Do you know about Sliders? Ooooh, girl you are going to love me for this one. Doing a bit of fall freshening-up are we? Moving things around some? Making room for that new end table? Just like it says on the package, Sliders, excuse me Magic Sliders, SLIDE EVERYTHING AS IF IT HAD WHEELS. It… Continue reading Sliders: The Easiest Way to Re-arrange a Room
Home & Garden
A Pretty Fall Bouquet
It could not have been prettier in Long Island this weekend, and Saturday could not have been a more spectacular day for a wedding. It took place at a club on a grassy knoll overlooking the water. It was wow. And very happy. The ceremony was beautiful and so were the flowers at the reception.… Continue reading A Pretty Fall Bouquet
Armillary Love
I love an armillary. Sculptural, strong, graceful, ancient, and a little mysterious. What did they do with them? I would collect them if I had somewhere to put them. I can’t believe I just said that because that does not necessarily stop me. Thankfully it seems the world is not awash with armillaries, which perhaps… Continue reading Armillary Love
East Meets West With Designer Dede Wood in the Santa Ynez Valley
Here, as promised, is the beautiful Santa Ynez Valley home of designer and friend Dede Wood appearing in this fall’s edition of Santa Barbara Magazine, photos by Jeremy Samuelson. Dede and her husband Steve live just a few miles down the road from us out here in the wilds of Santa Barbara County, so we consider… Continue reading East Meets West With Designer Dede Wood in the Santa Ynez Valley
Coming Soon: Designer Dede Wood
How brilliant is it to have your entrance double as the dining room. Think about it. It’s a pass-through space but otherwise un-used, and yet you want it to be pretty because you’re in it at least several times a day. So if you have the luxury of determining its dimensions, make it a little… Continue reading Coming Soon: Designer Dede Wood
Supper in a Blue Moon
You know how you do something and think, why don’t we do this all the time instead of once in a blue moon? (ha-ha-get-it?) We do have dinner on the little dock occasionally, but it really would be a great idea to do it every full moon as long as we don’t freeze to death.… Continue reading Supper in a Blue Moon
Edit Your Rooms, Calm Your Life. Really.
Anyone who’s ever even picked up a design magazine knows the edict: Edit, edit, edit. But rarely have I heard it so soulfully articulated as from lovely Houston designer Jane Moore in the September-October issue of Veranda. We both think it was the second time I’d interviewed her but we couldn’t be sure… I have… Continue reading Edit Your Rooms, Calm Your Life. Really.
Flowerful Aspen and People From Texas
I knew Aspen would be pretty in the summer but I was surprised by how pretty. There are flowers everywhere, spilling over sidewalks, billowing from containers, bordering lawns, bursting from window boxes. We nipped out here for a short while to catch up with my Cowboy’s good buds from all over and to have a… Continue reading Flowerful Aspen and People From Texas
Designer Megan Yager on Chinoiserie Chic Blog
Let’s hear it for the local talent. So yesterday I get this email from my friend Mary (Dede) Wood, a talented designer here in the Santa Ynez Valley: Not bragging but my girl’s stuff is pretty darned good…XO Dede Well she is too bragging and well she should. Dede’s daughter Megan Yager lives in Texas now… Continue reading Designer Megan Yager on Chinoiserie Chic Blog
Fabulous Rooms – the Green Room at Winfield House
As we say goodbye to the Olympics in London (and well done old chaps!), and pursuant to my modestly athletic post last week on Winfield House, the U.S. ambassador’s residence in London, here is more on its spectacular Green Room, a fabulous room if ever there was. When Hollywood decorator Billy Haines re-modeled Winfield under… Continue reading Fabulous Rooms – the Green Room at Winfield House
Winfield House in London – The US Ambassador’s Residence
Are you still watching? How about that little Gabby Douglas? And Kayla Harrison? And Michael Phelps? I’ve never needed a reason to be proud of my country, but these young American athletes are sure making it easy. Elsewhere in London, the U. S. ambassador to the Court of St. James does us proud in the… Continue reading Winfield House in London – The US Ambassador’s Residence
Keith Langham’s 2012 Olympic Connection
To continue our Olympic homage to Britain in a rawthuh roundabout way, we turn to renowned New York designer and friend Richard Keith Langham, whose work most certainly has a British sensibility, espousing as it does an affinity for good curtains and refined comfort. Keith is also a B.R.I.T. of another ilk: Boy Raised in… Continue reading Keith Langham’s 2012 Olympic Connection