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.
Interior Design : Decorating Notes from Our Room at Kips Bay
Hang your artwork salon style – by its nature it says “add more whenever you want”
Slipcovers give you flexibility: a feeling of being more relaxed, informal… and can stretch the budget
Drama is created with contrast – in the case of these rooms, a light blue is used in the sitting room and a dark blue in the bedroom. The depth of color suits the room’s use – dark for sleeping, light for reading, relaxing and conversation
Baskets, lacquered trays and linen boxes organize newspapers, magazines and mail and at the same time keep things accessible
Use a portiere in an entry foyer/vestibule or between two rooms to create a break, a sense of discovery, or just a little mystery
Use a pedestal and a large jardiniere in front of a window that together become sculptural – one large object
An easel allows you to display art in addition to hanging on the walls. It can be changed frequently, giving the room a sense of movement and freshness
Bamboo window shades add texture, a dash of informality, and create that essential contrast with silk curtains
Use a variety of table lamps and floor lamps – minimize recessed ceiling lights – and by all means, use candlelight!
Embroidery enhances a plain fabric to the level of home couture
Divide a screen in half and anchor two corners
Just about anything can be used for napping. a day bed, a sofa, or a chaise
This has been a great season for show houses. Charlotte has seen gorgeous rooms from Palm Beach to Charlotte, Chicago to New York City – and what better way to end the spring than in Rumson, NJ at the Stately Homes by the Sea Encore Designer Show House.
This year’s show house benefited the Visiting Nurse Association of Central Jersey and took place at Sheep’s Run, a beautiful estate built in 1915 for Thomas F. Vietor and his wife, the former Elizabeth Allen. The house evokes the romantic charm of a Cotswold cottage, featuring extensive, ornamental metalwork, twenty-seven rooms and ten tiled baths.
This has been a great season for show houses. Charlotte has seen gorgeous rooms from Palm Beach to Charlotte, Chicago to New York City – and what better way to end the spring than in Rumson, NJ at the Stately Homes by the Sea Encore Designer Show House.
This year’s show house benefited the Visiting Nurse Association of Central Jersey and took place at Sheep’s Run, a beautiful estate built in 1915 for Thomas F. Vietor and his wife, the former Elizabeth Allen. The house evokes the romantic charm of a Cotswold cottage, featuring extensive, ornamental metalwork, twenty-seven rooms and ten tiled baths.
“…the colors ran the gamut of Fowler’s range. Against a grey-lavender ground, frosted green trees – with strange white flowers – bear clusters of purple berries and green… wiggly bouquets of mauve poppies.”
The King of Sweden gave Nancy Lancaster a fragment of Chinese painted paper—that provided the inspiration for a mural described above painted by John Fowler and George Oakes. The mood of this quote and the paper set the tone for the Master Suite’s scheme…
The color mauve was discovered in 1856 by the eighteen-year-old William Perkin—go read Mauve by Simon Garfield (Faber and Faber 2000)—a fascinating story…
The palette in the Master Suite… For her, French blue, mauve, ivory, pale pink and celadon. For him, midnight blue, pistachio and imperial yellow…
Think artemnesia, anemones, helichrysum, philadelphus, lavender, baptisia, and olive…
Playing in the background…Dusty, Anita, Aretha, Etta, Reba, Mariah, Patti, Nina, Eartha, Bette, Carla…
The room fragrance wafting gently in the background, Left Bank by Charlotte Moss for Agraria…
“Regarde – look, feel, wonder, accept, live!” – Colette’s philosophy of life inspires us.
2009 Show House Designers Include:
Bunny Williams Incorporated
Charles Pavarini III Design Associates Inc.
Christopher Coleman and Angel Sanchez
Christopher Corcoran
Eileen Kathryn Boyd Interiors
Joe Nye, Inc.
and many more!
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!
The New York flower market in the early morning is a breath of freshness and hyperactivity. Walking through 28th Street is a call back to some old world market, the sidewalks lined with with vendors and the air filled with perfume – it is a visual feast at every turn.
Real flowers aren’t the only great finds – just browse around Pany Silk Flowers and see if you’re not fooled by the incredible life-like silk bouquets! Go to B & J or Jamali for all your other supplies – baskets, containers, accessories, etc.
Here are a few flower shots from some of Charlotte’s favorite shops…can you tell the real flowers from the silk ones?
George Rallis – wholesale – 803 Avenue of the Americas, (212) 989-4747
March 23, 2009
Interior Design : Kips Bay Show House…a quick flashback to 2006!
During the Kips Bay 2006 Show House, Charlotte & Pete Abel (of Abel Cine Tech) produced a video documenting the rooms and talking to the designers. Watch this clip of Charlotte with renowned designer Mario Buatta as he thinks back on his show house career in his inimitable style. (Can you imagine what’s on his cutting room floor?)
A Connoisseur’s Eye: Inside the 34th Annual Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club Show House is available for purchase on our site and includes rooms & clips with Thom Filicia, Eric Cohler, Barbara Ostrom, Joel Allen, and many more!
Coromandel, tete de negre, the color of toast
The New York flower market in the early morning is a breath of freshness and hyperactivity. Walking through 28th Street is a call back to some old world market, the sidewalks lined with with vendors and the air filled with perfume – it is a visual feast at every turn.
