I just love a good beginning!
Happy 2024 dear friends. Wishing you a healthy and ridiculously happy New Year.
There is just something Magical about walking into a New Year. Turning a new page. Stepping into a world of Possibility with eyes and arms wide open. If I was able to bottle up that feeling it would feel just like That Moment. That Moment when I plant my two feet firmly on the ground after ascending up a hill on a cosy village here in Lake Como, Italy. Taking that first breath upon arrival.
That Sweet. Refreshing. New. Reassuring. Singular. Releasing. Full. Breath.
The lake views aren't the only thing that fill me up, as you know, so does good design!
I was immediately besotted when I discovered the home of Carlo Borremeo and his wife Marti Ferri in a recent issue of The New York Times Style Magazine. If you didn't know that it was a home situated above Lake Varese here in Italy , you could easily have felt you wandered onto a gorgeously fantastic home somewhere in Asia. And isn't that Fun! Creating the unexpected in the expected. And a simple yet effective way they did that was through the use of wallpaper.
Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo.
I have to say since my move here to Italy, I discovered I have a thing. For wallpapers. Ones beautifully designed. Often vintage prints. All encompassing. Delicate. Intricate. Charming. Striking. Here are two rooms from the Borromeo home that just won me over.
I can only imagine stepping into this space and gasping in delightful glee!
Fresh. In Your Face. Transportive. Spellbinding. All fuel for today's design tip:
Go for the Unexpected
Framed art hanging on your gallery wall. Fabulous. A concerto of color and shape and form dancing along the walls. Fabulously fabulous. Delicately choosing a wallpaper here with a hue that is warm yet forceful strikes the perfect balance of making a statement without shouting it from the rooftops. Inviting every visitor in a space that feels open and yet still intimate and safe. I love that the print chosen here for both wallpapers was nature based. Branches. Life. Blossoming. Flowering. Rooted. Connected. I love the idea of bringing the outside in. That harmony, peace, and stillness that exists so effortlessly in nature now situated in your study or in the tv room. A simple way to breathe something new and unexpected into a space that is used time and time again. Absolutely adore it.
"An Italian Lakeside Retreat That Embraces Modernity", Nick Haramis. Photography: Ricardo Labougle. The New York Times Style Magazine
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/30/t-magazine/italy-lake-retreat-home.html