Hidden Garden . a restaurant with a story.
I wonder if it started with Winnie the Pooh and the Hundred Acre Wood, or The Secret Garden, perhaps too it could have been Lord & Taylor’s The Bird Cage Restaurant, which I have referenced before. I loved it there, the chirping of the birds, the cafeteria trays, the enormous bird cages gathered in the center of the restaurant. My sister Jo-Jo hated it. The food, the noise, the fuss. I’m a little fussy and I loved Raymond Lowey’s design, in just the same way I fell into step with Piglet and Pooh as they wondered the wood and snuggled into Pooh’s hollowed out tree for a pot of honey. Maybe that’s the real origination of my love of tiny spaces and not boats at all. They are cool. They are magical. They are alluring.
Schumacher . sweet little bird . they got it right.
Whatever the reason, however the seed was planted, this season has not ended for me. As the snow piles up all around, I long for a little umbrella fern to poke its kelly green finery stubbornly through the snow. I don’t think umbrella ferns are actually indigenous to this region, but that is the image that is in my head nonetheless.
deGournay . breathless from it’s beauty.
This longing for spring and other things floral, and chirpy, and secretly happy is expressing itself in my desire for a pair of One Kings Lane Chinoiserie pillows that are singing a sweet song of seduction to me. I think I’ve fallen under their spell. But it’s not just the pillows. Truth be told, I am attracted to all manner of botanicals, chinoiserie’s, and garden leaves. There’s an elegance to bringing nature in doors. Of course on my own terms. This is not an open invitation to have a mouse in my house. I realize I am no match for Mother Nature, but we have an agreement with one another, and I plan to stick to my end of the bargain, and can only hope she is a woman of principle.
Bungalow5 Panels
Some of my very favorite’s come from Schumacher. They do watery and bold, modern and old school Versailles in a way that elicits longing. de Gournay is elegance and opulence and when I have a powder room again I think I’ll paper the walls in hand painted petal a la de Gournay… true artistry.
More deGournay….stunners. Left is my favorite restaurant in the world, BG at Berdorf Goodman designed by Kelly Wearstler…my idol.
OKL . Chinoiserie . I’m hitting the buy button.
The pale mint green panels of Bungalow 5 a way to introduce just a little garden to your Parlor Level unit or any old place you call home. If you’re shy when it comes to florals, this is as careful as someone controlled, and reserved is likely to get, while still tipping their toe into the bird bath. A pillow will do too.
Irina Munoz Clares. because nature knows has all the answers.
Finally, I fell in love with the bold and cheery designs of Josef Frank. The South of France home featured in this month’s Architectural Digest, showcased a room papered in a print that’s so sooo, and not at all too much, and just the only place in the house I would want to spent my time. To be frank, Frank – you did good.
Josef Frank . Svenskt Tenn