Beaune is a charming town, walkable, manageable, with good little shops, and a bustling Saturday market. Good food too of course. And wine, which you know. One of my favorites was Laronze-Decor, managed by the charming and gracious Nicolas, whose family owns the shop, and come to find out a kitchen shop and bed and… Continue reading Postcard From Burgundy – Part 3 – Bopping Around Beaune
Home & Garden
Postcard From Burgundy – Part 2
This scene sums it up: the vineyard, the softly undulating landscape, the church steeple marking the center of a beautiful village, and the backside of a biker. Bikers were always ahead of me because, a) I am slow, and b) I stop to take pictures, which makes me, c) even slower. The good news is… Continue reading Postcard From Burgundy – Part 2
Postcard From Burgundy – No. 1
One of the nice things about biking through the French countryside is that you can stop and smell the horses. And you can come in for a closer look. We visited the Abbey of Citeaux, begun in the eleventh century and one of only two Cistercian abbeys in France that allow visitors. The Cistercians were a… Continue reading Postcard From Burgundy – No. 1
Flew to France, Watched Dancing, Planted Roses, in That Order Backwards
Have just landed in France and driven 72 years to Dijon. Okay 3 hours to Dijon and another 3 to get to the hotel which you cannot get to because every street is one-way opposite the way you need to go and the other streets are closed for construction… So finally I am lying on… Continue reading Flew to France, Watched Dancing, Planted Roses, in That Order Backwards
Modern Farmhouse Chic in France
Do y’all know about the blog Honestly…WTF ? Don’t you love the name? My friend Liz from Santa Barbara told me about it (thank you, Liz), and it’s done by hipsters Erica Chan Coffman and Lauren Kolodny who are bi-coastal like me, style mavens and cool hunters like… I won’t push my luck. But they… Continue reading Modern Farmhouse Chic in France
What’s Black and White and Red All Over? A Scalamandre Zebra Tote Bag
So I’m standing in the misty rain Thursday morning waiting for the bus to Long Island when I spy the distinctive silhouette of designer Steven Stolman, currently president of the venerable textile manufacturer Scalamandré. And then I spy his tote bag. It’s a bit early in the morning for this kind of talk but I sidled… Continue reading What’s Black and White and Red All Over? A Scalamandre Zebra Tote Bag
‘Tis Iced Tea Season — Here’s the Best and Prettiest
It is always iced tea season at my house. After noon and sometimes before, there is a glass within reach. My mother was the same way. Genetic research supports this, particularly in the South. But have you been to Paris lately? Iced tea has become popular there as well. (I swear those French, always copying… Continue reading ‘Tis Iced Tea Season — Here’s the Best and Prettiest
The Wondrous Worldly Designs of Tom Britt – What the Magazine Won’t Show
The May/June issue of Veranda trumpeting “American Classics” is especially fab and I am tickled to have written about a house in the Hamptons designed by Tom Britt and Valentino Samsonadze because, well, Tom is an old friend and a HOOT. Britt’s work is famously infused with a fascinating array of influences from all over the… Continue reading The Wondrous Worldly Designs of Tom Britt – What the Magazine Won’t Show
Fabulous Rooms #2: Victorian Writing Room at the Greenbrier
This second Fabulous Rooms post is in response to the first (Living Room at Lyford Cay), wherein I solicited favorite rooms from readers. Paige Ward wins a nickel* for submitting the Victorian Writing Room at the Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia. Originally decorated by the legendary Dorothy Draper and carried on today by her protege… Continue reading Fabulous Rooms #2: Victorian Writing Room at the Greenbrier
Desert Blooms, a Labyrinth, and a Little Dust-up
The last few weeks have got me discombobulated and now back in hectic New York, where workmen are hanging on a scaffold outside my office window and apparently in the process of drilling the building into kingdom come. So I’m calming myself–and you too, maybe–with a walk through the Sonoran desert in Arizona. Can it… Continue reading Desert Blooms, a Labyrinth, and a Little Dust-up
Furniture Market Finds and High Point Highlights
It’s been fun these past few days reviewing fellow bloggers’ notes on their favorite finds, fads and trends from the High Point furniture market, and one is eternally grateful for not having had to go one’s self. High Point is a big deal in our industry, of course, not to mention in my home state,… Continue reading Furniture Market Finds and High Point Highlights
Dream Kitchen Has Great Ideas for Yours
For anyone working on a kitchen just now, House Beautiful includes a “kitchen of the month” in every issue, and they’re always full of good ideas, even for those of us working with what we have. For the April issue – off the newsstands but now online – I interviewed New Jersey designer Nicole Hough… Continue reading Dream Kitchen Has Great Ideas for Yours