Floating Canopy

So, as most of you are aware, I am shamelessly copying, failing miserably at recreating, was inspired by a beautiful bedroom that had what I'm calling, a floating canopy. I'm calling it a floating canopy because the canopy is attached to the ceiling, rather than being a part of a freestanding piece of furniture. In this particular case, the canopy is hanging from the ceiling from hooks and chains, but this varies in some of the pictures I've gathered for inspiration.

I have decided to hang my canopy from chains, just like the inspiration room, but finding suitable curtains has proven problematic. Have no fear, though. I am determined to finish this canopy THIS WEEKEND! So, bring on the inspiration and the perspiration, because we're getting busy. I say we, but clearly I mean I, since I'll be doing this alone! You're with me in spirit though, I know!

Here we go! Enjoy, and see you Tuesday ... with what I hope to be a partial reveal!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos via Pinterest, Mark D. Sikes

 



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.

Chrisley Knows Best ... The Decorated Mansion

Is anyone else addicted to this show? Having grown up in the south, I smile during every episode of Chrisley Knows Best thinking of those zippy one-liners my mother used to throw back at me during my rebellious years. For those of you who haven't watched the USA Network hit, it's about a Southern family (Georgia) who live in an amazing house and are starting a clothing company, aptly named: Chrisley and Co..

The episodes are 30-minutes, and take place primarily in their large home in Roswell, Georgia, just north of Atlanta. The house is lovely, and HUGE at 30,000 square feet. I had been looking for photos of the house and secrets behind who was responsible for the decor ... and I FOUND THEM! Just so happens, (likely because there is a reported $45 million bankruptcy) the house is for sale! So - realtor photos galore, thanks to Sotheby's!

The outside of the house is a sorta bastardized tudor, something they're calling "New American" .. and it's not really all that big considering the houses around it, in the prestigious gated community of Glenayre. It's hard to imagine from the front that it's 30,000 square feet, though. That's something more evident when looking at the house from the back.

A full 3-floors thanks to a walk out basement, the house is long, wide, and deep. Can you imagine decorating this place? And let me tell you - they are decorated! Now, I wasn't sure who was responsible for the decorating of the house, I has my guesses...

do you? I mean, there are decorators who definitely have this style, right ... even a few notable designers from Georgia. Here, in the sitting room of the master - I forged my first opinion ... Phoebe Howard. Are you seeing it?

Then, on the sleeping side of the room, the canopy bed, fully dressed along with the glass front secretary, patterned carpet, and clever mix of Swedish furniture with American antiques made me even more sure that Phoebe was responsible for this space. (I was wrong!)

So, I ran over to Phoebe's site, and searched and searched for these spaces ... they weren't there. Which means she wasn't responsible. Surely, with all the rooms on her site, when money like this gets spent - she would have definitely had it on the rotation. So I kept looking at the spaces - enjoying each one for the very Southern way they were finished, wondering who decorated Todd Chrisley's house?

I started getting to the more colorful rooms - like this bedroom with it's soft mossy green walls and coral accents. It had me thinking about another Atlanta designer, Suzanne Kasler. Looks a little like her, right?

In his daughter's room - I thought yep, Suzanne. The patterned carpet, the canopy bed, the fearless use of the the color pink! Surely this is a Kasler room. But nope. Wrong again.

In this room, I thought, heck - they've got enough money, maybe they had Charlotte Moss decorate the house? I mean the pleated shades, and use of the same fabric and wallpaper in so many rooms is totally Charlotte, right?

But, alas, wrong again. So - who, with such traditional taste could have decorated Todd Chrisley's house? Find out here! You can see more of the house here.

For more decor porn, this past episode (it airs on Tuesday nights), Todd - the father, Chase - his son, and Savannah - his daughter all go to NYC to purchase clothes directly from designers for their high-end clothing store. (Todd calls it the Bergdorf's of the South).The episode, like all the others, was great - but what was REALLY great, was the NYC hotel that they stayed in. What hotel? Well after a lot of digging ... and I do mean A LOT (NYC has over 4,000 hotels!!) I found it ... and now I want to stay there!

 

The Gramercy Park Hotel is a landmark, boutique hotel, located in the center of the city on Lexington Avenue. We've always stayed either on the upper west side on the park, or mid-town near all the theatres. But seeing the decor here has me thinking about booking a trip! (Or at least heading over and peeking around the lobby during our next trip!) You can see more of the hotel here.

Hope you enjoyed it - and if you watch the show, I'd love to know what you think of the Chrisley's ... and their extravagant lifestyle.