" Simply beautiful . . . "

Good morning all,

I'm taking an intentional break from the workload this morning.  Flipping through design magazines (yay, for the new House Beautiful!), scanning through some of my favourite designer's websites, and planning some window shopping this afternoon after lunch - are all on the calendar for today.  For me, it's such an important part of the design process.  It's never about re-creating something that you've seen, but, more importantly, it's about being inspired by beauty.  

And when you're looking for wonderful spaces, Alessandra Branca is always a great place to start - these images from House Beautiful have always been favourites of mine.  

"It's like the Mona Lisa. Would she be as beautiful if the 

scene behind her wasn't interesting? The paisley in the 

library, the chinoiserie in the dining room, even the 

damask in the master bedroom, all have curvy patterns 

that create drama, the kind of tension I love against 

the straight lines of the furniture."

                                       - Alessandra Branca

Such a lovely room.  so light. so gracious.  

"I adore the styles of the 16th, 17th, and 18th 

centuries in Europe — I even love Baroque — but I like 

to take the shapes and patterns and find a new point of view for them."

- Alessandra Branca

There's still a busy day ahead of me, but I'm feeling like my engines are starting to re-charge.

Hope everyone's having a great week,

tartanscot

for the complete House Beautiful article.