House Beautiful May 2013

Don't you just love a cover that has "tips and secrets" on it?

It feels like we're reading a declassified FBI dossier that 

J Edgar Hoover kept on decorators.  But now of course, we don't need that - we have Million Dollar Decorators.

I really like coral.  
Not only the actual one that you sadly find less and less on the Great Barrier Reef but also the color and anything remotely similar.  However, I have a little coral and sea fan fatigue.  
But that is only because it has been a little overexposed of late but I wouldn't mind a cushion in any of these fabrics.

I rarely comment on the ads but I have to say that I find the following one from Pierre Frey very noticeably soothing.

It's not too fancy but also perfectly pitched for trade as 

Pierre Frey is usually reserved for professionals only in London.

I thought this was a very clever ad from Farrow and Ball.  

It must be the most copied paints in the UK.  Everyone takes a sample of a certain shade like String or Pale Powder which is one of the most popular selling shades in London and takes it to the hardware store to copy.

I have seen this "tip" on blogs and some acquaintances who think they are saving money by simulating a Farrow and Ball shade but I can spot a fake wannabe shade a mile off.  Then it seems kind of sad that they went through all the trouble of painting and spending money with a mediocre imitation.  If you want a Farrow and Ball shade - just buy it from them.  At the end of the day, it's paint and not imitation 16th century French furniture where there is a huge price differential.