Chic Reads: The House in France

The sad truth is that with everything going on right now, I don't have time to read a book.  When I do, I plan to pick up The House in France by Gully Wells.  I read an excerpt in the June 2011 issue of Vogue and was hooked.  As you might have guessed from the title, it is a memoir of the author's summers spent in Provence which after yesterday's post, seems like a perfect follow up.  The entire story doesn't take place in France though.  Gully Wells grew up in London and also lived and worked in New York.  By the sounds of it, she led a pretty swanky life and we could use some swanky after this week.

I want to thank everyone for all their kind comments and emails regarding my apartment search.  I really appreciate all the finger crossing and praying on my behalf!  It's such an arduous process but I saw a place this morning that I absolutely loved and am hoping will be mine!  A little more finger crossing please!

Inspiration: Book Shelf Styling

When I'm styling a bookshelf, I try to keep the tchotckies under control. I like books a lot and think they should be the star of the shelves normally. We're going to have a wall of books in the office (no accessories at all probably) so for the bookshelf under the new sconces in the living room, I'm going to mix things up a little. Probably like half books, half accessories.

Here are some inspiration shots. Let's play a little game of I Spy.

I spy with my little eye books arranged by color, but not in an annoying perfect sort of way. Sort of just stacked and piled by tone. Also, I like all the family photos grouped on the shelf. It's a good idea to keep things that are meant to be examined at eye level.

Kelly Klein via Habitually Chic

I love the square shape of these shelves. It makes it easier to display larger pieces like the coral and that big turquoise pottery. I would want to check out the contents of these shelves a little closer if I were a visitor here.

It's a good idea to add some bigger pieces to break it up and add a little storage. Try hat boxes, shaker boxes, baskets, lacquered boxes, lidded candy dishes, etc. I also love the yellow on the back of the shelves here.

House Beautiful

This designer left out some of the shelves to make space for bigger artwork and taller accessories. What do you think of this look? I do like some of the bookends here a lot. Pieces like the brass rams are easy to find in thrift stores or on etsy.

M Designs via La Dolce Vita

These shelves are really pretty. Not many books, and the ones here are covered in kraft paper, which is pretty for a more styled look. I love that ostrich egg and that cage/terrarium thing on the bottom shelf. So cool. Also, pretty obsessed with this color of gray.

I looove the coziness of this photo. The slouchy couch. The laid back book arrangement. I also love the Staffordshire doggies, the ginger jar and the bullseye mirror. The little checkerboard is also awesome and a nice graphic touch. I've been wanting to incorporate some sort of game board in our house too. Checkerboard or maybe backgammon...

Look! A television!! I like this idea of incorporating a TV into your built-ins.

Lonny

Lots to love on these shelves. I think the designer did a good job of leaving just enough empty space on the shelves (though I would probably prefer more books in the mix here). I think it's easy to overload the shelves and the layers, so be careful there. I think you'd want a maximum of five types of accessories on a single shelf (books count for one type of accessory here).

Martensen via Desire to Inspire

These shelves are more crowded, but I think the trick is the colors are all pretty muted. I love that these items all feel very purposeful and collected - like the owner probably has a cool adventure story behind each object.

Jaime's (I Suwanee) Bookcase of the Day

Another one with some shelves removed for art. Love that ladder!

Martha Stewart Living

Fun and quirky for a teenager's room...

Betsy Burnham via Decor Demon

I love the burl wood frame here. And this is just the right mix of books to accessories for me.

Summer Heckman in Lonny

More square shelves! Galvanized metal here maybe? I like how these are casually stacked. The color groupings flow nicely for a great overall composition.

Nuevo Estilo

Colorful and pretty. Love the turquoise vase and the modern artwork up top especially. I also spy a pair of candlesticks, two different types of coral, a beautiful tortoise shell glass vase, a zinc letter and little framed pieces of art on easels.

Ashley Mcaleer in Domino

Off to style my shelves which I'll share soon. (P.S. You're going to love the paint job!)
xx

Joan Mitchell: Lady Painter

I am still editing all my photos from High Point but decided to take a break today.  While catching up on my favorite websites, I was excited to read on Vogue.com that there is a book about to be released about my favorite artist Joan Mitchell. While I absolutely love Joan Mitchell's abstract paintings, I just realized that I don't know much about her life. Joan Mitchell: Lady Painter by Patricia Albers won't be out until May 3rd so I'll have to wait until then to read it...unless Knopf wants to send me an advance copy as a birthday present.  I have no shame when it comes to a subject I love!  Bon Weekend!

Parisian Chic

Speaking of Paris, I wish I had Parisian Chic before my last trip to Paris.  Ines de la Fressange's guide to style and the city of lights is packed full of insider tips on what to wear, where to shop, places to eat, and hotels in which to stay.  I was a little disappointed to find that the book does not contain the side by side photos of Inez and her daughter Nine d'Urso.  They were published in French Elle and are très chic!  I've included them for you.  Enjoy!

Photos of Ines and Nine by Benoît Peverelli

God is in the Details

If you were a fan of Domino magazine, then you remember Lili Diallo's amazing styling skills.  I'm very excited that her new book Details: A Stylist's Secrets to Creating Inspired Interiors has just been released so we can all learn from the master.  Also seemed like a good time to revisit her Brooklyn loft.  It's like the American version of Loulou de la Falaise's Paris apartment.  Enjoy!

Working Girl

"If you produce one book, you will have done something wonderful in your life." - Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

There are not one but two fabulous new books that chronicle the more than two decades that Jackie Kennedy Onassis spent as a book editor.  Jackie as Editor: The Literary Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis by Greg Lawrence which you can read an excerpt from in the January 2011 issue of Vanity Fair and Reading Jackie: Her Autobiography in Books by William Kuhn.  For most of her life, Jackie was defined by the men in her life but it wasn't until she started to work that she really came into her own.  Jackie was said to have nurtured her authors, many of whom left Doubleday after her death because they couldn't bear working there without her.  I was surprised to learn that she worked with Diana Vreeland on her book Allure which was recently rereleased.  Vreeland's grandson, Nicholas Vreeland, remembers Jackie coming over to Diana's apartment to work on it.  I can't wait to read both books and see what else she helped to publish! 

Diana Vreeland and Jackie Kennedy Onassis

The Art of the Scrapbook

I could spend a week discussing Cecil Beaton.  He was a photographer, set designer, costume designer, interior designer, diarist, style icon, and probably more.  Among the highlights of his career were the sets and costumes he designed for Gigi and My Fair Lady as well as the wedding photos he took of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.  If you really want to really learn about this intriguing man, then I suggest picking up Beaton: The Art of the Scrapbook from Assouline.  I will warn you that the volume is a bit expensive and quite heavy.  I could barely lift it off the shelf to leaf through it but it's definitely worth it.  Looking through the pages of images is like looking into Cecil Beaton's mind and creative process. "Beaton’s scrapbooks allowed the artist to play with pictures he had taken (and perhaps those he wished he had) in the dreamspace of artifice that was always his favorite setting."  Definitely makes me want to start a scrapbook but then again, my blog is my modern version of a scrapbook. 

"Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary." - Cecil Beaton