Who knew that there were so many brilliant books with red spines? This week I pulled two more winners off of my color coordinated shelves:
1 Diana Vreeland in her Park Avenue apartment. I love her playful personal style, the curtain-framed mirror, the framed Bébé Bérard drawings, and the fact that she doesn't take her living space too seriously (notice she's standing atop her sofa).
2 This is a beautiful aerial shot of the Vreeland's living room at their Brewster residence. I adore the relaxed and open arrangement of furniture and the plentiful options for lounging. Vreeland, of course, opted for the bear skin rug.
3 This snapshot of C.Z. Guest appeared in Vreeland's magazine - you may have heard of it - Harper's Bazaar. The mural behind her reminds me of something similar we commissioned Eric Beare to paint in the stairwell of one of Martha's homes.
4 Vreeland referred to this room as her "Garden in Hell." She claimed to have spent her entire life in search of the perfect shade of red (her favorite color) and described her version of it as "Rococo with a spot of Gothic...and a bit of Buddhist Temple."
5 The wall-to-wall cheetah print carpet and the sleek high-lacquer desk in Vreeland's office are both to die for. Wish I could take a closer look at the inspiration board next to her desk.
6 A collage of photos from Truman Capote's legendary Black and White Ball, held in the Plaza Hotel's ballroom in the fall of 1967. I think I just found inspiration for my apartment's first soiree once it's complete.
Diana Vreeland (Willam Morrow/Harper Collins) is a gem of a book that I’m glad to have rediscovered. As the VIP fashion-editor of the 20th century, Vreeland’s life was rich in color, design, culture… the word “panache” may have very well been created just to pinpoint the woman, whose flair infused everything from her clothing, to her homes, to the fabulous parties she threw and attended.
1 A beautiful watercolor of Stéphane Boudin, the president of Jansen (by Etienne Drian, c. 1950).
2 I love this pair of arm chairs - their slightly curved sides lend the overall modern design a nice softness. That mirrored console is making me second guess the design I had in mind for the ones in my dining and living rooms...
3 Audrey and Hon. Peter Pleydell-Bouverie's ballroom in their fabulous villa in Regent Park, better known as "the Holme."
4 One of many rooms in one of many homes that Boudin and his design firm decorated for Margaret Thompson Biddle. This boudoir, located in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, has a stunning color palette and I love the indulgent use of that beautiful chintz fabric.
5 The lighting of these images reminds me of Juergen Teller's fashion editorial spreads. It's a little cut off in the top photo, but I love that white-painted iron chandelier.
6 Jayne Wrightsman in her library in Palm Beach. The giltwood brackets mounted on the wall and topped with Meissen porcelain birds reminds me of something and I can't quite put my finger on it...
7 That's right - my old wall (before I installed my enormous pin-up board).
8 I love seeing original decorator's sketches. This one for a window treatment in Mildred Allen's Upper East Side home.
9 I'd love to have a gallery space like this in my home.
10 This salon lives up to the red theme of this Friday's post.
11 Another view. Love those frames and mirror and the pouf in the front of the photo.
12 Jansen often did work for special events. Here is a model of a helicopter pad and Grand Banqueting tent for a four-day celebration of the 2500-year anniversary of the founding of Persia. Wow.
13 Scattered around the Grand Banqueting tent were smaller guest tents that were beautifully decorated. I wouldn't mind staying here, would you?
14 A sitting room in another guest tent.
15 Another sketch pulled from the Jansen archives for the same event. I love their vision.
16 One for the Tent of Honor for the celebration. Those chandeliers really pop against the bright red interior of the tent.
17 Abundant opportunities for a tete-a-tete amongst party-goers, this sitting area was one of many in-between the hundreds of guest tents at the event.
18 Exciting to see how the sketches come to life.
19 I would cross oceans and climb mountains for a set of these Louis XVI-style stools.
20 Jansen was well-known for their trompe-l'oeil pieces. You know we love the faux-bois at Martha, and I definitely credit a good portion of that to Boudin's revival of the art of faux bamboo finishes.
21 These palms and plaster torcheres remind me of a pair of plaster flumes I have in my office.
22 The bottom sketch was made for Henry Ford. I wonder if this bed ever came to realization or made its way to Skylands, where his son Edsel resided. As if I didn't have Skylands on my mind enough with this gorgeous spring weather.
The contents of the next book I pulled read like an RSVP list to the Bal des Débutantes at the Hotel de Crillon or something equally fashionable: the Count and Countess de Revilla de Camargo, Price Regent Paul and Princess Olga, The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Harry Winston, Jayne and Charles B. Wrightsman. But it's just the client list for the design firm Jansen. The book of the same name (Acanthus Press) is truly stunning. I hope you are as inspired and entertained as I certainly am by all of these photos.
*A side note to my readers who tweet: I finally made the leap to twitter! Follow me through my adventure filled days and nights at Martha Stewart by clicking on the twitter icon to the right.
Kevin Sharkey 
From: Rowaida Flayhan | 4/4/10 at 12:05 am
Dear Kevin,
May God bless you and your family on this auspicious day of Easter, and May it be a new beginning of greater health, prosperity,
success and happiness. Wish you a Happy Easter!
Rowaida Flayhan
From: Diane | 4/4/10 at 4:15 pm
Do you take off covers to get this effect? If so, don't you devalue the book?