Ralph Lauren Home's Sonoma Valley

Recently Ralph Lauren Home dropped the photos of their 2019 Spring Collection titled "Sonoma Valley" and it's beautiful, as usual.

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As I looked over the images, I became engrossed - not in the decor - but in the house. I'd seen it before, but where? I toggled through the pictures on the RLH website, but most of the images were close ups of products. It was the living room that haunted me anyway, that feeling that I'd seen in all before, just better? 

And better? 

I mean, this is beautiful. 

Does it get better? 

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Yes, yes it does.

The house had been featured in Architectural Digest, the decade long creation of architect Bobby McAlpine and interior designer Rela Gleason on a hillside in Calistoga, California overlooking the Sonoma Valley.

The good folks over at RL aren't the only ones who've used the house for catalog shoots. The house is a whopping 9,000 square feet in total, but nearly all of the catalog photos were taken in the living room. 

Pottery Barn used the room for their own spring shoot. Notice the nook? The piano sits in this bay of windows in the RL ad. 

A part-time residence, the house has been offered for scout, and was even put on the market in 2016. The listing was removed, then relisted in 2018 with a new lower price of $17 Million. Those photos are what I wanted to share with you today, since the house is so lovely and current thanks to the RLH shoot. Sit back, grab some coffee and let's take a virtual tour: 

I mean, wow - right? McAlpine knocked it out of the park with this gorgeous house, set perfectly to take in all the perfect views. And Rela decorated it beautifully.

If you're interested in learning more about McAlpine homes, they've got two books I highly recommend!

Ralph Lauren Home: Mulholland Drive

The fine people over at Ralph Lauren Home unveiled their Spring 2017 collection recently, titled Mulholland Drive. It's beautiful. Their inspiration was classic Hollywood glamour (hence, Mulholland Drive) mixed with the rustic elegance of classic Mediterranean style. 

Ralph Lauren Home's Bohemian Ile Saint-Louis

You know I love Ralph Lauren Home products. I've blogged about them a lot, even cataloging some of the most amazing Ralph Lauren Home collections throughout the years here and here. While they are all outstanding, I tend to truly covet the more bohemian of the collections.

Through the years, we've had La Boheme:

A gorgeous collection of jewel toned, and worldly tribal fabrics mixed with gilded antiques and modern art. Of course, the layering upon layering is what makes this truly bohemian, that subtle mix of color, texture, and style that only the brilliant minds over at Ralph Lauren seem to be able to pull off.

We also had the New Bohemian collection:

 

A dirtier, less refined collection than La Boheme, however still lovely, and still mixing those genres and textures and styles all for that bohemian-glam look that Ralph Lauren has made so covetable. One of my favorites, if not the favorite, St. Germaine:

 



Another lovely collection of things new and old, rough and refined, luxurious and destined for the trash - all paired up together and layered upon layered to create this intimate experience. And really, isn't that what we all want out of our houses? Perfection without having to be perfect?

So, when I popped in on Ralph Lauren Home to see what collections they had for Spring/Summer 2014, I was so happy to see another bohemian space, this time called Ile Saint-Louis:

Gorgeous, right? As I soaked up these images, and looked, then relooked at the detail of each one, it seemed as if all at once, my idea of the Ralph Lauren bohemian "look" shifted. What I had remembered of collections like La Boheme, New Bohemian, and St. Germain, these over-filled, over-decorated, over-layered rooms, so beautifully hoarded - had collectively sealed my idea of what bohemian rooms should look like. Yet here we are, with Ile Saint-Louis, delicately spare in decoration, simply styled, and devoid of overpowering layers, and the bohemian look still rings true, shining through in every image.

Industrial tables mixed with French antiques, linens mixed with cashmere and velvets, found objects mixed with off the rack specials, it proves that often you don't need a room filled with objects for it to be beautiful. More over, you don't need all of your objects to be antique, or unique. Quite the opposite, sometimes you have to break up those antiques with trendy off the shelf specials and visa versa in order for a room to feel truly collected, and ... special.

Yes, indeed, there's always a lot to learn from the brilliant designers over at Ralph Lauren who put these stunning visual feasts together for us every season. For more on this one, and to see the other less bohemian collection for Spring/Summer 2014, go to RalphLaurenHome.com.

Kate Middleton and Prince William's Royal Kensington Palace Apartment 1A Before and After ... ala Ralph Lauren Home Apartment No. One ... Unveiled!

Well, I told you I'd let you know when it showed up ... and here it is! Prince William and Kate's finished apartment before and after (via Ralph Lauren's vision) Apartment No. One:

The lovely couple, newly wedded. 

The lovely couple, set to entertain at Apartment No. One. 

Narrow room at Kensington Palace Before.

 Becomes a beautiful breakfast room for the future King and Queen After.

Princess Margaret in the Living Room Before.

Where Baby George will crawl about in the New Apartment No. One After.

Princess Margaret's Kensington Palace Dining Room ... Formal and Blue Before.

Prince William and Kate's Sophisticated Dining Room / Library After.

Receiving Hall Before.

Princely Pugs in the Receiving Hall After. 

Bedroom at Kensington Palace Before.

Prince William and Kate's Bedroom After.

A room with a fireplace at Kensington Palace Before.

Becomes a Toasty Resting Place for the Royal Couple's Guests After.

I think Ralph did a brilliant job translating the interiors of the young Royal Couple into the Ralph Lauren Home 2013 Fall Collection: Apartment No. One, don't you? Hope you had fun with this little "play" on interiors!