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During the quiet moments of a busy afternoon, I find myself craving for some time with you, dear friends. It’s been a while since our last chat, I hope your summer is off to a great start. June has been an interesting month at our house, filled with moments of pure joy and productivity, but also sadness and longing. We said goodbye to elementary school and a wonderful group of teachers, parents and friends, and hello to sleep-away summer camps. With my daughter away, the house feels quiet and orderly, the rooms a little cleaner and neater than usual, but also empty and lacking in their usual liveliness and I’m counting the minutes until her return!
A couple of weeks ago I shared with you our breakfast nook makeover and you’ve been so kind and supportive in your comments that I feel compelled to promise an update on the bench fabric and the many ways indecision can take a toll on the human heart, and wallet. I’ve narrowed down my fabric choices to stripes, checks or florals 🙂
The garden has peaked with its colorful lupine and is now taking a well deserved breather before the next plant show, which I hope will be soon. The newly planted Bee Balm (a gift from a dear friend) is beginning to unfurl, and so is the Echinacea. The Shasta daisies are off and running, happily turning their pretty faces in search of sunshine and good vibes. I’m also thrilled with a few new plant purchases: a soft lavender-colored phlox, of which I would love to get more, a few blue and white delphiniums, and some lovely, scented rose shrubs. How are things going in your corner of the world? Any fun plans for July?
Here are this week’s finds. Hope you see something you like!
Memories of Home, by Heidi Caillier
In her first book, Seattle-based designer Heidi Caillier shares twelve houses from across the country, from the islands of Puget Sound to the Berkshires. Simultaneously nostalgic and of the moment, these homes are a lesson in mixing patterns, combining colors and delving deep into the art of creating a sense of place. A staple of Caillier’s design style is an interesting tension between the masculine and the feminine, the modern and the traditional, the old and the new. Vintage pieces mingle with contemporary elements to create balanced spaces that feel inviting and cozy.
How to beautify the exterior of your house with plants
Home at Last: Enduring Design for the New American House (47% off right now!)
The Brutal Telling, by Louise Penny
The Long Way Home, by Louise Penny
Getrude Jekyll at Munstead Wood, by Judith Tankard and Martin Wood
“First published in the UK by Sutton Publishing in 1996 (and by Timber Press in the US), this Pimpernel Classic edition has been redesigned and includes new photography. Gertrude Jekyll was probably the most influential garden designer of the early 20th century, and this book explores her life and work at the home she created for herself at Munstead Wood in Surrey, England. Taking as a basis her own photograph albums, scrapbooks, and notebooks, and the recollections of contemporaries from Edith Wharton and Vita Sackville-West to William Robinson and Henry Francis du Pont, it describes not only the building and development of the house and garden but also her skills both in the arts and as a businesswoman and her collaborations with architects—preeminently Edwin Lutyens, but also Oliver Hill and M.H. Baillie Scott. This revised edition includes many photographs that have never previously been published.“
An assortment of terra cotta planters:
Haute Bohemians – Greece: Historic and Contemporary Interiors
A glorious, intimate homage to the magical country of Greece, from bestselling photographer and writer Miguel Flores-Vianna.
A land immortalized by poets for its otherworldly beauty, Greece is the birthplace of iconic monuments that are known the world over. Yet, at the same time, it is also home to an organic architectural language, the product of centuries of rural and island lifestyles—the heir both to the timelessness of classical architecture and the simplicity of rustic living.
This stunning volume chronicles Miguel Flores-Vianna’s photographic odyssey through the beautiful Greek landscape, showcasing historical houses alongside contemporary homes, united by the colorful characters who either live or have lived in these places—the “haute bohemians.”
