Maisons de Montagne

Goodmorning!

Snuggle up and enjoy!

Kirstie Allsopp's holiday cottage

Kirstie Allsopp is a Channel 4 presenter of successful home shows such as Location,Location,Location and Kirstie's Homemade Home. She is well educated, knowledgeable and has a style and attitude of her own, that I, and her many viewers, love. This is her holiday cottage in Devon.

To rent the property click here. Location,Location,Location website is here, and Kirstie's Homemade Home is here.

An interview of Ms.Allsopp with the Mail can be found here.

Ms. Allsopp is also an adviser on housing issues with Britan's Conservative Party.

Divine Cordelia

Back in 2007, I wrote this post about the house of Atalanta de Castellane, mother of the marvelous Cordelia, a personal style icon. Cordelia with Ségolène Gallienneare are the dynamic duo behind CdC, the chic children's clothing line.
She is the epitomy of relaxed, confident chic, and an authentic beauty (and she is half-Greek!).
Voici deaux photos de sa maison qui montrent que Cordelia et moi , nous sommes des esprits soeurs. We both lunch on, and we stock for our shop, if I may, a similar table, to say the least.

Bravo, Cordelia. Continuez de nous inspirer!

Domino interview and some thoughts

(Photo from All Things Bright and Beautiful)

Do stop by All Things Bright and Beautiful today, to read an interview with Domino mag's editor-in-chief Deborah Needleman. Although I have had a strong disagreement with an interview I read some time ago (not everyone likes all-white minimalism, and why should one person's taste be deemed chic-or not, after all?), she gives some interesting answers to the questions her host asks.
Two interesting points I would like to bring up magazine-wise:
a) A new feature called "My Deco File" "will allow you to store and organize all those gazillions of tear sheets you’ve ripped out of magazines over the years that you’ve been meaning to file.You’ll be able to pull pictures from our website, from any other website, upload images from your phone or computer, and you can tag the images and organize them however you want--by room or color or whatever. You can also share your files with whomever you want --everyone, no one, or just your decorator or best friend. It’ll launch on www.dominomag.com sometime this summer"
which sounds useful and handy, and
b)Next October will see the launch of Domino: The Book of Decorating: A room-by-room guide to creating a home that makes you happy. (You can pre-order following the link above at a great discount).
I really liked reading this! Domino has ceased its publication in Greece (so my collection is a real collection, now!). It will be nice to have a little Domino inspiration on my bookshelves.




When asked about her style predictions for the coming year, Ms. Needleman answered:


"I think people will be following their own instincts and preferences more, rather than being influenced by any particular trend; I think there will be more creative reuse or re-purposing of existing pieces, rather than tossing things and buying new; and also much more targeted spending on luxury items.In other words, I see a trend toward the things in our homes having meaning or significance to us, and their being there for a reason, and perhaps having fewer, but more special things".

(Photo from Yarnstorm)

That is something to be expected to a great extend. There is so much uncertainty around, so much fear from one side of the globe to the other, that people turn inwards to the safety of family and hub. Unemployment, ravaging illness, media produced crisis after crisis, oil and food crisis, and of course war raging across the globe, ruining people's lives and souls, you name it. Where is one to turn for comfort but to traditional homemaking and the home comforts of cooking, crocheting and gardening?



As the Greeks said, there is no evil without some good, so where is it, in this case?The first thing that comes to mind is neglecting raging consumerism. I, for one, have had enough of the plastic. No more!

(Photo from Anna-Maria Horner)

Second, think of all those crafts that are being revived thanks to people like Amanda/Soulemama and her The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections, Jane Brocket at Yarnstorm and her wonderful The Gentle Art of Domesticity as well as the upcoming Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer: A Golden Treasury of Classic Treats or Anna-Maria's upcoming Seams to Me: 24 New Reasons to Love Sewing(also out in October, that you can also pre-order at a great discount).

(Photo from Amanda Soule)

Those ladies have taken homemaking to a new level and brought it up to date, freeing women from the guilt associated to becoming homemakers.

Think also of all those little treasures that would end up in the rubbish bin: from fabrics to furniture, our post-industrial heritage. But that's another discussion. Go ahead and enjoy our times!

Fresh and happy home

This is home to the family of interior homeware company Rice, as published in the February issue of Living etc. I am eyeing this kind of lit du jour for my office. Ikea has one for 99 Euros and I can put one of our super comfy mattresses. People are usually shy with color and pattern when it comes to small places. I am all for color and pattern in small places, as long as they are tastefully combined. This guest room proves it.

Here is the family in their Danish home.

The kitchen units are from Ikea as is the tap. I have been looking for "shower" taps. They invariably cost about 500 Euros and upwards. This one from Ikea costs c.270Euros, which is half the price. It does look quite high going, though! I think I may opt for an olde English tap instead.

Not my cup of tea. Those people are not shy when it comes to using heirlooms. If you love it, I suppose...

This is the playroom and office. Difficult mix. It is a home office, of course, in which case it is better to have the kids playing around and checking on them.

Love the lampshades. They look like Rice plant workers to me!

And here is a photo of one of Rice's treasures. White with splashes of color. Beautiful bedspread!

(Photo from The Style Files)