Greys are good!

Don't you just love zinc? Pre-Haussmann architecture in Paris is full of oeil de boeuf windows and roof finials or fleurons. Although Paris is known for it's dismal, grey exteriors, grey can be a good thing for interiors!

Neutrals in a room allow the eye to rest. They provide quiet statements that balance the stronger elements in the composition.

I love using greys , especially zinc, to balance an environment, indoors or out.

Can't you see a collection of zinc urns across a mantel or in a bookcase?

These fleurons would be great outdoors or simply as an architectural piece inside.

Grey has been on my mind probably because last week I painted these walls for a client's dining room.....

....washes of subtle color mimicking old plaster....

Look at how the lithograph sets off the collection of gilded candlesticks and urn.

They sit back quietly and let the stronger colors sing! When planning a room, keep your focal points to a minimum filling the remaining space with lots of neutrals and greys.

The Fabulous Helen Morris....

This is just one example of what can be done with high end stencils.......

All of the designs you see are available through stencil-library.

Helen Morris is the whirlwind behind the world's largest mail-order stencil collection. England based, they offer over 3500 stencils, many based on historical ornamentation.

Helen's blog Design Inspiration gives us a peek into her world. Nothing is too difficult or too unusual to stencil!

I met Helen about a year ago and follow her blog on a weekly basis. She has a wealth of ideas stored in photos here and browsing through the catalog of stencil library will make your mind reel! So much inspiration!

I would like to thank Helen for featuring me in her blog this week. She is a great friend with a fabulous mind! Check out her blog and stencil company .

over the top interiors....

Bergl, Duquette, Marchiori....sigh.....images of their work are always in my mind...

....influencing my own work and consultations I have with clients and decorators.

These first two images are from two rooms done by J W Bergl in the Schonbrunn Palace in Austria. Here is a link to see a panoramic view of the entire room.

This is the lacquered hall from the Hotel Claude in Paris....

Look at the scale of this classical motif salon....

...and the layers of trompe l'oeil fabric behind the bed....

Tony Duquette was synonymous with asian decor and high drama.

This is Duquette's drawing room at Dawnridge...

..more classic Duquette...

Carlo Marchiori, Venetian by birth, settled in California over a decade ago and brought with him the best of european decorative art.

Carlo not only built Ca 'Toga, but painted all interior murals as well....

His work stopped me in my tracks when I first saw it featured in a magazine I picked up in Venice.

Let me know who has influenced you with your decorating style..!

Road trip...

I have been working in south Texas for a few months with a client's home. The drive is between 8 and 9 hours long and includes a lot of what Texas has best...diversity!

There seems to be an imaginary line around Waco, Texas that once crossed, opens up into a network of small, diverse rural towns with lots of character and history.

Close to London, Texas is an outcrop of pink granite lining both sides of highway 377, the same granite that the state capital is built from.

Go further south on highway 83 to Crystal City, Texas and you will find incredible palm trees thriving in the "border town" warmer climate.

I was working just north of Crystal City on a ranch covered in flint, limestone and river rocks....

....forty miles south of the Frio River....

....... below the "hill country" near Kerrville....

...and where cactus is the main ornamental plant!

On my "paint breaks", I would head in to town (Uvalde)to shop. I found this souvenir pincushion from the 1906 New Orleans Mardi Gras in a local antique shop .....

...and rewarded myself with a piece of Virgins, Saints and Angels jewelry while visiting on each trip!

Shopping in Central and South Texas can be diversified as well! The Herb Farm in Fredericksburg, Texas provides 5 star meals and a gift shop full of candles, soaps and lotions made from herbs grown on the grounds.

I picked up this pretty brush holder from the Artisans at Rocky Hill gallery in Fredericksburg. They are under twenty dollars and have lots on hand if you want to contact them.

If you are in the area, the Hangar Hotel in Fredericksburg is a trip back in time. Located on the grounds of the actual airport, it is a new structure built to look like a quonset hut from WWII.

The hotel staff wear military uniforms, wool blankets are at the foot of each bed....

There is much attention to detail to create the illusion of the war era.

...and everything is painted in army green or battleship grey!

Jitterbug music plays in the lobby and you can ususally hear the billiards clicking in the Officer's Club a.k.a. clubroom.

Just outside of San Antonio is the small German town of Castroville. The Old Alsatian is worth the drive for black mussels in whiskey sauce or jaeger schnitzel.

I will close with a photo from Oktoberfest this past weekend in Fredericksburg....I had painted 12 hours the day before and five hours that morning and then made the three hour trip to Oktoberfest for the evening....the point is....grab life when you can and enjoy the ride!

The Midas Touch....

You don't have to tell the Parisians how to warm up a room....major restoration is now complete on the gilded gold ornament of the Opera, Ponte Alexandre bridge and the Fontaines de la Concorde.

Louis XIV, the Sun King knew how to warm up a room as well. Several thousand sheets of gold leaf were used in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles alone.

Versace brought in Sherle Wagner fixtures for a power room in his Miami home.

From this extravagance, we can learn tricks to warm up our own environments. Vintage leather books with gilded spines glow when featured in a bookcase or stacked as a base for an object of interest.

Small scale items such as this gilded clock add warmth when grouped with other textures.

I gilded these fabulous door recently. It added the perfect balance to the entry of the home.

You can get away with gilded ceilings in small areas. This was done in a small study featuring a wall of paintings in ornate gilded frames.

How about gilding the edges of a built in cabinet? Very subtle and classic.

Textiles can add a hint of gold through beading or gilded thread.

Don't forget gilded mirrors!

This Fornasetti table was found on 1stDibs- a collection of many antique dealers with a variety of wares including many gilded sconces, candlesticks, consoles and chairs to warm up your home. Gold can be a great way to warm up your home. Let me know what your favorite gold touch is!