December 2014 Insta Part 2

The blog turned two this month and I am so glad to have made that decision and stick to it.
My original resolution was one year no matter what. 
I have done that so now the rest is just gravy to me.  
I have met so many interesting people I would never have met not only on the web but in real life. 

Assouline bookshelves

The latest fellow blogger turned friend is Meg from the engaging and informative blog Pigtown Design.  I am sure most of you know her as she was one of the earlier bloggers. What you might not get from the blog is just how funny she is in real life! 

We had a great afternoon going to the museum, browsing at the Assouline bookstore chatting to a very handsome book restorer, lunch and a peek at Ham yard house.

After going to the Cecil Beaton exhibition at Colefax Fowler, 
I also went browsing for fabrics in their showroom in what was Nancy Lancaster's home. 

Isn't this fireplace with folding screen,throws and luggage rack just perfect?

The showroom in Mayfair is so quiet and I think a lot of people are a bit intimidated to walk in but the staff there are so polite, welcoming and helpful! 

Move over Bunny bc there's a Churchill auction next

Wasn't there a lot of publicity about the recent Bunny Williams auction?

It had all the ingredients for a juicy story with history and provenance and a time in history that went with the person and yet we all tried to hold on to through her artifacts.

Well London does provenance and history just that tad deeper 

if I may say...

There is an auction coming up this week at Sotheby's which is the objects that were in the Holland Park home of the late last surviving child of Winston Churchill.

The sign below is what was written next to this desk recreated 

as it was in Holland Park.

As luck would have it there was a lecture and talk by people who recounted personal stories of the family.  The crowd was full of people who seemed to either know her or met her and there was great conversations I overheard while viewing the objects.

It was unusual in that they recreated areas of her homes.

But if I were related to her this arrangement would have made me too emotional that I would have ripped up the contract 

and stopped the sale.

The curators set up areas of her home exactly as it was in real life.

This is an example of recreating her home.

 

Ines in the latest French Vogue Dec/Jan 2015

No posts for a few weeks and then like buses three in one week!

I just had to share with you pictures of Ines de la Fressange in the latest edition of French Vogue that I downloaded last night.

She is such a zeitgeist figure that like the days of the supermodel all you need is the first name.

I refer to her as the posher French version of Jackie O.

She is from a patrician background but has a streamlined style and despite her privilege she has had to endure public grief with personal affairs being national news in France.

So it seems natural but almost a bit tardy that this edition of 

French Vogue was almost dedicating most of the issue to her.

As you can see, it wasn't just a retrospective 

to her illustrious career but looking the way she does 

she still rightfully earns her place in the pages.

Most civilians could be photo-shopped and injected with 

the best collagen around and still not look like this.

In fact, she almost looks better now than some of 

her old pics in her modelling portfolio.

There was a lovely collage of her personal photos from various stages in her life.

There was also a pictoral reference to her Chanel days that ended up in a rift as Karl didn't approve of her being the

Marianne of France which he considered rather common.

I love a woman who dared go against the Kaiser.

She also has friends that imparts her with further glamour and cultural wattage by lunching with 

Princess Caroline and Victoire de Castellane.

But all is well again and this was a nice gesture to show she has no feelings towards Karl by donning a classic Chanel jacket.

Headboard Decisions

Apart from the finishing off of walls, tiling and sealing stones, 
I am in the middle of trying to decorate.  One of the latest matters occupying my brain is my headboard.

This is the headboard we have at present.
It is a simple ivory fabric.
Mr CSW doesn't like busy details and 
I am not a hugely bothered either way.

I am tempted to keep it the way it is because the fabric matches the blinds and it is a very clean and streamlined look.  But as simple as it is I think it is too "generic interior designer decorating for resale" look.  Taupe is okay but sometimes it just makes me roll my eyes.

The wall color is as I like to call it -  
no surprise because what Londoner doesn't use
 Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath.

I do like it, I do.
So does Mr CSW but...

 I waiver between - 
how soothing to 
get off the polite decorating wall and
do something decisive goshdarnit.

So these are my other three options.
I love this fabric. It's called Equateur Imprime by Hermes home fabrics.  
Some of you might recognize it as a scarf print.

 I have had it lying around waiting for the perfect conduit to really showcase the color and design.

I am thinking of making a scarf or shawl out of this which would be ironic because I did make a cushion out of a scarf last year which you can read about here.

But a designer told me that to use this fabric as a headboard might not be the best use as the oils from the pillows overtime will discolor the white and that would be most upsetting.

My husband also loves this and he told me to just hang it up as a tapestry as he doesn't want to see it cut.  I actually agree with him which is why I wonder if I will ever find a use for this.

The second choice is this fabric 
I was originally going to make cushions out of.
This is also a print that was a Hermes scarf and is called Circuit 24.

I did the calculations and figured it was cheaper to buy the fabric and get someone to make it rather than buy the cushions outright. 
Plus you get the flexibility of choosing your exact size.

I don't mind it but Mr CSW thinks there is a clash of tones and he thinks we should just make cushions as planned.

My third choice is the Jardin Bleu by Manuel Canovas.
It was a hard call between this colorway and the blue 
but the flexibility of this won out in the end.

I just picked this out today intending to use it to cover my dining chairs but I draped it over the headboard to try.

Mr CSW likes it but once again he says it is a shame to cut it and we should hang it!
At this rate we won't need to paint or wallpaper walls with all the fabric draped around the house...

I still don't know what to do and I may just leave as is 

which seems to be the theme around the house!

Insta post December 2014 Part 1

Why hello!
I have been a bit quiet not because I have had nothing to write about but there has been so much that I just have a stack of unfinished and unedited posts which I just haven't had time to edit.

So allow me to ease back into the routine with a broad recap.

Say what you like about the Victorians but they built the best railway stations.
We left Paddington station and arrived at Windsor station.

The station is right next to Windsor Castle.
That brick edifice in front of the station is the Queen's favorite home.

We walked through the perfectly English quaint town with its quirks.

That house would have never made it past the worst architect student and yet has survived hundreds of years.

We were going to St Andrews Day at Eton College.
The school has two main days for family and friends of students to come and visit the grounds.  The school doesn't normally allow the public to wander as it does tend to attract a lot of tourists so this was a special day.

Admissions into Eton nowadays is not like the past where alumni forebears guaranteed entry but it still attracts academically, musically, artistically gifted students. 

My freighbour ( half friend and half neighbour ) who I have known since he was in primary school is a King's Scholar at Eton.   

 
They are the top ranking students in all of Eton and are bestowed special privileges.

My frieghbour modeling his special King Scholar's coat which only the scholars are allowed to wear.

The King Scholars also dine separately from the other students in the more glamorous College Hall.

The other students are known as Oppidans. 
The most recent alumni you may know of is Prince William and Prince Harry.

Eton has numerous illustrious alumni but here is one of my favorite writers relatives who scribbled on the walls.

This below is the oldest classroom at Eton dating back to 1500's even though the school was founded 1440.

The library is every librarian's dream and this was one of the days that the library displayed the few existing copies of the Gutenberg Bible for viewing.

This is the famous courtyard from an upstairs library room.

So many activities are held and the music department is renown for their concerts.
This was a jazz concert in one of the many classrooms.
 

The highlight of the day was that our King Scholar was playing in the famous wall game.

The match on this day is between the King Scholars and the Oppidans ( all the other students.)