Summers in France

My girlfriend has been sending me pictures of Le Castellane, Kathryn Ireland's 19th C. French countryside retreat.  There you can engage in yoga, get massages, explore antique shops, horseback ride through fields of sunflowers, and eat fabulous fresh food en plein air.  If this sounds appealing ~ these is still space available in August.

The house is casually decorated in Kathryn's signature print textiles.  Colorful and casual with a bohemian vibe, Kathryn easily mixes antique finds with ethnic, floral, and geometric patterned fabrics.

If you can't get to Le Castellane, you can read about it in her book, Summers in France.

Written like a scrap book, Kathryn journals about the renovation and many happy summers spent in the house. 

Sign me up!

ph: via French Essence

Kips Bay Show House 2012: Part Deux

Susan Zises Green had one of the largest spaces.  It was beautifully layered with some of my favorite elements:  leopard, jute, hand blocked textiles, old world charm, and a bar in a basket.

Alexa Hampton's bedroom was a knockout!  For a traditionalist, she really balanced the contemporary space with aplomb.  She hid a pole with a coromandel screen and swathed the room in fabric.  The lacquered walls in Benjamin Moore's Dragon's Breath really set off the view.  Stunning!

Raji Radhakrishnan imagined a room in the home of the curator of The Met.  The well informed space, furnished with art deco and modernist pieces, a photo mural out of Versailles, and a mantle by Sir John Sloane, creates a melange of periods, just like The Met.

Charlotte Moss's room called, "Behind the Hedge" was a big hit.  Wrapped in pistachio green (I told you there was a lot of green), boxwoods, and photo murals of a delightful garden, it was Alice in Wonderland like.  Did I hear birds chirping?   The baseboard molding was digitally designed on canvas to resemble delft tiles.

Thom Filicia's lacquered GREEN entry was the perfect portal to the rooms beyond.  He also had a nod to Albert Hadley in the form of Mr. Hadley's famous sketches hung on the wall.

Jamie Drake, "Mr. Color" as I like to call him, continued the theme and added his own signature touch.

Robert Schwartz and Karen Williams for St Charles Kitchens designed the eat-in kitchen.  These show house kitchens are always so knocked-out and somewhat unrealistic for most New Yorkers.  Loved the built in planter!

ph: CLI, Trevor Tondo for NYT

Kips Bay Show House 2012: Part Un

Bryant Keller gives us a dramatic, bold entrance in this year's Kips Bay show house, celebrating it's 40th year.  Those fashionable Scalamandré dancing zebras seem to be right on, right now!  I was reminded of Mary McDonald's "red moment" in last year's entrance, here .

Bunny Williams, Brian J. McCarthy, and David Kleinberg paid tribute to their recently deceased mentor Albert Hadley, with a throughly modern mix of old and new pieces, an all gin bar, and a strong dose of red; all Hadley signatures.

"Visitors come to a show house for the fantasy, the playfulness, the flair of artistry," says Bunny Williams, this year's chairwoman.  That's why I go.  I want to be wowed.  I want to see ingenuity and fantasy at its finest, and I am rarely disappointed!

Todd Romano's luxe aubergine and citrine dream of a dining room was a showstopper.  Since the 2 condos at the The Aldyn were devoid of any of the classic architectural details that are generally the signature of the town homes used in past Kips Bay show houses, the designers really needed a narrative, a strong grounding focal point.  Otherwise the rooms might have looked as if they could disappear into the water.

Brian de Toro's sitting room was a serene mix of modern classic incorporating a few trends we have been seeing a lot of ~ lacquer and green.  Some of the designers were in their rooms the day Blogfest visited.  Hi Brian, notice the beautiful appliquéd fabric sewn on the curtains, a nice detail.

Coffinier Ku chose the bedroom to showcase a selection of Missoni fabrics because that's a room made for dreaming.  With it's colorful clouds and butterflies, nature amid the organic elements that find their way into our dreams, the bedroom made perfect sense.  I am always excited to see what this duo will come up with.  The chevron fabric, lace-like in texture, was also set into the doors beautifully.

Neal Beckstedt took advantage of a stunning corner view of the city, the Hudson River and the private pool when creating this stylish urban lounge.  I caught him doing a little housekeeping.

Alexander Doherty also created a timeless, tactile space for relaxing and reflecting.  With an interior  room, he created a gallery-like space with a background of bleached wood paneling.

There is so much more.  Come back, won't you?

photos: CLI, Trevor Tondo for NYT