Tiling It

There are so many tile inspirations about right now, 

heavily influenced by the hot Moroccan trend. 

The colors are gorgeous and so happy. 

Between Jeffrey Bale's mosaic tiles and traveling with him as he visits Spain and Morocco and Maryam Montague's new book, Marrakesh By Design, and blog, My Marrakesh, they have it covered. 

Why do we stick with boring concrete for our walks? 

 Great color around a pool...

Heading over to Portugal, with all of their amazing tiles, this is the ultimate presentation of blue and white, wouldn't you say? 

You do not want to know its cost, though. 

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Just Foliage

Sometimes, it's all you need. 

Taking a walk into your garden or down a country lane to clip a vase of greenery can be awfully refreshing.

Not having to run to the store for a bunch or two of flowers to make your room special saves both time and money. 

What do you think?

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Can You Say Color?

If this Stone Harbor beach house isn't the happiest place! 

Even though the brightest of colors were used, the colors don't feel overwhelming to me. 

Designed by Cinnie May of JBM Designs, the beach house is featured in the May/June issue of New York Spaces.

The over-dyed ikat rugs anchor the colors in these two rooms.

Bright pink, orange and yellow all combine happily, even in the windowsill florals. I like to use that color combination in the garden as well. 

Check out that pleated shade color- gorgeous with the Scalamandre ikat print fabric on the classic chairs. Yum!

The porch's sunset colors reflect the outdoor scenery.

The rest of the home is just as beautiful, although a bit more sedate in color. 

A happy home.

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Photos by Erik Kvalsvik

Garden Royalty

Early by approximately two weeks, the tree peonies were at their peek this past week. 

Their colors are softly bright, their blooms are very large saucers, averaging between 6"-10". 

In our garden, they truly are the royalty of the flowers with their beauty and elegance.

 Tree peonies are hardy in zones 4-9, but are relatively rare in our area. I have never been able to figure out why that is. They admittedly are not inexpensive, but their eventual size (of a medium to large bush) and number of blooms make them well worth the investment. The plants can live for many decades with proper care.

We grow them in various light conditions, but they are happiest in dappled shade.

This is the lavender shade.

In the back border, the red tree peony stands right before the burgundy Japanese maple.

Our yellow (a greenish yellow) tree peony.

Pretty in pinks:

Do you grow tree peonies? I'd love to see them!

Glade: An Enchanted Forest

A vintage card was the inspiration; 

paint and découpage were the media used to carry it out. 

Welcome to Glade, a fun project recently completed by one of my favorite designers,

Carolyn Quartermaine, and her oft partner, Belgian artist Didier Mahieu.

The Glade is a tucked-away bar inside of London's West End restaurant and gallery, Sketch.They  created a dreamy landscape of a fairytale forest, all inspired from a scene found on an early 20th century communion card, handed down to Mahieu by his grandmother.

 

They had only one week to perform their magic, so with a dozen artists and designers wielding their scalpels, they set about their transformation. After having enlarged and reversed the design, they printed it onto hundreds of meters of paper. Then they painted the walls with vast patchwork swathes of blue, intermingled with flashes of color, against which the cut-out pieces were pasted.
Trompe l’oeil shadows of leaves were added as they glued the pieces on, filling the four walls. 

Vintage 1950s rattan furniture pieces from Portofino, Sardinia and
South of France were added, along with many of Quartermaine's screenprinted fabrics. 

Très chic, no?

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Villa Sorra

Beautiful frescoes. Baroque architecture. Lots of scrolls and cartouches. 

These make me happy.

 

The World of Interiors recently featured Villa Sorra as a backdrop for the contemporary furniture of the Milan furniture fair, Salone Internazionale del Mobile, providing quite a contrast between the old and the new.

Villa Sorra is located near Modena, Italy, in the town of Castelfranco Emilia. The building dates back to around 1800 as is most noted for its exceptional gardens. Villa Sorra is an outstanding example of Emilian baroque architecture, based on a design by Giuseppe Antonio Torri.

There is not a single wall I don't like. 

It is awaiting restoration; hopefully the frescoes will be left alone!

Which is your favorite?

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Day Dreamin'

OK, Mother's Day is right around the corner. I would love to consider this:

Ruxley Tower is for sale for a cool £3.5million in Claygate, Surrey, UK. 

Ruxley Tower was built in 1870 by Henry Thomas Foley, the 5th Baron Foley, for his wife, Lady Evelyne, as an extension to their 64-room mansion. It stands six stories high and was recently rented by Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood.

The octagonal building has vaulted ceilings and a trompe l'oeil entrance hall.

How fun to live there... and the view at the top is amazing.

Love that ceiling!

Any takers?

Don't forget to visit Splenderosa and the By Invitation Only day dreamers...

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