Recently, on one of my favorite blogs,
The Realestalker, I came across the apartment of the late Dominick Dunne. It came as no surprise to me that Dunne had one of the most PERFECT NYC apartments that should I ever win the lottery, I would snatch up in a heartbeat!
It's not the space itself that is so wonderful (small but cozy, see the floorplan below) but the enormous south facing terrace that is larger than most New York apartments at 850 sf. I would fill this with trees and ivy with potted geraniums for low maintenance greenery.
The best room which takes advantage of the terrace views is the study, where I assume Dunne wrote his Vanity Fair column. Since I'm a movie buff, I would put a long deep couch under the windows facing built in bookshelves with a tv mounted on the front. The couch of course would double as a guest-bed for overnight guests. A low coffee table would hold bowls of popcorn and jelly beans during movie nights and dozens of potted orchids and plants on a console behind the sofa would enjoy the sunlight with 2 lamps for nighttime.
The long living room, seen below, would house my collection of framed architectural watercolors, be painted a french gray and receive an antique oak herringbone wood floor. I would also need to source an antique white marble fireplace and some lalique crystal wall sconces to brighten the space. I would leave the french doors without any window treatment for a clean look and an antique rug would define the seating area. 2 comfortable reading chairs in a warm velvet, an antique sofa and mirrored coffee table would finish off this end of the room.
The other side I would treat as a dining area with 60" round dining table, perhaps with parsons chairs for comfortable seating for long suppers with friends. The kitchen I would continue in the same french gray color (including painting the lower cabinets. A mirrored backsplash and countertops (ala Miles Redd) and painted wood shelving instead of cabinets to open up the space would be a great way to display my collection of china! I might even go with undercounter refrigerator drawers to create more counter and shelf space. That plate rack has GOT to GO as does the dated light fixture. I would continue the same wood flooring from the living room.
The fussy roman blinds in the bedroom would be replaced with simple drapes in a gray linen to match the wall color: Continue the wood floor and a soft carpet would be nice underfoot near the bed. Would a mirrored 4 poster bed be too over the top, or perhaps overdone as many NY interior designers seem to favor this look? The dressing room currently has a beautiful chipendale mirror, seen through the doorway, that I would definitely want to keep!
What would you do with the space? Would you prefer such a generous terrace or a larger apartment?
Recently, on one of my favorite blogs, The Realestalker, I came across the apartment of the late Dominick Dunne. It came as no surprise to me that Dunne had one of the most PERFECT NYC apartments that should I ever win the lottery, I would snatch up in a heartbeat!
The best room which takes advantage of the terrace views is the study, where I assume Dunne wrote his Vanity Fair column. Since I'm a movie buff, I would put a long deep couch under the windows facing built in bookshelves with a tv mounted on the front. The couch of course would double as a guest-bed for overnight guests. A low coffee table would hold bowls of popcorn and jelly beans during movie nights and dozens of potted orchids and plants on a console behind the sofa would enjoy the sunlight with 2 lamps for nighttime.
Turns out this is the last of a series of 12. Hallmark has been doing faithful architectural renditions of churches for 12 years: Where have I been? The box even gives the history of the style and when it was most popular (1890s-1920s). Each little individual red brick is rendered on the facade, as well as a red clay tile roof, which you can't see in my poor photographs!
Now I just have to collect the other 11!!
The chamber adjacent is painted all white, I doubt this is original but I really love the look of this. It's as if you bought an old victorian or tudor house with dark paneling and wanted to brighten it up a bit. All that dark wood can get so depressing.
While the bed chamber of the apartment had a more delicate porcelain chandelier. Definitely a girls room.
Don't you think these are the prettiest rooms you've seen in a long time?
I loved the subtle turquoise theme in these rooms - these chairs would have only been enhanced by footstools in red leather and maybe a sisal rug and a mirrored sidetable to hold a drink (but thats if this was my own house and not a historically accurate museum!).
You just can't take a bad picture in these rooms!
Meant to impress, the room is also very personal and displays her love of everything floral.
The palace is designed in enfilade style and there is a series of rooms devoted to her, all elegant (as seen below) but none as pretty as her bedroom.
It was here where the angry mob descended looking to rape and kill her (
So my favorite wedgwood cuckoo pattern was used along with a royal doulton cake platter, wedgwood cobalt jasperware cream & sugar and limoge underplates. 
One of the MUSTS for me in Paris was to visit the galleries of the 
The museum fills an enormous wing of the Louvre with one collection (by period) per floor. I was most excited to visit the collection of 18th century arts where we spent most of our time; and you can't have a display of 18th century decorative arts without some chinoiserie.
A small display showed off the best of the best. Displayed against red lacquer panels, I think my favorite aspect was how colorful it all was!
Above you see a lot of items that show the rococo influence also popular at the time. Chinoiserie really gained stride through rococo as the fantasty of it really mixed well with the design style's ideals. However, by the late 18th century, strict neoclassicism was in vogue and fanciful chinoiserie was mostly out. Chinoiserie wasn't about accurate Chinese design but rather a westerner's take on it: theater.
The movement of chinoiserie really began with the import of china from the 'far east' in the 17th century and spread from there to include other household items, even entire buildings (although the style was mostly relegated to follies or particular rooms).
Chinoiserie was especially popular in France, thanks in part to Louis XIV and Madame du Barry who had a special fondness for it. Even the term is French (chinese-esque)!
I'll end with this fantastic French barometer / thermometer which was in a case with a lot of china (which you know I loved). Small statues of men are housed in a pagoda form, on which rests a small tube of mercury (see it between the 2 statues at the base). Now if only I could find something like this on ebay......
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