One of my favorite things...

One of the most important parts of a home to me is ambience. Not only for when you have guests over, but after a long day at work it's important to come home and unwind. One of the best and easiest ways is some soft music and a great scented candle. My FAVORITE is from Tocca and is named ' Cleopatra' ( I love just the name! ). Now, never mind the history lesson where it's actually historically pronounced 'Cle-OP-tra' - it just smells GREAT. From the website -they describe it better than I ever could

"A blend of cucumber and grapefruit emits a light and clean, yet luxuriously exotic scent for the bathroom, underscoring Cleopatra’s indulgence for her milk baths."

Now, did they even have cucumbers ( or grapefruit for that matter) in ancient Egypt? I really doubt it -but just check it out sometime and forget these formalities. I promise you you won't regret it ( and now you know what to get me if you ever need a gift idea! ). Plus these last forever! They say 60 hours -but I think they last more like 70.

Check out the website too if you ever get a chance. Their marketing director must be tres chic - gorgeous photography, slick styling and LOVE that robins egg blue!

http://www.tocca.com

Traveling: San Francisco

I'm leaving on a trip to Madrid in a few weeks and the plans have me remembering some of the other trips I've taken. Last spring I went to San Fransisco and just LOVED it -have you been? Not only is the scenery breathtaking -but it has some of the best architecture this side of the Atlantic. Here are a few of my favorites! You have to check it out sometime if you haven'tbeen! Nob Hill had some great apartment buildings - check out this crazy white one with all the rounded bays! I wonder what it's like inside...imagine the views!

Check out this CRAZY venetian fantasy of a house! Who lives there, Romeo or Juliet?

This staircase was just really charming and glamorous I thought - from a great neighborhood near the legion of honor - Cliffwalk ( where Robin Williams lives! )

This is a GREAT art-deco sky-scraper. I'd love to work in there!







And the most touristy for last....but it is amazing!

Scenic Wallpapers

I've long been a fan of Scenic wallpapers - especially when used in fresh ways. I remember 10 years ago Ralph Lauren used them in their ad campaigns and that is when I first heard of Zuber hand-painted wallpapers.The cadillacs of hand-painted scenic wallpapers have been around for awhile and antique panels sell for a mint. You can see a few of them here

http://www.zuber.fr/default_zone/gb/html/page-24.html

I think something more contemporary would look really chic with some very simple, minimalistic furniture in an entry way or dining room. Wouldn't this entry space look really beautiful with a scenic wallpaper like the one below rather than the painting and grey wall and still retain it's modern character?

or maybe this one in silver??
Here are some other favorite patterns ( more traditional ) and used in a dining room. Of course this is a beautiful room without the paper, but I think it really adds a lot to the character of the space and makes it a little more fun than a damask wallcovering or just paint. Imagine it by candlelight! The paper in grey and white tones is especially beautiful ( and check out that amazing fireplace! )

Here is a successful use of scenic wallpaper from a recent issue of domino... Isn't this a heavenly bedroom? I love how the blues in the curtains and lamp relate to the 'sky' of the wallpaper. The bold carpet also works great with the heavily patterned paper.

Miles Redd uses a lot of these wallpapers to bring a focal point to 'lost' areas such as hallways. This creates a 'view' and focal point to ackward areas. If you can't have a physical view from a window or through different rooms, why not create one? This image is just supposed to showcase a piece of wallpaper from fromental, but I think this would look great with the paper going up onto the ceiling.....it would make you feel like you were in a forest with branches overhead!

SOURCES:

http://www.degournay.com/

http://www.graciestudio.com/home.html

http://www.fromental.co.uk/

And in the beginning........

I've been inspired by all the wonderful blogs I read daily to post my own little thoughts on the world and share what I've found. I think it will mainly relate to the design world but I'm sure I'll review movies I've seen and some new music. So pull up a chair, relax and welcome to my world :-)