The Fretwork Table

Ralph Lauren Indian Cove Fretwork Table

 

Fretwork is classic chinoiserie. This iconic chinoiserie fretwork table is from the Ralph Lauren Indian Cove Lodge Home Collection. This piece retails for over $5,000.

Fretwork

Ralph Lauren Fretwork Table

 

This iconic chinoiserie fretwork table is from the Ralph Lauren Indian Cove Lodge Home Collection. This piece retails for over $5,000.

Beatrice @ One Year & Harper

Beatrice @ 1 Year

 

Here is Baby Beatrice this past Saturday on her first birthday. She was weighed last week and she is 5.5 pounds. Such a cutie. She is wearing a classic pink cashmere sweater by Ralph Lauren. And here is Harper in an orange Ralph Lauren cashmere turtleneck. Harper is just 4 pounds and change - a tiny baby. She will be turning 10 in March.

Downsizing with Style

Deeda Blair - River House in NYC

 

Many of you may recall the gorgeous home of Deeda and William Blair on Foxhall Road in Washington, DC. Billy Baldwin was their interior designer. They bought it in the late 1960's. William Blair was the first director of the Kennedy Center and a former ambassador. When they downsized forty years later and moved to an apartment in NYC, these wonderful chinoiserie panels made the move. Above is the entryway in the NYC apartment.

Summer Style & A New Favorite Candle

Ralph Lauren

 

My favorite styling is always Ralph Lauren - I find myself poring over every detail. This would be easy to do in your own home - a couple of blue and white books, a small blue and white vase filled with flowers or herbs of your choosing, white beads, sea glass fishing floats, and my new favorite candle.

Happy Father's Day

Ralph Lauren

 

I hope many of you will be spending a lovely day today with your father and/or husband. For those who have lost a father, or husband, a brother, or son, may your day be filled with wonderful memories.

 I don't think anyone does a masculine version of chinoiserie better than Ralph Lauren, so I thought today I would share some favorites. His rooms are filled with navy and white, stripes, oversized pieces, and dark woods, giving them a more masculine vibe.

Monogrammed Towels - My Favorite Best Buys

Ralph Lauren Payton

I love monogrammed towels and for many years have taken advantage of this wonderful Bed and Bath Sale with FREE MONOGRAMS! Yes, not only are the towels on a great sale, but the monogramming is free.

A $500 Candle

Ralph Lauren Holiday Grand Candle

 I love luxury candles and admit that I spend a bit of money on them. But this one stopped me in my tracks. It is stunning. It is huge -  over 7" wide and weighs seven pounds and is all hand crafted, nestled in a handwoven natural brass basketweave holder. Its scent is pine needles, juniper berries, vetiver, and cypress.

Blue and White Chinoiserie & Stripes

Ralph Lauren 

 

Ralph can do no wrong in my book and this is a master class. I so often mention how beautifully stripes work with chinoiserie and this is a perfect example. And no dinky blue and white Chinese porcelain - nice big pieces that make a statement. I love his frequent use of palm trees - even it's in a NYC apartment as opposed to a tropical venue. And lots of books - they give a room a soul. Gold/brass touches always look great with a blue and white palette. His use of brown furniture always looks classic and not dated. Is that a backgammon board on the coffee table? I use to love playing backgammon. 

Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren

 Check out all the blue and white Chinese porcelain in this pool house in the RL Bedford, New York home. There are blue and white Chinese porcelain lamps, a garden stool, an orchid planter, and even for firewood. The beams are 16th century Belgian pine and the mantel is 17th century French limestone. I love the basket filled with coral as well.

Ralph Lauren & Chinoiserie

Ralph Lauren

 A beautiful space in quintessential Ralph Lauren style with lots of dark woods and blue and white Chinese porcelain. I love the round table stacked with books and a wonderful blue and white Chinese porcelain centerpiece filled with hydrangeas. There must be a hundred hydrangea stems!

Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren - Architectural Digest

 I have posted many times before about seagrass matting and about banana leaf wallpaper - both faves of mine. Well this is a great new discovery - the flooring above is banana leaf matting. The room is stunning with its palms, rattan, straw hats, white slipcovers, canopy bed, mosquito netting, and even a blue and white garden stool. Such understated elegance. Speaking of mosquitoes, I have never seen a mosquito here. Very odd.

Black Friday Sales

Ralph Lauren

 I am generally not really a fan of rooms with lots of black, but Ralph Lauren can do anything. And check out that plant - is it a banana tree or bird of paradise? They look so similar. I am planning on getting one for the garden. 

But I picked a black room today because many of my favorite online stores have already started their Black Friday sales and I am going to indulge in a little Christmas shopping today. I never ever did Black Friday shopping in person in my entire life anyway. That would be my idea of hell. But with the pandemic, it would be a suicide mission. 

So a heads up that many of your online stores have likely already started their sales if you have Christmas shopping to do. Have fun. Shopping from bed is much more fun anyway!

Blue and White and Thank You RL

Ralph Lauren - Architectural Digest

A stunning room in Ralph Lauren's Bedford, New York home with so many of my favorites. This is the pool house. The black and white tiled floor and the beamed ceiling are stunning. I have posted many times how much I love combining Chinoiserie and stripes. Check out the basket filled with white coral between the blue and white Chinese porcelain lamps. Another great idea is the large blue and white Chinese porcelain tub filled with firewood - I love that (although perhaps not for here in Florida).

The pool house terrace

And a big shout out to Ralph Lauren for his very generous response to the Coronavirus Pandemic.

The Blue and White Ginger Jar

Ralph Lauren

I came across this vignette from one of Ralph Lauren's homes and loved the mix of family photographs, botanical photographs, and an antique oil painting. Look how immeasurably the blue and white ginger jar adds to this vignette, letting the eye rest from all the art.

And here I am yesterday at the members preview of the Salvador Dali exhibit Gardens of the Mind at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota. It was fabulous, please go, but please go with someone who is not completely clueless. My guest, who shall remain nameless, was really disappointed and completely did not grasp the exhibit because he thought there were going to be original Dali paintings hanging throughout the gardens. Yes dear, museums are going to lend millions and millions of dollars worth of priceless art to hang outside in the heat, rain, and humidity for several months. Just had to share. Wow.

The Chinoiserie Living Room

Ralph Lauren Home

This is such a great example of how Chinoiserie wallpaper can totally transform a room. The wallpaper is Ralph Lauren Tea House Floral.

Classic Chinoiserie

Ralph Lauren

Quintessential Ralph Lauren with a collection of blue and white Chinese porcelain, gleaming wood, an antique Persian rug, and a wicker basket piled with firewood.

The Chinoiserie Bedroom

Ralph Lauren

Navy blue walls anchor this stunning bedroom filled with blue and white Chinese porcelain and Chinoiserie fabrics.

Blue and White

Stacie Flinner

A pair of Ralph Lauren blue and white Chinese porcelain lamps, a blue and white Chinese garden stool, and a pair of pierced black ginger jars add great style to this work space. I too have an acrylic chair in my office.

Ralph Lauren

Architectural Digest

Blue and white Chinese ginger jars and a blue and white Chinese planter in this British Colonial entryway.