a visit to rosendal

one of my favorite places,ever, is Rosendal in Stockholm...on the site of a rose pink historic house and garden, this garden center/cafe/picnic grounds are open to the public and perfect in every season...I keep thinking of my last visit in spring and the long country walk through wildflower fields, delicious lunch in the greenhouse and tea outside on the picnic tables in the orchard... even the cakes are decorated with blossoms from the gardens and the shop is filled with fresh produce and wonderful teas and rosewaters, and baked goods to take home...wish I lived closer!

summer state of mind

Matthew Mead is here shooting for his new Summer issue and the house is filled with white lilacs and pink peonies ...trying to avoid the snow outside, but we have a summer state of mind in the house!

mount vernon garden house

on this presidents weekend, i'm thinking of our presidents houses. i have always been inspired by the garden room that designer victoria hagan did many years ago at Mount Vernon for House Beautiful...it's been on my inspiration board since then and led to me to a field trip there to see the home and gardens of george washington...love the floor to ceiling shutters, the rustic stone floors, the shelf with glass cloches above the door, white linen slipcovers and of course the natural color palette...

it's the little things....

this simple Shaker candle sconce has been with me for years, and is at home in any setting I find for it ...above this small scaled wood chair painted black, it defines a place where I leave my bag, keys, papers that are coming and going...
photograph by marili forastieri

happy valentines day

eileen fisher collection

just received the new eileen fisher for garnet hill catalog and excited to see my sitting room styled as a bath for their new mats, towels and shower curtains in my favorite colors of truffle, muslin and pure white...already bought two of the bath mats for my real bathrooms...they photographed here a few months ago with photographer Ditte Isager who has worked here before and I always look forward to seeing the results in print( and on-line)!
http://www.garnethill.com/eileen-fisher-seedpod-bath-rug/bedding-home/eileen-fisher-home/bath/195506?cm_mmc_o=HFzbkCjCtBFwCjCvvlCwu_zftCjCyAT&SourceCode=K1W239B

green style survey

laurie furber's wonderful blog, greenhouse design studio, features a series of interviews with creative types about their green lifestyle tips...I'm honored that she invited me to do the survey this week and really enjoyed doing it!
http://greenhousedesignstudio.com/green-style-survey--tricia-foley.aspx

downton abbey withdrawal

so many friends are going through withdrawal over the end of downton abbey on masterpiece theater sunday nights and I remembered a fashion story I art directed for victoria magazine many years ago ...here are some of the images of Edwardian fashion circa 1915, from the archives of collector Lesley Balazs that will keep me in the mood until the next installment picks up again! photographs by toshi otsuki

the laundry room

My friends Gwen Whiting and Lindsay Wieber, who own The Laundress, posted pictures of my new laundry room with their products which was featured in Martha Stewart Living ...my favorite product is their whites detergent!
photos by Eric Piasecki
http://thelaundressny.blogspot.com/
http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/a-cozy-basement-renovation