Ambling On Down to Savannah Today

"Savannah wears her past like a fine old cape,

draped in Southern graciousness,

pockets filled with treasures of a rich, proud history."

An Early 19th c Mansion on One of the Twenty-Two Squares in Savannah

Arched Gateway to One of Savannah's 18th c. Plantations

General James Ogelthorpe's Plan for the City of Savannah, c. 1733

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Founded

by the French in the Late 1700's

"The most beautiful city in North America,"

is the way Paris's famed Le Monde newspaper describes Savannah

Today I make the eight hour journey across America from San Francisco to Savannah, Georgia, the city that General William Tecumseh Sherman, the father of modern "scorched earth" warfare, thought was too beautiful to destroy during the War Between the States. (It was the only place in Georgia he left untouched.)

I'll wander through the wide open streets and moss-shaded squares laid out by General James Ogelthorpe in 1733. I'll visit the grand mansions that grace the squares including the Owens-Thomas House, considered one of the finest examples of English Regency architecture in America. I'll check out the cutting edge contemporary art at the Jepson Center for the Arts while enjoying the Jepson Gospel Brunch on Sunday with live performance by area church gospel singers.

A Map of Bonaventure Cemetary.."The Garden of Good and Evil"...

in Savannah Where My Ancestors are Buried

I'll pay a visit to my many ancestors in Bonaventure Cemetary in this, the place where my mother, my grandmother, my great-grandmother and my great-great-grandmother were born.

I'll go out to Coffee Bluff, the site of my ancestors' home, and visit my dearest and nearest cousin, Claire McCluskey, a lovely, funny, intrepid Savannahian who built a home for herself and her two strapping sons, Will and Ben English, out there on that spit of land near the shelter islands.

There I will design a new kitchen for Claire that speaks to her, that draws on her spirit and her place on Coffee Bluff. I am so excited to do this; there is nothing more fun for a designer (me) than to create a unique space that resonates with the area and the inhabitants.

Especially when you consider that my great great grandmother probably stood on that very spot trying a century or two ago to decide just where to put the hearth and just where to put a window looking out onto the garden.

It's good to know just how deeply my designer roots grow.

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Kit Golson Design

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

Chic Provence Interior Design

{*Liberte * Egalite * Fraternite *}

Today, Bastille Day,  is the one day of the year that you really see all the French happy at the same time. For a sweet moment in time, summer is at her fulsome peak, work is forgotten (again!), children have no school, strolling around with bare legs is de riguer, the troops are marching their colors, the Marsiellaise is playing, the tricolore is flying, speeches are made and lots and lots of vin is uncorked for the occasion!

Let's take a peek at our beloved France on her special day, and let's raise a toast to our singular friends whose cry of  *Liberty, Equality and Fraternity* garnered much of the world's admiration. 

Ah, Provence!

The Proud Tricolore

Le Deux-Cheval, High on Charme, Low on Mileage!

Love In Paris

The Ubiquitous Bicyclette, Ridiculously Adorable

All of My Favorite Colors

All Photos Courtesy of

Barbara van Zanten

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Kit Golson Design 

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

 Chic Provence Interior Design

Banishing the Blues: Before & After's of a Washington Townhome

He was her sunshine; his southern charm never failed to chase the blues away. For forty years she thrived on the joy and light he brought into her life. When Michele lost Tom, she lost her world. We needed to create a cocoon where she could retreat, heal, live and thrive again. Her friend Julie helped her invest in an historic building minutes from our nation's Capitol, and I was brought in to help with the redesign.

Michele travels the world over; she loves all the fuss and liveliness of entertaining and planning the next big adventure. So we chose vibrant and uplifting colors that were at once feminine and sophisticated: coral, soft jade, honey, cream, soft ochre. When she fell for a gorgeous Italian paisley in these sunny colors of Provence we had our design inspiration.

First, the AFTER pictures. I hope you like them! The BEFORE's are at the bottom of the post.

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{ A F T E R }

Her "Mas in the City" Living Room

The Beautiful Coral Hallway That Greets Her

When She Returns Home Each Evening

A View Towards Her Cozy Media Room From the Living Room

We Loved This "Fortuny" Silk Chandelier

Coco Feels Right at Home as She Heads for Her Kitchen!

Coco Definitely Approves of the Paisley!

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{ B E F O R E }

When we found the townhouse, the decor and colors were anything BUT soothing and feminine. See the strong masculine lines and colors, below:

The Media Room Before...We Removed the Fireplace,

Creating the Perfect Place for Her Big Screen TV

I Can Hardly Bear to Even Look at This Before Picture of the Living Room!

Another View of the Living Room and French Doors

Before We Worked Our Magic

We turned her Old Town hideaway into a sunny slice of Provence that reflects her vibrant and lively personality perfectly. She and Coco are very content with their new digs. Michele says that every time she comes home to the beautiful colors it makes her heart sing. We know that we have invoked the magic of color once again.

She is quite sure Tom would love it too. What more could we ask?

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in 2010, it's:

Kit Golson Design

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

Chic Provence Interior Design

The Luxe Floating Workshop: Photography at 1500 Feet

Selected as "Best Father's Day Gift Trip" by

If your artistic side is in need of nurturing these days, if your digital SLR is gathering dust because you haven't quite tackled the manual yet for this circa 2008 Christmas gift, if you know you need to unwind and forget the woes of the world for just a few days, then this luxurious and substantial workshop is a must for you.

Over San Francisco at Twilight

Your Home for Three Nights

You Will Learn to Create Photographs of this Cypress Forest

Your Launch Site

Your Floating Photography Studio

You will be uplifted (literally), your spirits will soar, your tastebuds will sing, you will sleep like a baby by the sea in the middle of a cypress forest. You will see the world as few others can ever see it. 

You will work hard for three full days, but on a production shot in the forest under the direction of Dirk Karsten, one of the world's most highly acclaimed photographers, and one of the most gifted photography instructors around. You will gain invaluable techniques and methods to create the shot of your dreams as you float effortlessly and silently over the San Francisco Bay area and the Pacific Ocean in one of the few zeppelins in the world. 

You will leave renewed, refreshed and with an arsenal of tools for your photography. Your creativity will reach new heights. 

Who can resist the chance to escape for a few days, defy gravity and come away with some excellent photographic skills?

You Will Be in This Airship!

Workshop Information and Registration

Press

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Kit Golson Design 

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

 Chic Provence Interior Design

Encountering Jacko at Versailles

This week the world buried a beloved icon:  Michael Jackson, 50.  He will never again visit his once-beloved home at Neverland. 

Like everyone else, I know and love his music. But it is impossible to ignore the singularly, flagrantly, creatively, self absorbed visual phenomenon that was also Michael Jackson. He wrote songs and music; he choreographed himself brilliantly. He won over the whole world. 

But that was not enough. He turned his artistic vision literally upon himself and the result was that at 50 he had a face and body that had been artfully re-created to his own will. {What was that rigid and sadly unexpressive mask hiding?}

Michael Jackson and Bubbles at Versailles

Photo by Kit Golson

When I went to visit the Chateau of Versailles last September with friends who live just around the corner from there, it seemed a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon in the middle of a very busy design trip. 

To my astonishment, the venerable old rooms and halls held installations by American pop-artist Jeff Koons. Along with metal dogs and inflatable lobsters in the ornate palatial apartments I found this poignantly sweet ceramic sculpture of Michael Jackson and his beloved chimp, Bubbles.

It is fitting that this is the closest I ever came to Michael Jackson, and that I found him at the Chateau of Louis XIV. For Michael himself was the King of Pop, and the spooky, lonely and majestic halls of Versailles---the glittering Neverland of its time---suited him perfectly. 

A Gloomy Day at Chateau de Versailles

Photo by Kit Golson

Gate at Chateau of Versailles

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Kit Golson Design 

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

 Chic Provence Interior Design