C'est Inspiré is simply that - what is inspiring. Where the words end, images continue to speak. Seeing all that is around us, we seek some aspect of something that is life enhancing... something that you would like to be reminded of - to revisit. Something to capture and bring into your world, not leave behind... . That is why I take a camera everywhere; have spent countless hours organizing images in scrapbooks and pouring over them later to revisit the place, the people, the memory.
So, C'est Inspiré may be a single photo - or it may be 50, it may mean one thing to me, another to you - the meaning isn't important. Did it inspire? Did it make you smile? Did it bring back a pleasant memory? One or all of the above will do.
During a brief period of his life, the legendary art historian Bernard Berenson kept diaries where he wrote about how to see - and what he saw. These diaries were published under the title The Passionate Sightseer and edited by Raymund Mortimer.
Anyone, anywhere, anytime can be a passionate sightseer - just look.
Charlotte hosted a dinner last night in honor of Mitchell Owens, Elle Decor’s Editor-at-Large, who has just completed a series of lectures at the New York School of Interior Design. Mitch’s series included Room, Interrupted: Jean-Michel Frank’s Salon for Marie-Laure de Noailles, Billy Baldwin and Villa Fiorentina, and the grand finale was When John Fowler Met Pauline de Rothschild. If you were not there, you truly missed an incredible series of thoroughly researched, beautifully illustrated presentations, delivered with anecdotes (often revealing & naughty!) in his dry, matter of fact, wicked sense of humor.
The table favors and desserts for the dinner party reflected Pauline’s decorating style, sensibility and affinity for all things oriental.
To see more of Sylvia’s creations go to www.sylviaweinstock.com
April 9, 2009
As we prepare for Kips Bay 2009, we thought it would be fun to take a look back at some of Charlotte’s memorable rooms, many of them inspired by some of our favorite Muses – Coco, Pauline, and Mona, to be exact! 
A sepia toile from Travers depicts enjoyment and the pursuit of pleasure
This tiny room, our first Kips Bay Show House, was actually a passageway we closed off
We created a tented bed and decorated the landing leading into the room with
treillage walls, pedestals & urns
A seductive small space – for one, or even better, for two
A landscape of chinoiserie by de Gournay
An umbrella bed for napping
Velvets, Chinese embroidered silk, cashmere, leopard
Individual Oriental poppies in vases on the mantel – when a single blossom makes a statement
Coromandel, tete de negre, the color of toast
Leather, parchment, raw silk, velvet
Rock crystal, Louis XVI & anemones
A floating bed
Mouton Blue
Stationery organized in baskets
Books – everywhere
A dressing table casually draped yet elegantly detailed with lapis beads
Charlotte’s “Daydream” wallpaper by Brunschwig & Fils
Cricket boxes & turtle shells
Every girl’s dream – a pied-a-terre with room service!
A wicker sofa lives unselfconsciously with a lacquered bureau plat
Two rooms created from one by adding a mahogany & glass screen
Bright floors reflect light, feel fresh, and warm the space
A tented room lends a romantic & exotic feel to an office dressing room
Fashion photos are on the wall, on the bookcase, and placed on easels – nothing is static
Check back for our teaser preview of this year’s room and lots of photos once the Kips Bay Show House opens on April 17th – hope to see you there!
April 2, 2009
