The Timeless Appeal of Plain English

Posted on April 6, 2018 by Stacey Bewkes   •   10 Comments

The Timeless Appeal of Plain English

Plain English is appealing in any form. Whether language, or in this case traditional bespoke kitchens, we like it straight forward with proper and enduring construction, gracious yet utilitarian style and a certain personal flair. Plain English kitchens checks all the boxes with the debut of their beautiful new Greenwich Village, NY showroom.

Over 25 years ago, Plain English was founded, like many of the best firms, to fulfill its owners unmet needs and desires. Tony Niblock and Katie Fontana wanted a traditional, painted kitchen for their house in Suffolk, England. When they couldn’t find what they envisioned, they hired a local carpenter to make it, painted it themselves and then of course Plain English was born.…

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Putting on the Ritz

Posted on April 3, 2018 by Stacey Bewkes   •   4 Comments

Putting on the Ritz

There are so many wonderful upcoming auctions, it’s difficult to keep up. First on my calendar is French house Artcurial‘s mammoth sale from the Ritz Paris. Since 1898, the beautiful Place Vendôme has been home to this iconic hotel.

Founded by César Ritz, the hotel became “the ambassador of French luxury.” The entrance to one of the old Ritz suites below.

photo Pascal Chevallier:Gamma-Rapha

Everyone from the Duke and Duchess of Windsor (the original Windsor Suite, below) to Coco Chanel to F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald were regular guests, not to mention throngs of international royalty, Hollywood stars, world leaders, designers and artists.…

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DIFFA Dining by Design 2018

Posted on March 29, 2018 by Stacey Bewkes   •   2 Comments

DIFFA Dining by Design 2018

Continuing our look at DIFFA’s Dining by Design 2018, we start with the beautiful Ralph Lauren Home table. Inspired by the courtyard of Ralph’s restaurant in Paris, the romantic setting under their Evalina chandelier included chairs brought in for the occasion from Ralph Lauren’s Bedford estate.

Blue and white has been a longstanding theme with their collections and here Cote d’Azure, Mason and Casey stoneware create a charming painterly mix. Underneath, the new white Belcourt porcelain, produced in collaboration with Bernardaud, adds a crisp and refined touch.

The Dagny hand-cut crystal has long been one of my favorite patterns

The new Bailey wine tote in wicker and leather with wine opener, cheese knives and four porcelain plates

also echoes the Paris store with its signature insignia and ticking stripe interior.…

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Peter Pennoyer at DIFFA Dining by Design

Posted on March 27, 2018 by Stacey Bewkes   •   5 Comments

Peter Pennoyer at DIFFA Dining by Design

DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS) is a cause close to the design community’s heart and their annual Dining by Design gala is always an inspiring event, where brands and designers come together with creative installations. I was delighted this year to be sitting at architect Peter Pennoyer’s table, where he and his interiors team, led by Alice Engel, partnered with Sunbrella.

Imagining a fantasy dinner party including luminaries of literature and design, they created tasseled chair covers (expertly executed by Anthony Lawrence Belfair, the firm who beautifully reimagined my borne settee) with the names of such legends as Frederick Law Olmsted, Virginia Wolf and Rosario Candela (Peter will be designing the upcoming exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York on the iconic NYC architect).…

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Out and About in Florida and Around the World

Posted on March 25, 2018 by Stacey Bewkes   •   6 Comments

Out and About in Florida and Around the World

This past week I was happily out and about in Florida, visiting family and escaping the unseasonable weather. It was refreshing to see green and color in both nature

and the tropical exteriors.

And while I was away, there was also an abundance of inspiration online from some favorite publications, reinforcing an oft-favored theme in these parts of looking back to move forward. As Hanya Yanagihara espoused in her editor letter for this week’s inspiring T Magazine Design Issue, “None of us can resist announcing our presence, no matter how temporal or humble our dwelling might be; we write ourselves into walls as a way of protesting the relentlessness, the uncaringness, of time.” Tom Delvan’s wonderful piece on Schloss Hollenegg is a particularly striking example.…

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At Home with Carolyne Roehm in Charleston

Posted on March 18, 2018 by Stacey Bewkes   •   28 Comments

At Home with Carolyne Roehm in Charleston

Ever since watching Gone with the Wind as a child, Carolyne Roehm has long had a predilection for the South. As she matured, her interests turned more to European history, particularly that of France, where she spent many years on and off. But after a fruitless search for a house in the country there, her thoughts turned back here to the States. And after several trips visiting friends in Charleston, she found and fell in love with Chisholm House, a historic 19th century Greek revival house. Please join me and Susanna for a behind the scenes visit with the multi-talented and ever evolving Carolyne Roehm in Charleston.…

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Posted in architecture, art, At Home with, furniture, interior design, Quintessence video series, Stylish Shopping, travel | Tagged , , , , , | 28 Comments  

Frank de Biasi x Christie’s Rockefeller Collection Auction

Posted on March 16, 2018 by Stacey Bewkes   •   8 Comments

Frank de Biasi x Christie’s Rockefeller Collection Auction

The next Christie’s collaboration celebrating the upcoming Peggy and David Rockefeller Collection auction is with designer Frank de Biasi. The Christie’s alumnus creatively reimagined the Lobby Gallery at the auction house incorporating items from the sale. A brilliant Mongiardino-like solution for the walls of the blank-box-of-a-space, using a cut and paste collage of Doug and Gene Meyer (Gene is Frank’s partner) wallpapers for Holland and Sherry, set the stage for a stylish interpretation of the collection.

Two large cherry blossom filled 17th – 18th c. Asian storage jars flank the entry and a go-with-everything 19th c. Bakshaish carpet anchors the space.…

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Lunch with Martha Stewart & Kevin Sharkey at Christie’s

Posted on March 11, 2018 by Stacey Bewkes   •   16 Comments

Lunch with Martha Stewart & Kevin Sharkey at Christie’s

While the latest nor’easter blew through with a vengeance last week, causing event cancelations and delays, I was delighted to still be able to attend a marvelous luncheon at Christie’s hosted by chairman Marc Porter and Martha Stewart with co-author Kevin Sharkey, celebrating their new book, Martha’s Flowers, and the upcoming Peggy & David Rockefeller Collection auction.

photo above courtesy of Christie’s

Coordinating with the much-anticipated sale coming in May at Christie’s, Kevin created six spectacular floral arrangements incorporating porcelain pieces from the legendary collection. But even before entering the dining room we were greeted by several gorgeous bouquets.

Kevin worked with Dutch Flower Line who helped him obtain exquisite fresh flowers from around the world. …

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The Return of Poiret

Posted on March 7, 2018 by Stacey Bewkes   •   6 Comments

The Return of Poiret

While today we are accustomed to the close connection between fashion and decor, with designers often crossing the divide, a century ago, these relationships were not so intertwined. But there was one creative couturier who embodied the modern concept of lifestyle, encompassing clothing, interiors and even beauty.

Courtesy: The artist and Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. Photo: Hollandse Hoogte / Rogier Viollet, Paris
photo: Kunst and Decoration 1913 via University of Heidelberg

Paul Poiret was a designer who changed the course of fashion, not only for his innovative style and techniques but his all groundbreaking creativity – an interior he designed for one of the boats in the Seine, during the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs, Paris 1925.…

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The Sorcerer’s Apprentices Work Their Magic in Milan

Posted on March 4, 2018 by Stacey Bewkes   •   10 Comments

The Sorcerer’s Apprentices Work Their Magic in Milan

It is a special treat whenever a new project from the extraordinary Studio Peregalli is unveiled. And when it is a project in Milan originally designed by Renzo Mongiardino, Laura Sartori Rimini’s and Roberto Peregalli’s celebrated mentor, it deserves special attention.

In the March ELLE DECOR, we learn this Milanese apartment, originally designed in the 1950’s and near disrepair, was suggested by Peregalli to Italian clients looking for a new home. Keeping as many of the original Mongiardino touches as possible, Studio Peregalli updated the apartment to function for today’s lifestyle. And just as Mongiardino was a sorcerer able to conjure up the most elusive environments, so are his apprentices adept at inventing interiors redolent with magical memories and dazzling details.…

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Posted in architecture, art, furniture, interior design | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments