and it makes me feel positively perky on this grey and rainy day.

Just a bit of glamour for your weekend. Let me rephrase that........a huge bit of glamour.

Alexander McQueen ~ Paris Fashion week Fall 2010.

Top photo from Traditional Home/2nd, 3rd and 4th photo show room design by Juile Charbonneau~ Canadian House & Home/Bottom Photo from Harper's Bazaar.

Charlotte Moss..........The 2008 Townhouse I somehow missed

I missed this showhouse feature somehow way back when and I would have guessed there wasn't a Charlotte Moss photo that had escaped my notice. It was conceived by Moss as a NY pied-a-terre for a couple who met in Rome and then married in the hills of Tuscany. A sophisticated couple with multiple residences and continental style. I came across this feature on the Veranda website this past weekend and thought it was something new, but it was a 2008 showhouse done for Laurel, a luxury condominium located in the Upper East Side of NY. The point being that it could have been done yesterday and isn't that the true mark of a good designer? I thought if I missed it maybe you had too.

Having a story behind design decisions isn't such a bad idea. Build your ideal profile and it can be a way to direct and edit your design decisions. The enviroment that reflects your passions, your dreams. It may be a better approach than saying " middle aged couple, live in the burbs, no social life, likes blue". The storyline of a continental couple was the inspiration for Moss and resulted in this exquisite blend of French and Italian design. Filling every inch of the fabric-covered wall space above the persimmon velvet sofas with this pair of paintings...........too perfect.

Clients would often ask me how we were going to relate one room to the next. How can it be different but still be connected? See how simple it can be? One small dose of that persimmon colour and it's done and connected.

This sample board of semi-precious stone, wood, and marble samples was originally seen in the Charlotte Moss NY townhouse store. I remember standing there and looking at it for the longest time and thinking "anyone who would go to the trouble of arranging these samples in this type of order is one remarkably detailed and precise person". And as we know, this is absolutely true when it comes to Charlotte Moss.

This may be a tight corner but doesn't it have everything you need?

If you remember the photos from my Mediterranean cruise last fall, I photographed a newspaper rack from a cafe in Cannes that caught my husbands attention (click here). I would do this idea in a minute if I had any wall space left. Maybe I should make some adjustments, this would be so perfect for our weekend newspapers which I like to read at length and in-depth. Another idea would be to mix in some more interesting newspapers, perhaps from Paris, Rome or London. A few brass or pewter towel racks and there you have it, a civilized and interesting wall treatment.



So what colour is your view? It may not be a NY view but it may be something you should be considering when selecting a room's paint colours. You can be 99.9% sure that the tones seen in the copper patina and adjacent limestone building was what inspired Moss to use this soothing palette in the Master Bedroom.

The Charlotte Moss signature..............the most exquisite bed treatments.

All photos from Veranda