Skip to content
  • Articles
    • Design
      • Architecture
      • Art & Antiques
      • Books
      • Garden
      • Gifts
      • Interior design
    • Entertainment
      • Entertaining
      • Food and drink
      • Holiday
      • Tabletop
    • Style
      • Fashion
      • Jewelry
    • Travel
      • Nantucket
    • Threads of Time and Taste: The Art of Dressing in Pierre Frey
  • Shop
    • Home & Decor
      • Accessories
      • Antiques
      • Art
      • Lighting
      • Trays
    • Tableware
      • Baskets
      • Glassware
      • Linens
      • Flatware
      • Plates
    • Fashion
      • Bags
      • Clothing
      • Jewelry
    • Exclusives
      • Tableware
      • Fashion
      • Home & Decor
    • Peony & Thistle Linen Tea Towels
  • Video
    • Exclusive insider tours visiting top designers and tastemakers at home around the world
      VIEW ALL
    • At Home with John Lyle
    • At Home in Paris with the Hurleys
    • At Home with Veere Grenney in his Extraordinary Gardens in Tangier
    • At Home with Veere Greeney in Tangier, Morocco
Quintessence

Quintessence

Lifestyle blog | Living Well with Style and Substance

  • Books
    • Books that I have collaborated on, as photographer, with design author Susanna Salk
      VIEW ALL
    • At Home with Dogs and Their Designers: Sharing a Stylish Life
    • At Home in the English Countryside: Designers and Their Dogs
    • At Home with Designers and Tastemakers: Creating Beautiful and Personal Interiors
    • Making a House a Home: Designing Your Interiors from the Floor Up
  • About
  • Articles
  • Shop
  • Videos
  • Books
  • About

Sotheby’s Designer Showhouse

A Whirlwind Week of Design
Art & Antiques, Design, Interior design

A Whirlwind Week of Design

While spring is always bustling with events, this has been a particularly action packed week of design. I hope to be… Read More

First Look at the Sotheby’s Showhouse 2016
Antiques, Art & Antiques, Decorative Arts, Interior design, Style

First Look at the Sotheby’s Showhouse 2016

This week, At Home, the Sotheby’s Showhouse 2016 opened. Running through next Saturday, the third annual Designer Showhouse and Auction… Read More

Sotheby’s Designer Showhouse Auction
Art & Antiques, Design, Interior design

Sotheby’s Designer Showhouse Auction

Tomorrow (Monday) is the Sotheby’s Designer Showhouse auction. Whether you are attending in person or considering an online bid, I share… Read More

Last Looks at the Sotheby’s 2015 Showhouse
Art & Antiques, Design, Interior design

Last Looks at the Sotheby’s 2015 Showhouse

Continuing our pre-auction tour of the Sotheby’s 2015 Showhouse, we visit Eric Cohler‘s family room. Inspired by the family room in the… Read More

Sotheby’s Showhouse Part II
Art & Antiques, Design, Interior design

Sotheby’s Showhouse Part II

When touring the Sotheby’s Showhouse, a fellow visitor paid it an enormous compliment, explaining that to him it felt like a… Read More

Sotheby’s 2015 Designer Showhouse
Art & Antiques, Design

Sotheby’s 2015 Designer Showhouse

Having debuted their inaugural designer showhouse last year, Sotheby’s took a giant leap forward with their second iteration this year. With the… Read More

Illustration of camera

Follow

Monday blues with an international cadre of artisa Monday blues with an international cadre of artisanal tableware from our @shopqworthy collection. Shop it all through link in profile.
And the winner of the @academia_de_la_mesa table c And the winner of the @academia_de_la_mesa table contest is… (drumroll please!) this extraordinary table by @Monicabardaji!! She entered on the very last day of the competition and completely won us over! With this table, Mónica has managed to create something both modern and classic, using completely unexpected elements. Nothing on the table is unnecessary and yet nothing is missing. The mix of wood and silver is phenomenally chic, the color and size of the flowers are perfect and we found it extremely elegant! It was a tough choice for us judges, as there was strong competition right on her heels!

Mónica is the lucky winner of the best prize we have ever given (what you see in the last photo), consisting of a Limoges porcelain tableware set, Cristóbal Marine, offered by @raynaud_porcelaines; six hand engraved glasses from @artel_glass; six embroidered placemats with their napkins from @noel_lingedemaison_paris; and six Tokyo Noir cutlery sets from @alain_saint_joanis.

All the finalists’ tables were wonderful, each with something that made it extraordinary, and we can only congratulate you on your creativity and craftsmanship!

Congratulations to Mónica as the winner, but also to all the other participants—each of you, with your tables, makes this possible! Over the coming days we will be raffling off the remaining prizes!!

Heartfelt thanks to the “usual” jury (@azarraluqui @amarosanchezdemoya @bea_satrustegui @carmencarooneill @paz_qb @raulromeropress and @vanessacraccoliving) and to our guest stars @bonadeaofficial @casa__lopez @quintessence (honored to be included) and @vioscooking — it has been a fantastic edition! ♥️
In this snowy January weather, see how @timothycor In this snowy January weather, see how @timothycorrigan uses a plethora of @benjaminmoore whites to full advantage in his elegant Paris apartment. Full home tour on the Quintessence YouTube channel!
Quiet breakfast on this snowy morning. I cross sti Quiet breakfast on this snowy morning. I cross stitched these placemats for my mother YEARS ago when I was living in Switzerland. They have recently come full circle back to me and on this holiday are a lovely reminder of both her and my time spent there. Grounding tablecloth from @heathertaylorhome  @latuilealoup aptware and mini baskets. Flatware from @alain_saint_joanis in my shop and last, but certainly not least, my spectacular handpainted pitcher and glassware set by the talented @margotlar (available by special order through the shop).
Let the family festivities begin. All four chicks Let the family festivities begin. All four chicks are in the nest, the table is set, the tree is decorated. A Merry Christmas Eve to all from our Nantucket home to yours!

And don’t forget to enter your table in the @academia_de_la_mesa table contest. There are amazing prizes to enhance your tabletop repertoire
© 2026 Quintessence Design LLC
Site design by The Beaux Arts Digital
FAQ & Shipping Terms of Use Privacy Policy
X Illustration of hand
Never Miss A Post
Get insider access to the most inspiring and informative design stories straight to your inbox. Satisfy your style curiosity, quench your sophisticated shopping thirst and scratch your discerning need-to-know itch - sign up so you never miss a thing.