Well, Hallelujah!

Well, hallelujah! Finally, an inspiring design magazine issue. Veranda did me proud this month. Maybe, probably, Veranda magazine read my blog and all of your comments and decided that they better up their game if they want any of us to subscribe ever again. This month’s issue is definitely worth it. I thought it would be fun if we flipped through the pages together…

There is great page dedicated to Veranda’s favorite antique dealer's Instagrams. I love this and started following every one. I hope Veranda does this Instagram round up every month!

Love this little ditty about Temple St. Clair’s jewelry line…

 

“A constellation of topiaries in uniform garden planters at Versailles…” begins the article…

 

“Against a field of green leaves or a confetti of vivid blooms, a garden planter brings an appealing sense of focus: drawing the eye, grounding a vignette, crowning a crunchy gravel path with symmetry.”

 

Some of these garden planters come from my favorite sources… Authentic Provence, Dennis & Leen and Formations. Can you believe that first gorgeous planter, perfectly called Brugge, is from Restoration Hardware! I would totally buy that!

Great little article about kitchen designer, Matthew Quinn, and his new book fittingly titled, Quintessential Kitchens. That custom orange La Cornue range! To die for. And if I don’t get that La Cornue Flamberge Rôtisserie, I’m going to kill myself… Not that I eat chicken.

 

 

And because I am on Season 5 of Downton Abbey, this article about Lancelot “Capability” Brown, an 18^th century English landscape designer, is right up my alley…

 

Continuing the garden genius theme, an article about Arne Maynard and his layered approach to garden design complete with a knot garden, crab apples, oxeye daisies, rosemary and germander.

 

The first feature is of a house in my beloved hometown of Montecito, California. My first question is, “Why don’t I know these people?” These are the type of people that I would be friends with and to answer your question… Yes, I choose my friendships based on decor. Why do you think I’m friends with Diandra Douglas and Hollye Jacobs? :-)

 

Everything about this dining room works. The pastoral grisaille Zuber wallpaper with the gray moldings and the gray curtains! Be still my heart. Those French point-to-point hardwood floors with that Italian dining room table! Again, that round dining room table with those Christian Liaigare round back chairs! Are those chairs upholstered in ivory leather? Fucking fabulous. That chandelier is so perfect on so many levels. Yes, Hines family, I accept your dinner invitation.

Look at those Swedish cabinets and thank God they put that zebra at an angle. For a complete view of my opinion of zebra rugs you can read a whole blog I did about it HERE. Love that Italian bench back there covered in what looks like lime green satin.

While I am not in love with the chaise or coffee table, everything else is perfect. That silk velvet custom banquette with that Swedish rococo chair upholstered in Scalamandré Le Tigre fabric. Divine! I am so in love with that chandelier, I would marry it and never divorce it. Love the wall color… Benjamin Moore’s Dash of Pepper.

Love the bedroom. Love the curtains, the bedside table lamp, the tapestry, the chaise. While I love the bed coverlet, I don’t love the monogrammed pillows… Too hotel-ish. I am sure there was a more subtle monogramm to choose from, non?

 

Nothing to hate about this house. Antique oak paneling, antique Georgian eagle gilt consoles, Christopher Spitzmiller blue lamps, Regency armchair with Rose Tarlow fabric. Love how the outdoor stone obliesk draws your eye.

 

Octagonal dining room with Sherwin Williams Butterscotch walls! Heaven! If I am not mistaken, we had those chairs at our shop. Perfect chairs for this room and I love the floors.

I can’t even tell you how much I love these Benjamin Moore Cushing Green walls. And I love how they painted all of the trim, including the baseboards, the same color.

 

Oh hell yes! That 17^th century tapestry that picks up the red original ceiling beams and the French chandelier! And the wood under the bench! Fabulous.

That teeny tiny antique chandelier on that long chain! Perfect. The bench with my favorite fabric company, Le Manach, in red check. Those doors! The Royal Copenhagen tea set and look at those tall skinny lamps in the windows back there! Love!

 

Love the enormous lantern.

So you can see, this issue of Veranda magazine is totally inspiring. The Editor in Chief, Clinton Smith, can keep his job.

By the way, some of you have asked how I read magazines. I have an app called Texture where I can read all of my magazine on my iPad or computer… Downloaded within seconds. Even archives all the back issues! Totally genius.

*Something you don’t know about me? Three of my caregivers quit this week because “too many animals, Madame.” My thoughts? They can suck it. If I can live with ALS for six years and yet three grown men cannot take care of two dogs and kitten… Don’t let the door hit you on the way out… Morons.