I have terrific news to share: our Tudor is under contract! Yay! A solid offer, from a lovely young family, came in a day before the scheduled open houses, and we accepted it. Tom and I along with our wonderful agent, Mary Lynn White, all decided to cancel both open houses. I apologize if that caused an inconvenience or disappointment to anyone.

Many thanks to those that left good wishes – I received your comments, emails plus messages with much gratitude. I’ll keep you posted on our move.

In the meantime, let’s revisit a serene and sophisticated home that I decorated and recently refreshed. It belongs to Susan and Greg, special friends and longtime clients. I had the pleasure of featuring this project back in 2012. Take a look here – go ahead.

Now compare that to today:

Gone are those bright gold silk curtains (which were installed by the previous owner, and conveyed with the house). Per my advice, Susan replaced them with cream linen panels that complement the quiet beauty of the palette of warm neutrals accented by Swedish blues and grays.

Speaking of Swedish, there are a number of furnishings from my shop throughout this home. But I didn’t want the decor to scream antique Swedish showroom, so I layered in plenty of upholstered seating for comfort, English and French furnishings for variety, and one-of-a-kind accessories for originality.

Many of the pieces I actually repurposed from early
architectural elements. The iron grate in the coffee table that’s in
front of a Swedish settee came from a Parisian balcony. The zinc fragment on the mantel was once part of a door lintel; it’s the latest Tone on Tone acquisition that inspired my restyling of the mantelscape.

Here is the new mantelscape incorporating my zinc fragment plus sentimental items including family silver and the sublime drawings of acclaimed artist and dear friend Jill Bateman. Jill is also a good friend and client of mine. I’m grateful to her for bringing Susan and me together. BTW, the dramatic seaside painting (shown in fourth photo from top) is another work by Jill.

Let’s take a quick peek into the dining room where two more items were repurposed from architectural elements. I found both the zinc window dormer, known as oeil-de-boeuf, and wrought iron balcony guard in Paris. Together they make a striking statement as well as a fun topic of conversation. And how cool to have the zinc pieces in the living and dining rooms speak to each other.
In addition to the beautiful art, Susan is a passionate collector of mercury glass and ironstone china. Here is part of her collection catching the morning light in one corner of the living room. The French cabinet and mirror are from Tone on Tone.
Thanks very much to Susan and Greg for inviting us back into their elegant home. I love the updates!
xoxo
Loi
PS – For more, please follow along on my INSTAGRAM.