A Little Reminder of Ed Hardy Antiques...

If you've lived in San Francisco for a while, you remember Ed Hardy Antiques, just opposite the Galleria at the SFDC. His antiques store, housed in an Italianate palazzo, was gloriously opulent and beautifully staged in the stunning building that now houses Restoration Hardware's flagship store... ceilings at least 20 ft. high, stone walls and a gorgeous entryway garden. It was a refuge for resting the soul after a day of combing through the contemporary furnishings and fabrics at the design center. 

The design world and antiques lovers were bereft when Ed Hardy decided it was time to pull up stakes and call it quits... this was in 2009, remember, when the internet and the economy conspired to put many a successful bricks and mortar enterprise out of business.

I went to one of the days of his final auction, and left with this gorgeous bit of handmade Chinese work. I've just held onto it these last few years, not sure just what to do with it besides admire it greatly for its beautiful silken palette and exquisite beading and embroidery. 

Any idea just what this is? any ideas about how to display it? I've been told to remove the tattered "tails" and use as a jacket for myself, but can't quite see that! It is very fragile and was surely a ceremonial piece. I wish I had asked Ed more about it, but he was very, very busy a the time! Alors!

Bonne Weekend!

***

Download brochure here

If you have any questions at all, 

I'd love to chat!

email kitatkitgolson.com 

or call me +1-650-302-6883
pacific time zone

I cannot wait to see your smiling face when you arrive

at your Provençal home and experience the joy

of the Chic Provence Design Tour!

bisous!

Kit

that's me, happily contemplating 
meeting YOU
in Provence in spring 2015!

If I were in Provence Today....

.....I'd go to the Lavender Festivals Julie Mautner so wonderfully featured on The Provence Post...

...and I'd wear all the hot summer whites French Essence recommends (well my versions!) for searing hot summers in Provence...at least until I started getting lavender stains, then I would switch to lavender linens!

Download brochure here

If you have any questions at all, 

I'd love to chat!

email kitatkitgolson.com 

or call me +1-650-302-6883
pacific time zone

I cannot wait to see your smiling face when you arrive

at your Provençal home and experience the joy

of the Chic Provence Design Tour!

bisous!

Kit

that's me, happily contemplating 
meeting YOU
in Provence in spring 2015!

.

Spring 2015 Chic Provence Design Tour!

Bonjour mes cheries!....I am thrilled to announce our Spring 2015 Chic Provence Design Tour! What could be better than to know that next spring you will be with me in the South of France, experiencing a magical week of design, cuisine, fascination and luxury with like-minded souls? This is our fifth Chic Provence Design Tour and when you download the brochure you'll see what other lucky guests have said about their time with us on the Chic Provence Design Tour! Come with us this time, you will have an unforgettable time, cheri! Don't delay, we fill up quickly each year.

some very happy guests on the Chic Provence Design Tour!

the village of Isle sur la Sorgue, where we will stay on the Chic Provence Design Tour!

You will rest like royalty in sumptuous bedrooms with private baths in a restored stone farmhouse set in the peach and apple orchards near Isle-sur-la Sorgue, built over 200 years ago and renovated to a designer's dream today. You will linger over French breakfasts of hot coffee, fresh pastries, butter, eggs, local jams, bread, fruits of the season and delicious French yogurt in our family kitchen as we plan our adventure for the day!

above are pictures of the villa that you will call home for a full week; the 10,000 s.f. home is a superbly authentic remodeling of a
250 year old stone farmhouse and barn into a stunning
Provençal home complete with a family kitchen, eight gorgeous ensuite bedrooms, dining for 20, and a stunning professional kitchen for our own chef's use, and many
beautiful outdoor terraces and poolside...all for your enjoyment

***

Each day you will be whisked off to incredible adventures in the magical land of Provence, with a designer leading you through markets, museums, architecture, landscapes, ateliers, dealers and shops. You will see the finest antiques, silver, fabrics, artworks, furniture that there is to be found... along with charming and rustic Provence flea market things...all with an insider's careful guidance through the rigors of negotiating and shipping your treasures home. Attention is carefully paid to all details by the Chic Provence Design Tour, such as a wonderful Provençal gift basket and toiletries upon your arrival and lots of water bottles during the warm days, and aperitifs with chef's hors d'oeuvre of the day when we arrive home at the end of our day.

above are pictures of just a few of the wonderful sights you will see each day...markets, beautiful colors, gorgeous vintage fabrics, stunning interiors...the Chic Provence Design Tour has carefully
created an itinerary that others rave about... 
you will LOVE this tour, cherie!

***

You'll have a Michelin one-star chef preparing a wonderful Provençal dinner every night at the villa... and he'll give us lessons on preparing French meals and desserts and pairing them with just the right wine, right in our own stunning professional kitchen. Sound good? And speaking of wine, you will also enjoy the finest Provençal wines expertly paired with the freshest locally-produced ingredients at dinner time. 

 

above are pictures of our wonderful chef and some lucky guests
tasting wines, relaxing and enjoying themselves... that
blackboard is written each night in our dining room to
let you know the feast that will follow..

You will enjoy every single minute of the Chic Provence Design Tour... from the moment we pick you up at the Avignon train station until we return you there a week later, everything little detail is taken care of by the excellent staff of the Chic Provence Design Tour... where we have a passion for Provence, its beauty, its incredible history, its unique cuisine, and how all these elements have informed its sense of design and art.

Do join us on the Chic Provence Design Tour 2015!

Download brochure here

If you have any questions at all, 

I'd love to chat!

email kitatkitgolson.com 

or call me +1-650-302-6883
pacific time zone

I cannot wait to see your smiling face when you arrive

at your Provençal home and experience the joy

of the Chic Provence Design Tour!

bisous!

Kit

that's me, happily contemplating meeting YOU
in Provence in spring 2015!

Hampton Designer Showhouse 2014

Does it get any better than summer in the Hamptons? Staying with wonderful friends,  visiting childhood pals, attending family wedding out in Montauk, staying on the beach until dusk? Well, yes, this year it was just a notch better...the Hampton Designer Showhouse 2014 had just opened when we arrived!

My dear friend was one step ahead of me and arranged for the two of us the tour the house Sunday morning before all the crowds arrived. We blissfully roamed around this 12,000 sf Hamptons gem to our hearts' content. It was thrilling to see the work of such luminaries in the designer galaxy as Tobi Fairley, India Hicks, Phoebe Howard, Katie Leede in person to savor every little detail. Believe me when I tell you that my iPhone photos hardly do it justice.  I'm sure the media will cover this one in great detail (maybe already out there? I'm still away on vacation!) Here is a peek at some of the highlights for me (mostly bedrooms as it turns out!).

first, we dropped Chris off at the nearest beach (very close by) with the Sunday New York Times and a beach chair, and pointed him in the direction of the nearest umbrella  ... he was not interested in touring the Showhouse! bye Chris see you in a little while!

I love this Katie Leede designed bedroom... she took her daughter's heavy, dark and almost brooding Jacobean bed and mixed in expertly with a light hand to create a welcoming haven...who can do this?...look at the turquoise tufting on the "ceiling" of the bed... and those signature Katie Leede fabrics lend warmth and touch of the exotic wherever she uses them... LOVE this bedroom

gorgeous window with ogee shaping in the valence, that deep deep fringe! 
the lighthearted print of the green fabric with the turquoise border... 
and look how she keeps in "beachy" with sisal style floor coverings
 and the matchstick shade... and don't you love the furry pouf

the welcoming little corner of the bedroom with the tufted turquoise leather settee...
almost Chesterfield in feel...and the hanging pendant 
with quatrefoil motifs, the oversize painting...

a closeup of the little curved turquoise chesterfield, 
and those Katie Leede fabric pillows..so inviting

next, this Provence-inspired sanctuary by Kate Singer soothes the soul with its soft palette of linens and lavender accented with Farrow & Ball Clunch, Calluna and All White...the sweet gourd lamps, the Louis XVI bed done in a gorgeous Kravet Couture shimmering linen, the rustic whitewashed iron chandelier are all pure Provence

pretty tile-patterned carpeting in soft hues by Country Floors is
the perfect backdrop for a chic Provençal haven for lucky guests

Kate Singer mixed the old and the new successfully in this serene space... love 
that bergere and ottoman in linen with nailhead trim, the beautiful whitewashed
carved wooden floor lamp and the leaning mirror... and the beautiful appliquéd
pillow.. pure indulgence!

the adjacent bathroom featured this "tomettes"-shaped tile pattern 
that works perfectly with the Provençal bedroom

here is a view with the full effect of the chandelier in the room... so pretty!

the view from this bedroom is of the stunning back garden and pool... pool surround designed
by India Hicks... don't you love the planters, and that seating grouping in the corner.. so inviting under the umbrella ... can you imagine drinks with your girlfriends there? I love this sight

the Master Bedroom... ta da!! is by Tobi Fairley, and is exuberance that manages to somehow also be soothing in grays and orange toile.... perfectly balanced...as only Tobi can do it!..

impressive balanquin over the high, upholstered headboard works beautifully with the
high ceilings and lends drama and glamour to the traditional toile de jouy..

Tobi has a way of mixing fabrics, patterns and textures that is unmatched!

and this would be your upstairs porch off the master...sweet view!

I couldn't ID the wallpaper she used in the master bedroom but it creates wonderful energy for 
the sunny room and a perfect foil for the grays and oranges .. and the art is pitch perfect

pair of lovely wing chairs in the same toile as the bed and draperies...

and here's a close up ...

the wallpaper too...

this dazzling living room downstairs took my breath away...the furry bench, the
stunning starburst pendant the restrained palette punctuated with orange...

you see a mix of golds and silver metallics in this room, and it 
works together beautifully.. the walls are stunning...

here is a close up of the wall treatment... at first we thought it was wallpaper, 
but, no, this entire room was brilliantly faux-painted... it looks like gold leaf was
applied over the entire walls, then layers of paint added and combed..to 
a stunning effect...

the front of the beautiful Hampton Designer Show House in classic cedar shingles

side view of the house and the pool house

back view from the tennis court to the pool house