Charlotte Moss ~ A Visual Life

That Charlotte (no) Moss (grows under her feet) is at it again.  In her 8th book titled Charlotte Moss: A Visual Life, she shares a lifelong passion of scrapbooking, creating collages and the inspiration that makes her one of the great decorators of our time.  She invites other great ladies with a flair for living to share their journey in bits of paper and picture as well.

We all have an instinct to gather things and surround ourselves with those things that comfort us.  We may do it in different ways or it may take on different forms; such as starting a collection of some sort, journalling, even pinning pictures on Pinterest or creating videos.

It can be quite relaxing to just stop a moment and capture pictures that move us.  Whether you are cutting pictures from a magazine or taking your own photos, which Charlotte does, prolifically; It helps you step out of your day, explore, capture a moment or a thing of beauty that you might otherwise not have noticed.

The book is organized by themes:  travel, gardens, interiors, entertaining.  It's a great way for you (and by you, I mean me) to be inspired to get those files off the floor, out of drawers, and onto a working, visual board of beauty.

What's next for Charlotte you ask?  The beautiful photo (below) of a formal garden will soon be transformed via digital printing into clothing a la Mary Katrantzou.  Remember my story on Mary?  I am a huge fan, and I do love this new medium.  It has become very popular with many a designer.  I'm sure Charlotte's rendition will be as exquisite as everything else she has done.

One of the women Charlotte spoke of as an inspiration was Gloria Vanderbilt.  She just happened to be exhibiting her collection of art and collages, so I took a quick peek.  Check back next time...

Tips I learned from this year's Kips Bay Decorator Show House

I was able to walk the Kips Bay Decorator Show house for a few hours and took a lot of it mentally and in photos.  There is always something new to see for the first time and tones of inspiration to get from show houses.  This year there was a lot of interesting details too good to not share them.  When I looked at Thom Filicia's space the first thought I had was that he had set up his shop in the middle of Kips Bay Show house, although none the less beautiful.  His space (above) called "The Gallery" was a walkway between the dining room, living room, entrance and hallway and every piece of furniture in it belongs to one of Thom's many furniture lines.  The space had only two small walls of about 3 to 5 feet and two other even smaller ones.  Magically Thom made it feel like a room.  My conclusions of how he nailed it!

Painting the ceiling the same color as the walls not only make the space bigger by (blending the boundaries but at the same time it encloses it by making the space feel more like one whole space and giving the fifth wall (the ceiling) a more important roll.  The high gloss walls bring movement.   

A Light and airy chandelier instead of a closed one or a shaded one helps open up the space.  

A black painting brings depth to a small space.  The curtains help make the walls feel bigger.

Secure your runner in a stylish way.  By Charlotte Moss. 

Add a cool wallpaper to baseboard for a touch of whimsy.  By Charlotte Moss.

Wrinkle-looking curtains for kids rooms is a brilliant idea. Very appropriate and fun.  By Laura Bohn.

all images by Julie Yenicag for Belle Vivir