Living Room Decorating

Living Room Decorating

Renee on the Riviera

I wish the holiday weekend wasn't over so this is my way of extended it.  I love these photos of model and muse Renee Perle by the famous photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue.  So many fashion designers and other photographers were inspired by them and it's easy to see why.  Those wide leg pants are perfection as is the lifestyle of lounging on the Riviera.  Those were the days.

Jacques Henri Lartigue and Renee Perle

Photos by Jacques Henri Lartigue

Magical Maine: Part Deux

The other Maine cottage that I wish would be featured again belongs to Marina Rust Conner.  It was built in 1899 by her great-great grandmother, Mrs. George Bird. When it appeared in Vogue, it looked a little more fussy and Victorian inside than Gwen McCaw's renovated house.  It would be interesting to see if any changes have been made over the years.  I've been to Maine many times and nothing beats that idyllic all-American feeling and slower pace.  These two homes make me want to book another trip but only if I can find an equally appealing summer "cottage" in which to stay!

Photos by François Halard

IWCE ~ Surtex Whirlwind

May has been a busy month with trade shows almost every week. First was the IWCE show in Vegas. We sponsored a Slipcover Showcase booth to show off the many talents of some of the countries best slipcover artisans.

I sent templates to some great gals all over the country and they sent me back the most beautiful slipcovers made with my fabrics.

The ingenuity and craftsmanship of these gals is amazing. People just flipped for all of the designs.

I took some really bad photos of them all but luckily my good buddy Kay Ellen was there with her fabulous photo skills and she managed to shoot a couple of good shots.

The Zebra striped Bergeres were a crowd favorite, possibly because people could sit and rest their aching feet!

Kay Ellen is a pro stager and she grabbed this pillow from another booth to show it off on the zebra ground. I think they look great together.

The Vanity table from Ready to Cover turned out so cute! I love the zebra hem.

Thanks so much to the very talented Teresa Bennett , Deb Fowler ~ Christy Statz ~ Kippi O’Hern ~ Emily Pettit ~ Barbara Roth ~ Linda Meeks & Jackie for making these beautiful slipcovers. I will be posting about each one of these talented ladies in the next couple of weeks so stayed tuned to see more of their great work.

The next stop was my debut at Surtex, the nations premier trade show for artists who license their work for surface and pattern design. Companies come from all over the globe to meet with artists and find new art and patterns for their goods. This is where designs for tabletop, wallpaper, fabrics, stationary, and much more are bought and sold.

Here I am in my booth. It was such a great experience and I learned a ton about this new industry. My daughter Angelica and the handsome hubby came with me to help and we all had a great time.

We tried to lure in attendees with lots of candy!

Angelica was a pro as always.

The handsome hubby and I went to the opening night party for the ICFF ( International Contemporary Furniture Show) at the MOMA Sculpture Garden and we had a great time. The ICFF and the National Stationary Show run concurrently with Surtex at the Jacob Javitz Convention Center in Manhattans each year.

There were some really great booths at the show – so much talent and creativity! I hope some rubbed off.

Loved those paper pinwheels.

This was our neighbor from the UK, little Alfie. He was the show stopper.

We had great neighbors and met a slew of new friends and caught up with some old ones as well.

There is always a surprise every time I go to New York. This is what I ran across walking back to the hotel one rainy day. A Hawk just hanging out on the sidewalk. It was surreal. I’d always heard of hawks living in the city but had never seen one and I never thought I would see one just two feet away from me.

In short we had a great time as always! Here’s Angelica and her Dad drinking champagne at the MOMA! What a great time.

Now I am back home putting the finishing touches on my slipcover book that I have to hand into my publisher on Wednesday! More to come soon.

Magical Maine

Vogue.com posted a photo of this house in Maine in their Best Hostess Gift guide recently and it reminded me how much I love this house.  Some of you might remember that it was published in the first issue of Vogue Living in 2006.  The house known as Mitchell Cottage, was built in 1916 for Philadelphia businessman J. Kearsley Mitchell who had just married the daughter of a partner of J.P. Morgan.  The house sat vacant for many years after Michell was involved in a murder scandal.  What I didn't remember about the house was that Kirstie Alley and her then husband Parker Stevenson bought the house in 1991 and turned it into the Islesboro Inn.  They also managed to hire the legendary retired decorator Sister Parish to help decorate it.  It was later bought by Gwen and John McCaw who hired their friend from Los Angeles, interior designer Windsor Smith who simplified the house.

A photo of the house from Vogue by Arthur Elgort.

A look at the front of the house.

Gwen and her children on the lawn. The property also boats a three bedroom guesthouse, a swimming pool, classic clay tennis court, small boathouse, and deep water pier. 

An old photo of the porch with the striped awnings.

Under Windsor Smith's guidance, the house because much cleaner but definitely not boring.  In the Vogue article, the owner says, "because it's such an architecturally beautiful house, I felt I could decorate in a really clean way-that it didn't need too much. Of course, we also wanted everything machine-washable and kid-friendly."

The chairs are Sister Parish originals that were reupholstered.

The trellis walls are the pièce de résistance of the house and were originally restored by Sister Parish.

One of the girl's bedrooms.

One of Gwen's daughter's sitting on the Chloe Sofa designed by Windsor Smith.

The boy's bathroom is papered in marine blueprints.

Another old look at the house from Gilkey Harbor.  I am really surprised that the house hasn't been photographed for any other publications.  I'd really love to see the rest of the interior and grounds.  There is nothing that says summer more to me than the relaxing magic of Maine.

Photos by Arthur Elgort for Vogue scanned in by moi