{inspiration: smokey walls + florals}

Insane for the soft grey walls and white floorboards of this cozy Georgian cottage in Sussex, especially when mixed with charming florals . . .

{p.s.} more florals:
* a sunny morning
* in bloom
* the scent of lilacs
* impossibly romantic

{images: from livingetc september 2009, photography by chris everard, styling by mary weaver}

{beautiful details: marble & gold}

. . . carerra marble and graceful archways, floods of light and artful chandeliers, elegantly panelled walls and bits of gold -- sometimes all that's needed are a few beautiful details . . .

{images: the diversion project}

{colour inspiration: dusky taupe}

. . . afternoons are still wonderfully bright, but evenings are beginning to arrive earlier, and with them, a surprising briskness to unaccustomed summer skin, and already this past weekend, faux fur stoles and soft cashmere scarves and the longing for luxuriously warm textures, velvet and tweed and satin-trimmed coverlets -- and even warmer hues and tones, featherstone and champagne and deliriously lovely shades of dusky taupe . . .

{images: 1 - photography by nastasha; 2 - elle decor via mochatini; 3 - lonny magazine; 4 - simply seductive; 5 - country style magazine (australian) via daily imprint; 6 - a glamorous little side project}

{autumn afternoons}

friday's happy weekend posts have somehow fallen away to weekend plans -- sometimes suitcases to pack or dinner reservations, but always excitement for the days ahead -- this weekend was moments in the still-warm september sun, afternoons in dusky cafés and evenings in candlelight, remembering rustling leaves and starlight and enveloped in the magic of autumn . . .

hope you had a beautiful weekend!
xo




{a wrap-up of the previous week:}
* travel: chicago
* in the post: anna sheffield earrings
* a beautiful day + the winner is
* in the post: the sartorialist
* at home with: marc jacobs
* inspiration: new york fashion week
* at home with: carter smith

{images: stylist Marianne Cotterill's home scanned by Moodboard -- Elle Decoration September 2003, photography by JP Masclet}

{décor inspiration: a sense of grandeur}

. . . adore the idea of enveloping the walls of a small space in deep charcoal hues and positively filling every corner with perfectly ornate and beautifully embellished details -- chandeliers and velvet, walk-in closets and wine cellars, silk curtains and tufted headboards and wonderful french antiques -- to create a certain romance, an old-world charm with a luxurious sense of grandeur . . .

{1,000 square foot bungalow of designer & stylist lizzie carney; photography by bjorn wallander for country living, scans by shelter}

{interior designer: tom scheerer}

. . . early autumn days always bring back thoughts of overwhelmingly cozy and welcoming rooms like the ones by manhattan-based interior designer tom scheerer -- overflowing in natural elements of wood and wicker, and luxurious textures of fur and velvet, a warm & woodsy palette steeped in a wonderfully relaxed modernism, and best of all, always beautiful and classic pieces such as the insanely stylish white and gold four poster bed made for dreaming of september sunsets . . .

{p.s.} reminds me a little of this collection

{images: tom scheerer via domicile interior design}

{late summer, early fall}

. . . intricately panelled walls, juliet balconies and elegant fireplaces, floods of dusky and romantic light and stunning chevron floors -- if one could describe the beautiful and all too fleeting moments between late summer and early fall, perhaps it would as this . . .

{p.s.} more perfectly ornate walls:
* happily ever after
* gilt & chevron

{also:} a corner fireplace

{images: b&b italia via marcus design, haute design & a previous post}

{colour inspiration: autumn leaves}

. . . would never dream of being over summer until it has undeniably passed, but early this late-august morning, there was a nearly brisk and intoxicating freshness in the air, whirling and tousling strands of hair sexily about, and for just a moment, was falling for fall . . .

{images: domino magazine, apartment therapy via the city sage; anna dello russo's milan apartment photographed by tommy ton for jak&jil via the neo-traditionalist; anouck lepere by pablo delfos for elle belgium, september 2010 via oh & kate arends}

{in the bedroom: only sweet dreams}

. . . positively mesmerized by the beauty of this grand & impossibly romantic room, a part of a beautiful apartment available for rent{!} in provence, on the ground floor of an hôtel particulier, {an urban "private house" of a grand sort, or a very grand town house}, dating from the renaissance that was once home to members of the family of the king of france . . . already astonishing with a pier fireplace and solid oak herringbone floors, but it’s the bedroom, complete with an extravagantly handpainted and vaulted ceiling, a glimmering and glamorous chandelier, and most of all, a gilded coronet bed drape {or crown canopy} in shades of the softest lilac that inspires a place where there can only be sweet dreams . . .

{p.s.}
* another stunning coronet: crisp linens & scalloped edges
* further reading: a brief history of bed canopies

{image: la madone via pinterest}

{interior designer: miles redd}

. . . most often drawn to bright and airy, spaces, crisp whites and pale and pretty neutrals {here & here}, but every once in a while, something comes along that changes everything and suddently it's deep hues and jewel tones, an intoxicating mix of colours, patterns and textures, and pure and unbridled maximalism -- hervé pierre's paris apartment, david kaihoi's new york flat, hamish bowles' paris apartment -- and now boxwood, an enchanting and wonderfully romantic old 1920's home in altanta filled with fish ponds and gardens, grand columns and archways, french doors and luxurious velvet sofas, elegant monogrammed linens and de gournay . . .

{p.s.} the living room walls are upholstered entirely in turquoise satin

{images: photography by francesco lagnese for town & country via the love list}