Two Musts - Elle Decor & Vogue Living

The November issue of Elle Decor is out and it is especially beautiful this month. I would suggest you run over to your favorite bookstore today and pick it up. And this month, don't wait for your subscription copy to arrive. My copy is already a mess, totally trashed out from schlepping it around with me. The cover shot is from the Boston Black Bay street apartment of designer Frank Roop and his wife Sharon. Photos from this living room and study are worth the price of the issue alone. Also featured are the design team of Sills and Huniford with an art filled NYC apartment. But wait, I haven't even gotten to the good stuff yet:



Blogger favorite Steve Gambrel shows off his latest, above, a glorious NYC apartment located in a 1895 building. Two standouts are pictured here: the custom Troy rug and the yellow Clarence House silk drapes. Do NOT miss the custom brass art lights which become sculptures in Gambrel's hands. And another not to be missed, the master bedroom closet. Any man would die for a closet this gorgeous. Gambrel's success here shows how he takes something utilitarian and turns it into art.


But my favorite story in the Elle Decor, possibly of the year, is Alex Papachristidis' Manhattan apartment. A riot of color, pattern, art and exotic "Grand Tour souvenirs" - the home is cluttered perfection. Fortunys, ikats, and antique suzanis coexist as if they were taupe and cream linens instead of vibrant reds, pinks, yellows, and greens. There are enough up-to-the minute trend alerts here that it's obvious the space will be outdated next year. But still, I'd spend a year here, living quite happily.

Vogue Living is special, too, this time around. In what has become a publishing trend, magazines come out with quarterly "design issues" and it appears that Vogue has Oprah and In Style beat by a mile. The articles are typically Vogue thought-provoking pieces, and story after story is filled with fresh ideas to ponder. There' s a great take on design books, an interesting pictorial on Vermeer decor, and an excerpt from Polly Devlin's new book: A Year in the Life of an English Meadow. The features are particularly enjoyable: an English castle, an Arabian tent, and a peek into Jennifer Garner's french styled garden. My favorites? Kathryn Ireland's new home. Having just published her first book, Classic Country (highly recommended!), she moved into a "cluster of 1920s stable buildings" in Ojai. I adore her style - casual, warm, and cozy, totally without any hint of pretension anywhere. But, saving the best for last:

The star of this issue is Carolina Herrera, Jr. and her husband's Spanish estancia, pictured above. If this shot of their bedroom doesn't send you out rushing to see more, we definitely have different perspectives! That's ok, I guess, but how can you not love a room with a balcony overlooking a view such as this, the Pierre Frey Le Coq toile, an antique dressing table, the beamed ceiling and terra cotta floor along with a fireplace thrown in just for pure romance? Heaven!