Saladino + Vermeer = {Absolutely Brilliant}

Is there anyone who doesn't love Vermeer today? The Girl With the Pearl Earring has almost mythical powers of enchantment, mystery, wonder; dubbed The Dutch Mona Lisa, it inspired the movie starring Scarlett Johannsen, a visual feast. When interior designer John Saladino set out to design a Manhattan condominium in SoHo for the Veranda Magazine Showhouse, he chose that painting as his inspiration.

Now, many of us might choose a painting for design inspiration. But in the hands of the brilliant Saladino, the subtlety, the evocative details, the refusal to compromise yielded a vision that resonates with 17th C. Dutch Neoclassic sensibilities...while managing to stay fresh and modern....pure genius!

Saladino may have thought: "If Vermeer could produce luminous paintings out of the gloom of northern European Amsterdam, then I can harness the grey light of Manhattan's canyons and create a softly glowing SoHo interior"!

I love these pewter plates from Arte Italica, but mostly I adore

the wall finish: scratch-coat plaster suggesting the layering of time

Saladino's inspiration painting yielded a palette of creamy whites,

deep taupes & rich pewters with touches of lavender and periwinkle blue throughout

the serene and intimate setting is enhanced by the 17th C. style

furnishings with the linens carefully draped over the table; modern draperies

and gorgeous antiqued flooring by Exquisite Surfaces set the tone

nailheads on antiqued leather suggest

17th C. Holland

this stunning stairway in antiqued flooring

also by Exquisite Surfaces

again, the antiqued floors set the tone for the old bench, while

the huge mirror captures all available light and sends it back into the room;

deep blue-grey wall and old tapestry create atmosphere

a delicate, feminine feeling for the dressing table

with delft-pattern rug underfoot

softly atmospheric light in a beautifully designed sitting room

Saladino's use of lavender and periwinkle blue works brilliantly

against the soft neutral palette

All Photos by Antoine Bootz

Images Courtesy of Veranda Magazine

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in the new year, it's:

Kit Golson Design

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

Chic Provence Interior Design

Oh My....

A little tile mosaic artwork, anyone? These opulent bathrooms are best suited for a penthouse in Dubai, but when I ran across them on the Kitchen Exchange blog(written by the talented Peggy Deras), I had to share them with you. They are the work of Italian mosaic factory SICIS.

We all need a little visual escape in this cold, grey January with our thin little post-holiday wallets hardly able to even buy a giant-sized Neutrogena Rainbath bottle for our shower....and here it is!

this blue color and flowering vine motif is so gorgeous

this one almost has an Anthropologie-like feel,

with its sprig of flowers gracing old-style footed tub

this one has the tasteful, tamed down Calvin Klein minimalist look

whoa! .... a little gold Victorian Gustav Klimt naughty girl look, anyone?

bordering on tasteful, if this were wallpaper, it's an almost accessible look

I have to confess I love this one!

butterflies & giant lilies

calling Sarah Jessica Parker's designer...yes, that is a bathtub

shaped like a high-heeled shoe

and so is this Japanese-girl-of-Shijuku-district look

a bathroom for a truly frivolous and flighty supermodel?

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in the new year, it's :

Kit Golson Design

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

Chic Provence Interior Design

Kreativ Blogger Award

I'm delighted to be given the Kreativ Blogger Award by Terri at The Countrypolitan. Her gorgeous and sophisticated blog is about the fusion of rustic elegance and cosmopolitan styles..which I love! Many thanks for this honor and for placing me in the company of my fellow bloggers of distinction!

As part of the award, I am asked to reveal 7 things about myself..so here goes:

1. I think I can sing, but I really can't. I want to be Whitney Houston or Etta James or Edith Piaf, or even Willy Nelson (ha!).

2. I adore the sea (a psychic once told me I was a sea captain in a past life!) I love walking by the sea with my husband and dog Ollie as often as we can make it over to Half Moon Bay.

3. I have floated..literally!.. in mid-air more times than I care to remember (I worked for NASA). Ask me sometime just how it made me feel!

4. I adore flea marketing, designing, shopping, traveling with my amazing daughter Lisa!

5. I love old French linen fabric that I can use & wash in the machine 'til it's soft as velvet.

6. Sometimes I dream in French, preferably Southern French!

7. I get verrrry cranky if I don't do something creative every day.

***

The wonderful blogs I pass The Kreativ Blogger Award to:

1. The Provence Post : Julie is the go-to source for happenings in my favorite place on earth

2. Decor de Provence : perfectly captures the essence of the Provence life I love

3. Oliveaux : stunning inspiration for design

4. Fabulously French : where you can browse and buy old Provencal things

5. Hidden in France : Corrine is an incredible writer with an eye for whimsy

6. The Brocantess : wonderful spirit and images

7. Visual Vamp : Valorie is vastly gorgeous and entertaining

8. Annechovie : I can't get enough of her beautiful watercolors

Be sure to check out all these great blogs!

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in the New Year, it's:

Kit Golson Design

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

Chic Provence Interior Design

Haiti

{  Help Haiti Here  }

I'll Meet You 'Round the Bend, My Friend

"I'll meet you 'round the bend my friend, where hearts 

can heal and souls can mend"*

St. Louis Cathedral at Jackson Square undergoing repairs

courtesy Tours of New Orleans

We're on our way to New Orleans and will be soaking up all the rich textural & visual culture of The Big Easy....to say nothing of sampling her amazing cuisine and fabulous JAZZ! We'll meander along the "third coast", stopping to visit the beautiful old city of Pensacola and the newly-minted urban-planned Gulf Coast communities of Seaside, Alys and Rosemary, then through Apalachicola with her circa 1820 French consulate. We'll return through Hattiesburg, Mississippi and New Orleans.

map of New Orleans circa 1880

see how the Mississippi River cradles the Crescent City in her bend

flag of the City of New Orleans, the three fleur des lis from her

birth under France; the red, white and blue because she is the

daughter of both the USA and France

*(I cannot find the source for this often-repeated quote...does anyone know it?)

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in the New Year, it's:

Kit Golson Design

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

Chic Provence Interior Design

A Little Warmth for These Chilly Days

If you are feeling the big chill and want a little something to brighten and cheer the winter days looming ahead, toss a few of these wonderful pillows around. Then wrap yourself in one of these luxe cashmere throws and enjoy the fire from your new George Smith sofa!

two fleurs rouge pillow in down-filled linen

tapestry pillow in down-filled wool embroidered cotton

papillon bleu pillow in down-filled linen

coral trees pillow in down-filled linen

tuilieries pillow in down-filled linen

swizzle ocean blue pillow in down-filled 100% linen

cashmere throws in gorgeous colors

the perfect sofa!

Pillows available at FCLStyle.com.
Cashmere throws at Williams Sonoma Home.

Sofa at George Smith.

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in the New Year, it's :

Kit Golson Design

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

Chic Provence Interior Design

The Exquisite Greet of Belgian Pearls

If the gorgeous pearls on her header aren't enough to capture your heart immediately (see below), maybe a castle in Belgium? Maybe the stunning modern interiors carved out of elegant ancient places? Maybe the inspiring images Greet curates and share with us on her new blog....do go to Belgian Pearls & see for yourself! Chic Provence loves her site!

ALL photos courtesy Belgian Pearls

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in the New Year, it's:

Kit Golson Design

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

Chic Provence Interior Design