New York: The Great White Way

Come into this penthouse in New York City. It's cozy, only 1100 square feet, but jam packed with style.

It's decorated in a way I associate with a classic New York style from the 1990's: White walls and furniture, with accents of wood case pieces, and a great mix of accessories. I love the zebra skin in the entrance hall.

The living room has white slip covered furniture. The room is layered with lots of brown and clear glass accent pieces. The huge wall of mirror behind the couch is framed beautifully.

There's a small dining area behind the living room sofa, and I spy zebra print on two of the dining chairs.

There is a large and elegant Venetian style glass chandelier that anchors the dual purpose room. More zebra print on a plate on the glass top coffee table. The little lamp shades on the chandeliers are very 1990's.

The window treatments seem to be simple blinds that are pulled all the way up to enjoy the view. There's a door out to a lush terrace.

The bedroom has a classic Billy Baldwin touch - the large Chinese screen behind the bed.
The bedroom seems to double as an office. I love the huge glass door bookcase with silver trophies and a small model sail boat on top. More zebra in here too!

White walls are replaced by this warm taupe color. And there's another door in here that leads to the terrace. Outdoor space like this is so luxurious in New York!

The garden on the penthouse terrace has a European feeling.

Linda Dano, decorated this wonderful place and recently sold it for 1.5 million. The new buyer loved the decor so much he bought everything down to the sheets and towels.

Linda is a former television soap opera star, and she wrote a decorating book in 1997.

I love this style of decorating. It doesn't look dated to me. And I love how exuberant Linda is - she doesn't hesitate to layer like crazy, and to use use zebra over and over again!

Linda Dano also has a line of home goods for sale on QVC. Unfortunately it doesn't reflect her fabulous sense of style. The merchandise looks like stuff you can get at your local TJ Maxx or other such outlets.

Come Into The White

As the unofficial start of summer kicked off last weekend, alot of people went out of town, and alot of people came into New Orleans as their getaway.
We stayed in town, and I gave the living room some summer touches.
No I didn't repaint it all white, but I did add some more white to the room.


First a good cleaning, and a change of drapes. Down came the green velvet. Then I moved the white sheer curtains from the bedroom into the living room. I often move things to different rooms, kind of "shopping" the house for a new look.


The room is flooded with light and feels so airy, so much like summer.
I also swapped out the gilded wheat sheaf base and glass coffee table for this white mid century cutie. I cannot just confine myself to one era ha ha, so I mix all the centuries together.
I also removed the black and white stripe rug and swapped it out for the cow hide which was in the guest bedroom. I love the hide rugs because they hide everything, i.e. dog hair and dirt. And I love seeing more of the floor for summer too.


The morning light is just fabulous. By mid morning it moves from the front of the house, so even though the room is light filled, it's not hot from the sun pouring in.


The art work in the living room is comprised of all portraits. It's my little portrait gallery.
I love to hang art low. It pleases my eye.


I purposely did not put side tables next to the antique French settee, though you know I have them! I had a smaller version of the coffee table, and decided to float both of them, one in front of the settee, and one in front of the sofa. I flipped the settee and sofa from their "winter" positions.


The Thomas Paul pillow with the Greco-Roman head, the portrait of Kenny, and even the little sculpted head in the tray of shells, all add to portrait gallery.


I also added a sweet little green chair, the Philippe Starck Mademmoiselle Chair. The pop of green and the clear Lucite legs add just the right amount of sparkle.


I mix a variety of prints, and the green chair has a tone on tone damask to add to the fun.


I often pick the ginger from the yard for the living room, and the fresh green of the leaves plays along with the green chair.


The Will Barnett portrait entitled "The Young Couple" has subtle shades of green too, and the bunch of giant green grapes make a nice still life.


Another corner has a metal etagere, with two of my favorite portraits, one of Cholo done by Patricia from PVE, and the other of my friend Trevor, who I snapped at Castle Howard when we visited a friend there together.


Cholo loves the new arrangement. He has so many places to choose to snuggle on, like this vintage chair recovered in a Duralee print.


The corner with the chaise is Alberto's hang out.


The tray on the coffee table holds shells, and other special little things like this box of calling cards Alberto had printed when he graduated from The University of Buenos Aires over 40 years ago!


Since we'll be spending most of our summer at home this year, I am so happy that the living room has been dressed in summer whites. It feels like we've gone someplace new and pretty for a holiday.
So take a look around your house, and see what you can move around to refresh a room for summer!

Before N After Slip Covers

photo by Eddie Ross

Months ago I started thinking about getting the master bedroom ready for summer. I got a mountain grass rug (the same as sea grass), painted my dressers white, and got some new bedding including a deep drop ruffle white bed spread, and some some new toss pillows. I also put up some white sheer curtains. The last piece of the scheme was a white slip cover for the velvet slipper chair.



Everyone thinks about white slipcovers sooner or later. And everyone has them sooner or later. It might just be an off the peg one from someplace like Sure Fit, or maybe one from Ikea. These are fine, but they really can't compare with slipcovers made especially for your furniture.


I have had slipcovers made, but they were in chartreuse linen, and also in black and white toile. But I never had white slips made. When I wanted to have one made for the slipper chair, I called my upholstery man who quoted me around $400. I also checked a couple of other places, and the price was more or less the same, plus the cost of the fabric (around six yards).



It was more than I had to spend, so I went online and did some looking around. I thought I might find a ready made one for what I thought was a pretty generic chair shape. I didn't find one, but I found a great company called Before N After Slipcovers.



The price for a slipper chair white twill cover was around $150., and that I could do! So I just went to the site, and followed the instructions.



They give you diagrams to take measurements from, and I did it, sent them the order, and just waited for the turn around, which is about four weeks. I didn't mind the wait because it was still winter, and I was planning ahead.
I got follow up e-mails from a very nice and capable woman named Sue, and I decided to keep it simple, and not micro manage. A few weeks later my slipcover arrived in the mail.



Oops! I guess my measurements were not correct! I sent this picture off to Sue, and she asked me to measure again, and that she would re-do it. I had sent her several photos of my chair from every angle, and she e-mailed them back to me with little arrows on them as to where to EXACTLY measure. She never made me feel stupid or bad. She couldn't have been nicer about it. This is excellent customer service.
While I was waiting for the redo to come, I looked at the Before N After web site again, and found this really great chair seat slip for $55.

It made me think of the beloved queen of white slips and sea grass, Ms Joni Webb of Cote de Texas, who has written the definitive book on the subject.

Joni Webb's chairs

I also revisited some of Joni's postings about slip covers, and had the aha moment. I forgot to ask Sue if they pre-washed the fabric! I had done this with the green linen slips myself before I handed the fabric over to the seamstress. So I shot off another e-mail or two, requesting a pre- wash, or making the slip at least 20% larger.




Many of us own Parsons Chairs, and Before N After does many versions of slipcovers for this work horse of a chair starting at $109. They have a zillion fabric choices, or you can use your own fabric.



Anyhoo, my do over came a few days ago, perfect timing since it is well on the way to summer here already. It turned out so nice! And it looks great with all the other summery things I added. It's a little bigger in lieu of pre-washing.


Adding all the white accents with the blue walls really looks fresh.


I already had quite a few white accents, so it wasn't rocket science to add a few more.


The room feels more and more like being at the beach.


I've had the mountain grass rug down for a couple of months, and it is terrific! Dirt and dog hair do not show at all, and the grass smells sweet, and feels great on bare feet.

I've had this bench for years and years, and had the slip made for it at least ten years ago.


I'm loving the lamps I painted to look like alabaster. The photo is by Edgar Sierra, that he took right after Katrina. It was exhibited at The New Orleans Museum of Art.


My lady saints are in a niche on an antique twig table.


The other night table has another Katrina photo, showing a naked woman climbing out of the rubble of what once was her house.


All in all I am very happy with the changes I made for the summer.

If you're thinking of white slipcovers for the summer (or for all the time) give Before N After a try.

White Girl

Who hasn't lived with white walls? White is so light and clean and practical. It matches everything. A couple of coats of white paint on my New York apartment walls always worked.


City life in caverns and canyons created by tall buildings is often dark, and white rooms offered luminosity.



White could be decorated any way, from modern to vintage.


The white comfort zone followed the city weary Manhattanite to their beach or country getaways. So is it any wonder that for years I thought it was "me" to have white walls?


I ventured away from those white walls a couple of times. English style had me wallpaper everything.


Before that I had a deep purple bedroom, a color that turned out to be very restful and sexy.


But once transplanted for a short time in California, I reverted back to what I had come to believe as a classic, white walls again.


For the most part, white was the way to go. Who could argue with white?
While I'm not against some white, all over white has become another story. White isn't about matching everything. It can be about being afraid of risk, experimentation, change.


When it came time to choose colors for our New Orleans house, I decided not to accept the image of myself I always had. I decided to change the recipe in this house. I wanted to be more daring. I wondered what effect other colors would have on me. Paint is cheap, a little goes along way.


White is neutral. Harmless. Safe. But color is inspiring. It's emotional. It takes you places.


And that's what your house should do. It should transport you to a place of peace and contentment.
And so what colors did I choose?


The kitchen was the first - I wanted a mustard color, something I had seen in Provence.


Next was my office. And I knew it would be red. It took a couple of tries to find the right one, which turned out to be a coral based red.


Then it was the master bedroom. I had never had a blue room, so I chose a gray blue, and it is the most pleasing restful pretty color.


The guest room got a gray beige, the most neutral color, but still some color.


The living room deep brown.


The bathrooms are white, a throwback to my old habits, as is the walk in closet, mainly to enhance the light in there, so we don't go out with mismatched clothes ha ha.


It's been four years since I dipped into the paint pot, and I am not bored with all the color. The value and saturation is similar from one color to the next, so the rooms look linked and cohesive. When people first see the house, they always remark how New Orleans it looks because of the color. I do think geography can determine color.


Painting the walls of your home makes them a part of your home rather than a generic container in which all of your stuff floats, unattached.


Color grounds you. It's an investment in your environment. It's warmer and more homey.

photos from Google Images