Weekend Books, Insights & Inspiration

FOLLY FANTASTIC

One of the most beautiful books published this year has been One Man's Folly: The Exceptional Houses of Furlow Gatewood (April 2014).

Chronicling the remarkable homes and interiors of American collector and designer Furlow Gatewood, who for many years worked alongside antiques dealer John Rossellini (Bunny Williams' husband) as his business partner in their New York store, this book is more than another design book. Every page, shot so beautifully by Paul Costello (Sara Ruffin Costello's husband) captures the casual elegance of Furlow's style. 

I love that the pages show the flotsam and jetsam of daily life – dogs and all (I even spotted some dishes in a sink on one page). It allows you to relate to this sophisticated but clearly down-to-earth Southern gentleman, even if his taste is exquisite and his collections worthy of a museum. If only more design books showed the 'reality' of our homes.

I've only just bought it this weekend, but wish I'd purchased it sooner.

Price: $99. (But well worth it.)

Publisher: Rizzoli New York. 

WATERCOLOUR LESSONS ON A WINTER'S DAY

Orange, pink and green seem to colour-palette companions, if Furlow Gatewood is to be believed. Thank goodness, because our new Garden Tour branding is going down those lines. 

I did do these with a very small brush one rainy afternoon this week: our new With Compliments slips. (Don't worry: the tour itineraries have a lot more care and detail going into them.)

CHASING THE ROSE

AN ADVENTURE IN THE VENETIAN COUNTRYSIDE

This is another book that lots of people are talking about. I bought it yesterday on recommendation from a friend. It's a lovely read, especially for rose lovers. It's a delightful story about Andrea di Robilant's search for a fabled antique rose – a journey that takes him from modern-day Venice back to the time of Josephine Bonaparte and into some of the most outstanding rose gardens of Europe. The text is so evocative you can almost smell the scent of the petals.

The watercolour jacket (cover) and pages are beautifully designed, too. They're by Venice-born, London-based designer Nina Fuga.

Nina Fuga also did the cover and some of the page designs for fashion designer Collette Dinnigan's recent illustrated biography, plus a range of Collette's romantic Parisian scarves.

GOING ROCOCO

Speaking of romantic, one of the prettiest small gardens in the Cotswolds is this little charmer set in a hidden Cotswold valley: the Painswick Rococo Garden. I visited it one sunny afternoon last month, after hearing a few whispers about how pretty it was, and although I didn't expect much I was bowled over by how beautiful it was.

There are very few Rococo gardens in England and this is a superb example. 

Garden design between 1720 and 1760 was a time of great change, and gardens became flamboyant, frivolous and full of follies and fun. (Furlow Gatewood would have loved them.) They were a place for garden parties; somewhere for Georgian folk to let their hair down. Curiously, there were few flowers back then because gardens were almost theatrical sets used as a backdrop for the decadent garden parties. Garden Historians have since named this period Rococo.

I adored this little folly painted in a cheery shade of Italian pink. But Painswick's real attraction is the white folly that looks out over an enormous kitchen garden, all set in a magical hidden valley.

It's a garden that's well worth seeing, especially if you have children. They'll love it.

www.rococogarden.org.uk

HORTICULTURAL ART IN LONDON

If you're in London and you love all things horticulture, then there are lots of things to see that are free, especially in May, when the Chelsea Flower Show is on. The Chelsea in Bloom festival is, of course, a must-see (www.chelseainbloom.co.uk), as the Chelsea Flower Show. The former is free (you simply wander around the King's Road quarter where many windows do flower-themed displays), but the CFS is costly. If you forget to buy tickets, there are people you can purchase them from. (Tip: Check the Internet during the week of the show, and arrange the meet the seller face-to-face to check the ticket's legitimacy.)

Even walking around the streets of neighbouring South Kensington will reward you with green-thumbed creations. This was a small part of an enormous display of heart-shaped topiaries and heart-shaped ivy in front of a hotel on Kensington High Street.

Another cute freebie for garden lovers is this gorgeous, leaf-inspired sculpture in South Kensington, on the corner of Palace Gate and Kensington Gate, set in amidst a pretty copse of pleached trees. 

One way to see it is to start at the Natural History Museum one Saturday morning (don't miss the Wildlife Garden) and then wind your way north to the Portobello Road Markets along Gloucester Road (which becomes Palace Gate). You'll see it on the left. Keep wandering north, to the Sunken Garden in the Kensington Gardens and then veer left to Kensington Church Street so you pass the bloomingly beautiful pub, the Churchill Arms (one of the prettiest pubs in London, thanks to all the flower displays). 

From there, it's only a short walk north to Portobello Road, and after the markets, you can explore the Notting Hill Gate's leafy streets and grab some lunch at a cute cafe.

CHELSEA PHYSIC GARDEN

Another garden worth visiting in London is the Chelsea Physic Garden. 

I missed this on our Garden Tour last year because I was looking after two of the group who needed assistance, so I went back and saw it this year. 

It's a small garden but packed with interesting features and corners that detail how plants are used in medicinal and other purposes. 

The 'Dye Plant' bed was fascinating, and the 'Scented Flowers' area was equally surprising. This was a rose-scented geranium (above). The garden encourages you to bend down and sniff or touch its plants (which everyone was doing), which contributes to the enjoyment.

chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk

LINEN LOVELINESS

A third book for your To Buy List is this crisp beauty: Linens by Jane Scott Hodges, with a cover so luscious you can almost smell the scented water and sun-dried sheets!

There was a similar linen book published a decade ago (with a very similar cover), but it's difficult to find now, so pick up this appealing alternative instead.

SISSINGHURST IN SUMMER

A gratuitous pic of Sissinghurst's rose garden, simply because it's so beautiful!

 (It will also be on the tour next year.)

And finally, what a sad story about Stuart Rattle that appeared in this weekend's Australian newspaper. 

I was half hoping that a decent journalist would write an in-depth cover story about the terrible murder of this much-loved design icon, as there are so many questions left hanging, but I wondered whether anyone would be courageous enough to take the story on? It's such a sensitive matter, and you really need to tread lightly around these kinds of cases. Thankfully The Australia's Kate Legge has done a superb job under difficult circumstances.

I only met Stuart a few times while interviewing him for various stories, and he was always gracious, kind, funny, and full of wit and self-deprecating humour. It's still such a shock. I can only imagine how his close friends must feel, and my heart goes out to them.

We may never know what really happened last December, and perhaps that's a good thing? Perhaps it's best that we remember Stuart Rattle in the way he no doubt would have wished: by his remarkable garden, his gracious home Musk Farm, and his inimitable elegance and style.

Penguin is bringing out a book about Stuart's work later this year. If it's under Julie Gibbs' Lantern imprint, it will no doubt be done with love and care and attention to detail, just as Stuart would have wanted.

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A Passion for Fabric & Haberdashery: Great Stores & Sources

Are you obsessed with fabric too? So many people I know have become what my friend calls 'mad habers' (short for haberdashers); the kind of people who spend hours in fabric stores, pondering trimmings and going glazed-eyed for vintage ribbons (and all the other things you find in fabulous old Parisian merceries).

We learned to sew at school – we had the most ferocious sewing mistress who made us unpick if something was a mm out of line! – but I can't remember being as fascinated with fabrics as I am now. 

Just try wandering around the Garment District of New York where stores sell off-cuts and remnants from the collections of Armani, Oscar de la Renta, Vera Wang, Ralph Lauren and other design names, and you'll see how people develop a following for fabrics. (NB There are lots of entries on the best fabric stores in the new New York Guide.)

Even the window displays, such as this one in London (above) are incredibly creative examples of pins and imagination.

The Cabbages & Roses Summer Brocante in the countryside near Bath in England last month was a haber's heaven because half the marquees had exquisite fabric displays. This lady was selling vintage indigo linen.

A favourite fabric source is Tricia Guild's Designers Guild store on King's Road in Chelsea, London. If you love fabric and trimmings in all shades, colours and textures, this is the place to go. In fact, it's difficult to resist buying anything in this store (and it's not cheap), but if you're on a budget they do have off-cuts and small pieces for sale. 

I bought these beautiful Designers Guild fabrics one afternoon, pictured above with some vintage ribbons, a painting from a vintage store and a first edition book of Diana Cooper's biography signed by Diana Cooper from John Sandoe bookstore. That was a lovely day's shopping.

Here's the cobalt-blue and purple hydrangea Designers Guild print on our bedhead (above). 

(NB For a cheap bedhead, grab some some MDF, some thick foam and a nail gun one rainy night!)

Here's the pretty powder-blue velvet fabric, which is called Calaggio in Cerulean and is from one of Designers Guild's new collections. It's a beautifully tactile velvet in a botanical print, and looks like something you'd find at Marie Antoinette's Petit Trianon.

We even frame fabric. This vintage Hermès scarf had a small stain and really couldn't be worn any more, so our kindly framer framed it up into a beautiful piece of 'fabric art'.

This glamorous chaise was part of a display of fabrics in the famous D&D Building (Decoration and Design) in New York. This place is a must for designers. There are some many ideas for how to use fabrics and trimmings for little effort. (Will definitely be included in next year's New York tour.)

We had an old Ikea single mattress stored  in the garage, so my partner made a base for it, and I'll now attempt to emulate the far more beautiful D&D chaise above for one-twentieth the cost.

Another wonderful mecca for fabric fans is Edith Mezard's chateau in Provence. Edith is famous for her monogrammed linens and embroidery (The Ritz is a client), and she sells many pieces from a converted stables in her home. Hours are irregular though, so you need to plan.

We're going to be including this lovely place in next year's tour of Paris and Provence.

In London, a great fabric store is MacCulloch & Wallis, just off Oxford Street. You'll need to Google it as it's easy to miss, but the service is wonderful and the fabric range is amazing.

And of course if you haven't been to The Cloth House in Soho, London, you need to pop in there too. (It's just around the corner from MacCulloch & Wallis.)

Merchant & Mills in Rye was featured in a previous post, but it, too, is a must-stop if you're in East Sussex. (This will also be included on future tours.)

In Paris, a gorgeous little mercerie is Ultramod. It's one of the authentic old Parisian haberdasheries, with timber-lined shelves, a beautiful mezzanine and an air of being lost in time.

This was the window merchandising of Ultramod: lamps hung with embroider's thread. So clever.

And finally, a dear friend Doody Taylor made this for me as a special thank-you gift for organising the tour to Dior's home and garden last year. It's a cushion made from the most beautiful fabric and fashion labels. 

At first, I was horrified to think she'd cut the labels from her precious Max Mara and Chanel coats, but she assured me her clothes were still intact! I adore it. It's a very kind gift that now has dress-circle position on our wingback sofas. (Dogs not allowed.) 

It just shows that you can make virtually anything from even the smallest fabric pieces.

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Books, Garden Tours, New York Glamour and Other Lovely Stuff

There's a lot going in here at the moment, with many projects being juggled (often in an uncoordinated fashion). I picked up a terrible flu from Asia too, which made the productivity levels plummet. As such,  I'm a little behind in emails, and for that I apologise. Will get on top of work soon, I promise.

So many lovely people have been emailing about the garden tours and also (curiously) asking for advice on how to publish a book. Having been both a book editor and an author, I can tell you about both sides, but I have to warn you: it's not easy. Only the most tenacious will be about to do it. That said, it's a wonderful thing to see your books in a store such as Rizzoli New York or Galignani Paris, so I encourage all would-be authors to try. If you really want to publish a book, you will find a way to do it.

If you'd like advice on any stage of the process, do just let me know. I'll also do a blog post on this subject soon, and will be offering small-group workshops in late September or early October as well. (Details will be posted soon.)

EDITING NEW YORK...

This week has been all about New York – or rather, editing New York. With the new book, New York In Style (Nov 2014) due soon at the printers, we've been doing final checks of all the pages. This is, as all authors know, one of the most frustrating stages of the publishing process. By the time you get to this part of the schedule you're usually sick of seeing the same pages and reading the same paragraphs over and over, and it's a given that your eyes will glaze over by the fifth page. However, it's imperative to check every single word because if you don't a typo (or ten) will inevitably slip through.

I'm incredibly fortunate to have one of the best editors in the biz working on this project, but I'm still paranoid about typos. The curious thing is, you often can't pick them up on a computer. It's a strange publishing fact that the eye reads better on paper than a white screen, so the usual process is to print out all the pages. But then, of course, when you're flicking through these enormous, glaringly clear hard copies, you begin to see ALL the things you wish you'd designed or written differently!

Oh yes, it's a frustrating stage of the publishing process.

That said, authors always take on board reviews and comments because the constructive criticism that comes with them is instrumental in improving future projects. For instance, we added maps to this New York book because lots of people emailed us to say they wished there were maps in the Paris book. (NB Maps are VERY difficult to do! I resorted to watercolours because they were so forgiving.)

Next week I'll be starting design work on the new Paris book, and I thought I'd document it on the blog, so you can see how a book progresses from vague ideas to solid design roughs.

GETTING THE GARDEN TOURS TOGETHER

This week has also involved a lot of work on the garden tours, including branding (above). 

For those lovely people who have emailed about future tours, please be reassured that we're now putting together itineraries and will be costing everything shortly. I'll do a blog post in the next week or two, but we'll certainly be in touch by individual email with further details, once everything is finalised.

After seeing so many gorgeous gardens in May, such as these two romantic ones (above), I can't wait to include many of them on future itineraries.

ADDING VR – VISUAL RELIEF

Having learned that people can overdose on flowers and gardenalia after too many days sniffing the dahlias, we've decided it's important to add in a lot of 'visual relief' (VR), much like sorbet between courses. 

This is one VR that will go on the England Tours – the charming village of Rye.

I adored Rye. It really is one of the prettiest hamlets in southern England. And the signs are quirky too. This sign (above) said: 'The Mermaid. Rebuilt 1420'. Clearly they think that's a relatively recent renovation...

The house opposite The Mermaid Inn had a sign above the door that said 'The House Opposite'.

Pragmatic people, these Rye folk...

And this one was called 'The House With Two Front Doors'. 

Oh yes, there was entertainment at every doorstop.

STOPPING OVER

For those flying to Europe from Australia for future garden tours, we're going to encourage them to stopover in Singapore or Hong Kong. This was the famous Raffles Hotel (above), which is worth a stopover in itself. The new Karl Lagerfeld-designed Sofitel So is another that will give your feet a rest between flights.

Hong Kong is a potential jetlag-breaker too, particularly if you book into the glamorous Siam Hotel.

REFINING YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY 

If you love photographing gardens, like me, but don't want to upgrade to a $5000 or $10,000 camera because you're tight with money (like me), here's a tip: invest in a good lens. A great piece of glass will lift your old camera – and your photography – to a new level. For instance, if you have an old Canon (like me) that you're hanging onto for either sentimental reasons or budgetary restrictions, a fantastic lens to throw on it is a EF-S 60mm macro. It's brilliant in low light and great for proper macro work (such as garden photography), but it will also shoot hero landscapes like a dream and – best of all – does bokeh like no other! (See above.) There are more expensive macros around but this little mid-price beauty works like a pro.

NEW BOOKS TO ADD TO YOUR READING LIST

And finally, if you love coffee table books on glamorous destinations, two beautiful new books have just been published by Assouline.

The French Riviera in the 1920s is a sumptuous look at the South of France during its heyday when artists, writers and designers gathered to fashion a new way of life—among them Chanel, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Gerald and Sara Murphy, Picasso, Cocteau and Diaghilev. 

It's an expensive purchase, at $195, but cheaper than a flight to Nice. (July 2014)

The second book focuses on another gorgeous corner of the world – the Hamptons. 

The Big Book of the Hamptons is a grand tome that details the gilded lives of those living at the tip of Long Island. It's not as expensive, at $75, but the images aren't up to Assouline's usual standard, and it's certainly not on a par with the bestselling Hamptons Gardens. 

Still, it's an impressive title to stack on the coffee table. Guests will love a flick-through. (June 2014)

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