OMG!!! I’M THROWING IN THE TOWEL

I’m done.  Seriously.  Done.  I can’t compete and I’m tired of pretending I can! 

OK.  OK.   I’m being dramatic, just a little bit.  BUT – the new issue of Milieu?  Have you seen it?????

First – it’s the MOST gorgeous issue of any magazine I’ve ever seen.  There’s not one stinker in this issue.  NOT ONE. 

You know how even in the best magazines, there is always one or two stinker houses – and let’s face it – lately, most times you are lucky if you even like ONE house per magazine. 

But the spring issue of Pamela Pierce’s Milieu is stunning.  It’s a “color” issue, I suppose.  It’s as colorful as chic, talented designers will go.  This isn’t BS decorating done by so called designers who fill the pages of most magazines – where they just pick fabrics that absolutely don’t even go together and use ugly furniture and put crap everywhere and call it design.

I’m so tired of that.  Of all of that.  I HATE it.  I’m so tired of editors just showing houses that don’t make sense, where nothing looks good together or everything is just bright because bright is now trendy. 

Instead, I see the new issue of Milieu and everything is so inspiring.  The pages are filled with beautiful fabrics and beautiful colors – yes some are bright, but most are soothing and peaceful – who wants to live with your eyes blinded by busy fabrics?  These houses in Milieu are filled with both antiques and classic contemporary pieces.  Pretty pieces.  Why does interior design have to ugly?  Why?  Everyone keeps pushy ugly.  Why???

In the magazine, even the ads are beautiful.  A birdie told me that Milieu asks all advertisers to turn in new ads for each issue which color coordinate with that issue’s theme.  This attention to detail pays off – the ads are luscious and a common style and hue runs throughout the issue.  Thus, the ads become part of the story. 

  Did I tell you I loved this issue?  Just look at this ad by Chateau Domingue which features antique tiles that are the main colors of the issue – acid green and pink.  Beautiful. 

And what of the houses in this issue?There is a house in Dallas – by Ladye Kay Allen – done in pink and while striped linen slipcovers that is so gorgeous, I almost cried when I saw it.  GORGEOUS.

 

Ladye Kay Allen’s pink living room – I want pink in my house!!!

And Dallas interior designer Shannon Bowers, whose former house was everyone’s favorite for years, shows us her latest – it’s grown up sophisticated, not all Swedish and white anymore, but edited and serene with great contemporary pieces, and beyond wonderful.   Her bedroom is FABULOUS.

Shannon Bowers’ living room – with just a touch of bright yellow and pale pink mixed with gray and white stripes.

There’s a house in Belgium – well – you just have to see it.  Filled with antique architectural floors and stairs and doors and hardware – the living room is bright green and it just works.  You can’t tell if you are sitting inside or outside.

Are you in or are you out?

There’s a house outside of Santa Fe with a peachy pink stucco exterior that makes you want to put a paintbrush to your brick.

Inside the Santa Fe house.

And there’s a house by Eleanor Cummings – a departure for her – it’s bright and happy, and chic.  I especially love the tiled kitchen with the yellow island.

To visit the Milieu website – go HERE.

To subscribe to Milieu, go HERE.  People with a subscription are able to access the issue online, which, is a great convenience.

And so, I’m not really retiring.  Instead I’m incredibly inspired now, thanks to Milieu!   So, I went to visit my old friends in their new shop – Joyce Horn Antiques.

  Well – they’ve been there on Old Katy Road for a year now.  They are all so sweet and made me feel right at home.

And, as expected, everything is so beautiful.  The front is filled with light, painted furniture everywhere you look.

Beauty is all around – this is the view that greets you when you walk in.

I was looking for a client, and it was hard to resist shopping for myself!  So many of the large antiques in my house came from Joyce Horn.  I’ve always found their prices to be fair and reasonable and Joyce has a wonderful eye for picking the best from France.

The shop was filled to the rafters because they’ve just unloaded TWO new shipments from Europe.


  
The new shipments will be on the sales floor on Tuesday – March 25, at 10:00 am!!