I have just finished reading Robert and Cortney Novogratz's (see previous post) new book Downtown Chic: Designing Your Dream Home From Wreck To Ravishing. It's the most inspiring design book I've read in ages, I thoroughly recommend it. Although now of course I really want a basketball court on my roof and a sunken trampoline in the garden.
I often see the stylish home of this US interior design duo and their huge family (7 children!) popping up in interiors mags. Here's a tear sheet from my scrapbook of their kitchen. I love the juxtaposition of the old stone fountain with the garage-style door and Boffi kitchen. We're going to be seeing a lot more of the Novogratzes by the sound of it. Read more here.
Image 1 via The Times
There are three gorgeous new adverts out for fragrance at the moment. One is for Chanel No 5 featuring Audrey Tautou travelling in a beautifully appointed cabine on the Orient-Express (above). The other, for Miss Dior Cherie, is set in Paris and features director Sofia Coppola's usual sumptuous imagery. The third ad is for Gucci. Filmed in a Latvian cornfield it is breathtaking. See the films at Chanel No 5, Miss Dior Cherie and Gucci.
Image via WWD
A fantastic new shop called Merci has opened in the Marais in Paris. It sells fashion, decor, flowers, food, books - I really really want to go and have a look round - all 16,000 square feet of it. If the Tim Walker vintage Cinquecento installation at the entrance is anything to go by it's going to be goooood! The best bit is that profits go towards running a women's co-op in Madagascar. Read more about it and see more pics here.
No Easter eggs for me this weekend. I've been living off birthday cake for the past two weeks as my daughters Ruby and Violet turned 3 and 1 respectively. Instead, I treated myself to these antiqued wooden signs from Rockett St George.
A new hobby perhaps? I love these contemporary needlepoint kits by Emily Peacock.
I get so bored of the same interiors repeated over and over again. This one looked a little different to me.
Image via Red Magazine
It's the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea this week and artist Kelly Washbourne will be exhibiting her work there. Seek her out, I love her stuff.
This mix of patterns feels fresh and spring-like to me. The cushion with the pom-poms is by Paul Smith for The Rug Company and the two-seater is by Pinch.
Image via Daily Mail
