Part I The best celebrity homes...stunning!

Dreams are illustrations... from the book your soul is writing about you.  ~Marsha Norman


Starting in Feb. I am going to be doing monthly giveaways! In Feb. I will be giving away 2 fabulous needlepoint floral pillows (same private label company that sells to Pierre Deux) Subscribe/follow me so you have a chance to win! More details to follow............


I have had several of you asking why I don't photograph the interior of our new house, we are just now insulating it, it hasn't even been sheetrocked yet. Once it has been sheetrocked, we will start taking regular pictures as the finishing stages begin.........(definitely the fun part)

We can all dream, right? I know there are plenty and I do mean PLENTY of celebrities out there who have an abundance of money but absolutely zilch in the taste department. I am often shocked to see how they spend their money on tasteless homes and even tackier decor.  Then,  there are the smart cookies who know to hire the best of the best and hire them to, while reflecting their wishes and styles, design and  decorate a custom, tailor made home that is exquisite, appropriate for whatever style is being done in and amazingly cohesive.
 I really have enjoyed over the years, seeing various celebrities homes and of course there are certain ones that really rank way up there (in my humble opinion) The maestro of design, himself, Ralph Lauren being one of them. You gotta give it to him, like him or not, he is a  master and I don't use the word lightly at not only creating luxurious but inviting and fabulous looking living spaces but going a step further and perfecting an actual lifestyle, whether it be on a sprawling Colorado ranch, a seaside Caribbean retreat, a slick Manhattan penthouse or a refined gentleman's country home. 
So hope you enjoy my part 1 of some amazing celebrity homes, I continue to get inspiration from many of these pictures and love the feeling of "being swept away" that so many of them evoke. They are all very different in style and while I personally may like one style over the other, the hallmarks of good design and refined taste always apply and appeal to me no matter the style of the home. So today we look at three of Ralph Laurens exquisite residences. Enjoy, and let me know which is your favorite....and stay tuned for another fabulous celebrities' home tomorrow....

RALPH LAURENS CARIBBEAN ESTATE IN JAMAICA

Beautiful foyer, loving the white and blue touches against the dark woods

A screening room.....I could see myself relaxing in there!

Love the seclusion of the pool and the lushness of the gorgeous vegetation

A view from the living room...not too bad!

Such a beautiful setting, the covered porch, casually elegant

The happy couple looking quite chic in all white


So when you are tired of just lounging looking at the endless ocean, swimming and relaxing and need a little more action, you can head over to Ralph's dreamy one of a kind fabulous Colorado working ranch, its right out of one of his ads but its the real deal, take a look......


RALPH LAURENS FABULOUS DOUBLE DL RANCH IN COLORADO

A fabulous dining room in front of a roaring fire....

The happy couple..Ralph and Ricky, they look so relaxed

The cozy screening room....wouldn't it be fun to preview a movie in that room?

The inviting family room, a perfect place to retreat to on a snowy day

I don't know if this is a "real" tack room or just a setting but its awfully charming

A bathroom, rustic but wonderful

This setting is truly breathtaking!

Now  we move on to his exquisite (and one of my personal all time favorites) country estate in Bedford, NY.....fabulous! Decor of course by Ralph Lauren (www.ralphlauren.com) and the antique rugs are from Safavieh Home Furnishings (www.safaviehhome.com)


RALPH LAURENS FABULOUS COUNTRY ESTATE IN BEDFORD, NY

A beautifully proportioned English/French looking manor home, love the roof line and all the ivy growing up the facade, the vintage cars are a nice touch too

Beautiful display or rich navy's and burgundy's make the living room feel inviting and not stuffy though its definitely a formal feeling room

Love this dining room, so rich looking with the chestnut and plaid covered chairs, the beautiful loden green walls and all the art work

The floral chair and plaid walls definitely  work here

More blues throughout.....love how the color pops in every room

Love this den, again the colors are what make it and love this Heriz/Serapi rug

Stunning master bath with the Louis XVI mantle and deep soaking tub, the ivory colors make it feel so serene

Master bedroom certainly is very striking with the rich highly polished woods and navy theme, it feels very "yacht like"

The rear patio, love that ivy!

The navy theme continues to the back patio...dreamy

Ralph's closet...would you expect anything less?

Aren't the backs of homes the most beautiful part? Wow I think this is perfection!

Hope you enjoyed this mini escape to Colorado, Jamaica and Bedford....see you tomorrow!

Chinoiserie, sconces, marble floors....oh my!

"Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort"
-Franklin Roosevelt 

Starting in Feb. I am going to be doing monthly giveaways! In Feb. I will be giving away 2 fabulous needlepoint floral pillows (same private label company that sells to Pierre Deux) Subscribe/follow me so you have a chance to win! More details to follow............


Good morning, hope your day is fabulous...today in NY they are calling for more snow...fun. I am personally way over winter at this point and its just begun. I am a summer/spring/fall girl at heart, anything but winter!   Anyway, as my decisions start to come together, one which I am very excited about working on is my dining room. We have a beautiful wall of mahogany french doors that leads to the back terrace,a beautiful fireplace wall where a marble Louis XVI mantle will be placed and lots of sconces throughout. Its a large gracious dining room, about 21x29. I have decided to go with a chinoiserie paper and am looking at Gracie, Paul Montgemory and DeGournay. I am looking to have the paper made in a pale blue/green field with touches of beige's,golds,greens and a spotting of red. 


A few patterns I love are below. ......the ones shown are all from Gracie Papers. I went to their design studio about eight months ago and it was such an incredible treat...the really have such amazing things.  Check out their magnificent array of reproduction and antique chinoiserie panels...truly exquisite. (www.graciestudio.com)

Then we move on to lighting....I love the sconces from Decorative Source in Greenwich, CT. I bought a lot of lighting for my old house from them and their things are timeless and elegant. I am going  to order a bunch of sconces, as we need so many and I love the lighting achieved with sconces and lamps (prefer minimal use of high hats/overhead lighting except for task lighting like in the kitchen,bathroom,etc....)....LOVE their line of lighting! Check out their lighting and accessories, they import from Europe and China and really have exquisite things....www.decorativecrafts.com

Moving on......I am in the throws of also selecting the flooring for our foyer and hallway which runs the entire width of the house and front to back. I have decided on the traditional limestone with dots placed on the diagonal. I am going for a french limestone which is very quiet almost no movement and very subdued. In my old house  I had it with the classic black (it is shown in my original post) but I am considering this time around going with the limestone with a gold/taupe colored marble/stone. It happens to be gorgeous and very french indeed. My husband is not as keen on it however and something tells me we will end up going the black dot route. Nevertheless here are a few pictures I have collected over the years, I only list where I got them if I happen to know but many of these pictures I have had in my online album way before I knew I was going to start an online blog (otherwise I do like to give credit where it is due) Let me know if you have a favorite! 

This was out of Connecticut homes and gardens and looks a lot like my previous floor 

Love the classic checkerboard but my husband is not a fan

 we

A fabulous foyer from a Maurice Fatio house from the Douglas Newby website...... this is so stunning and an example of the limestone with the taupe colored marble as opposed to the black

Same floor by the staircase as the Maurice Fatio house above

Another very similar floor, this one I took a picture of a showhouse in Boston

From Paris Ceramics, this rondele design is very similar to one we will use in our foyer

Another option

The classic..it is certainly quite beautiful!

Very pretty the way it was boxed out here in this foyer

Wish I could remember where I got this picture...would love to see the rest of this stunning home!

This was an ad out of a fashion magazine, and again I was drawn to the gold/taupe colored marble with the limestone...its monochromatic yet so elegant and a little different

So that concludes my post today, hope you all have a fabulous day. Talk to you tomorrow!

Bedrooms........a place to rest your weary soul

Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to.  ~John Ed Pearce

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Bedrooms....who doesn't love to walk into a dreamy, heavenly, Calgon take me away bedroom? At the end of the day, isn't that what its all about, coming home to a beautiful home, whatever beautiful may mean to you? Besides coming home to a beautiful space being very important to me, coming home to my bedroom is of paramount importance because I want my room to take me away the minute I walk into it, it is my sanctuary.  I felt that way with my old bedroom, it was just bliss....it was done in a very soft palette with luxurious fabrics abound, a soft wool trellis carpeting, magnificent Julia Gray furniture and the absolute softest most delicious bedding by Home Treasures. Walking into my room felt like I was walking on a cloud. I closed the door and voila instantly I was transformed to a calm and peaceful place, no matter what chaos raged outside my door (and often it was my sons fighting or my husband wondering where dinner was...lol)


So in my quest to again achieve another "special and serene" space I am in  hot pursuit and collecting pictures, magazine's and books for inspiration. Several of Michael Howard's bedrooms (Interior designer out of Atlanta) and who is highly talented, are just dreamy. I also like Rinfret Designs from CT. I tend to go for the soft colors and a understated perfect scale; I find  that to be soothing and calming. I have enclosed some  bedrooms  that I have drawn inspiration from. Do you have a favorite?

By Rinfret Designs, this taupe and blue bedroom is very handsome and striking but serene and inviting, I like the mirrored nightstands and bed canopy

As seen in Veranda magazine, if you like reds (which I do) and monograms, this is awfully pretty

This doesn't have the warm cozy feel as some of the others with more color but the black and white is striking and very handsome and clean

Love the colors, very soothing...great little loveseat at the end of the bed, liking the kidney shape (James Michael Howard)

This is GORGEOUS...yes its very "fancy" but the colors, the draping, the stunning Kerman rug, the beautiful french mantle are all quite spectacular

This is a lovely combination of soft colors with a nice patterned canopy against an interesting headboard....I like the colors 

I looove monograms and love the canopy over the bed

Another classic Mario Buatta room, done in his signature Chintz, but it works, though I realize it would be quite "frilly" for most men

A beautiful soft colored neutral tailored bedroom, simple but elegant

Beautiful colors, the softest pale blue/green against crisp ivory (James Michael Howard)

I like this room, in the neutrals, its not very traditional nor very modern, just very classic and soothing to the eye (James Michael Howard)

This is a very inviting room, a lot of furniture and very full but very comfortable and elegant looking (James Michael Howard)

Great carpeting with a subtle design allows this room to keep it simple and light

(James Michael Howard)

I like this for an older boys room, rich blues with an oriental rug

This is a very elegant room, I love the inviting and warm colors against the rich woods

This is very sweet and simple

This is pretty in a "transitional" way, it has a soothing palette and is very handsome without being masculine

Done in the rich gold and ivory tones, this is so inviting..the plump bed is a beautiful and soft look in the bedroom, the only thing I do not like here is the bench, it is not at all in keeping with the elegance of the rest of the room and is a little cheap looking (and I am not a fan of roman columns for that matter either)

I like the way this oceanfront bedroom chose to downplay the colors and focus on the spectacular ocean, but it remains very inviting at the same time

If you were going to have a sitting room that just happen to overlook the ocean, wouldnt' this make a pretty one in all the muted tones?

Pure perfection, the play of colors, pattern, and subtlety is done so well here

I realize for most men, they would faint walking into a pink painted room done up with all kinds of florals and checks, but you must admit its a happy room!

This is more modern than I would ever go, but it is very appealing, very monochromatic but love the textures and design

This is a very dramatic room done by Mario Buatta, in all his navy chintz glory, it is full of pomp and circumstance but certainly delivers!