{decor inspiration: endless summer}

. . . can never resist the elegance of french doors, especially when they are flung open to the intoxicating sounds of the ocean and the last fading days of summer -- and every year around this time, striped rugs and ceiling beams and the charm of a quaint beachside cottage is overwhelmingly alluring . . .

{carolyn espley-miller's beach house in carpinteria, california, photography by david tsay for house beautiful, aged and gilded via the simply luxurious life}

{room inspiration: vintage wallpaper}

. . . a complete and longstanding love-affair with floral wallpaper, especially hand-painted or vintage {or both}, and the more elaborate, the better -- and so, was absolutely filled with delight upon discovering this bedroom {thanks, felicity!} in a tiny {tiny} apartment in the east village, with walls enveloped in an incredibly stunning hand-painted 18th-century wallpaper . . .

{an excerpt:}

I want to know more about that wallpaper. It gives the room an ancient, exalted feeling.
It's 18th-century Chinese. I stumbled across it at an auction, this pile of dilapidated pieces that nobody else wanted. I had to have it. I found three large scenes, placed them around the room, and pieced in the gaps and torn bits. The idea was to create a jewel-box effect in the bedroom, with pattern to distract your senses from the tight quarters. I papered the wall in the spirit of a collage, trying to make the most of a beautiful old thing. . .

-- designer david kaihoi, house beautiful

************

{p.s.} the little trundle bed cleverly tucks away in the morning

{also lovely:} hand-painted wall murals

{images: photography by ngoc minh ngo for a small one-bedroom apartment made big by barbara king for house beautiful}

{home inspiration: old world glamour}

. . . quite possibly the most romantic ever, have completely fallen for this master bath designed to evoke the luxury and glamour of a powder room in a 1920s grand hotel, with perfectly elegant details such as mirrored bureaus and calcutta marble, an antique gilt mirror and mosaic tiles, vintage gilt & crystal sconces and a 1930s french tufted settee, floods of light and a mirrored tray always filled with perfume and roses . . .

{images: scans, photography by john granen for house beautiful june 2010, interview by lisa cregan, bathroom design by carrie hayden}

{inspiration: always the ocean}

. . . few things are more romantic than the ocean -- the lull of crashing waves, the promise of sandy toes and saltwater kisses -- and so, fell in love with the underwater enchantment of glittering and iridescent mother-of-pearl & mirrors, and the shapes of scallop shells & starfish in this charming beach house powder room . . .

". . . if your love were a grain of sand, mine would be a universe of beaches."

~from The Princess Bride

{images: 1 - daria werbowy via a glamorous little side project; 2 - photography by james merrell for house beautiful via creategirl}

{kitchen inspiration: silver leaf mirror}

. . . very much inspired by the idea of a large-scale and glamorous silver-leaf Napoleon III mirror in the kitchen and the beautiful floods of light it reflects . . .

{image: photography by william abranowicz for house beautiful}

{yesterday's golden rays}

. . . there are five bouquets of fresh flowers in the living room, all in pretty antique vases, milk glass, vintage silver and crystal, the room flooded with the enchanting scent of petals and blossoms, and with yesterday's golden rays, spring does not feel nearly as far away . . .

{image: photography by francesco lagnese for house beautiful february 2010}