Listening to the fire crackle and the cat purr...

Design by William Hodgins

Just kidding. I have neither a cat, nor a fireplace, but this cool September morning is making me wish for the latter. I love, love, love lighting a fire on cool days, not just for the warmth, but for the glow and the ambiance it creates.

Design by Jay Jeffers

A fireplace, to me, epitomizes luxury and lounging (two of my favorite things!) and creates a cozy (or opulent) focal point in the room.

Steven Gambrel added this amazing deco fireplace surround in a bathroom. Oh, the extravagance! It is so unexpected and so perfect with that marble. Classic Gambrel style.

Alessandra Branca keeps it traditional in this lovely living room. Notice the way she manages the monumental scale of the room: accenting it with a tall mirror, bringing it down to residential scale with the large vases and floral arrangements, and arriving at human scale with the cozy seating surrounding the fireplace. 

Eric Cohler illustrates here, in his Charleston home, that he also knows how to manipulate scale in a room. I love the huge etageres standing guard on either side of the hearth. I also love the way he casually leaned the photos and artwork on the mantel, as opposed to hanging them, giving the room a more modern, breezy feel.

As usual, Melissa Rufty wows us with bold, playful colors that, here, act as a perfect contrast to the classic marble mantel.

As you can imagine, I love the color of this room in the home of Jared Goss, a curator for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. I also love how the room, designed by Bill Brockschmidt and Courtney Coleman, has a fabulous blend of styles: the traditional portrait, the dark - almost Victorian - mantel, the antique mirrors, and don't miss those lucite "ghost" chairs!

Room by Kristen Panitch

Love the wallpaper, love the ikat, love the tiny lamps, and LOVE that roaring fire! Contemporary cozy at its best!

Of course, Charlotte Moss knows how to pull off cozy elegance. This room is so classic and even grand, yet, as always, Moss manages to make it a comfortable retreat, perfect for curling up by the fire.

Another fabulous example of the work of Eric Cohler. This room seems soothing to me, perhaps because of the muted blue and green palette, but there is really a lot going on: the checkered floor, the tufted settee, the ornate mantel, the collection of sunburst mirrors. I find his work is truly a treat for the eyes!

Well, the sun has come out, the temperature is back in the 70s, and so my fireplace fantasies must be put on hold for now. But I will leave you with one last superbly cozy fireplace....

Unknown from House Beautiful

Short on time, but not on design

Hello, all!

I am a bit strapped for time today, but I still wanted to share some of the beautiful designs that make my little heart go "pitter patter"! Enjoy!

First up is a photo from Matthew White's Italy of my Dreams. Just seeing this pic alone makes me feel the need to make a mad dash to the store to get a copy!

Shifting from bright and airy to moody and warm, here is the living room of David DeMattei and Patrick Wade, the head honchos behind Lucky Brand Jeans. Love the Burberry throw, love the zebra benches, and totally love the contrast of the sparkly chandelier against the chocolate walls!

Alessandra Branca also knows how to play up the drama in a room. I love all those red lampshades and actually bought a pretty one for myself recently. Now I just have to pick which lamp to put it on!

Now just feel the calm wash over you as you look at this next room by Christina Rottman. I just love the scale of the mirror, fireplace, and palm.

Garrow Kedigian certainly knows his way around a muted palette as well, as you can see in these next two photos of his living room. His apartment was actually featured in the New York Social Diary's section on the home. He said that he was going for the "abandoned mansion" look. Well said! 

I just adore this room! Loving the mixture of furnishings, the textures. I love the pedestal supporting that large, sculptural bowl.

I found a fabulous marble sink, excavated from a Turkish bathhouse (or "hamam"), on an impromptu antique stop on my way back from the beach this past summer that is just waiting for just such a platform. (The thing is so heavy that it's still riding around in the back of my car! Ha!)  

That man sure can do pink! Fabulous. Enough said.

Living room by Stephen Shubel

Alrighty, one more fabulous space then I must be off. This exceedingly cheerful living room (note the gorgeous coral paint and grasscloth on the dining room walls beyond) is by design duo Bill Brockschmidt and Courtney Coleman.

This Florida home has such a soothing feel due to a limited color palette (coral, white, pale blue) and what Brockschmidt has cleverly tagged as a "tidy informality". I love that phrase!

I feel the same way about getting the positioning of furniture and accessories, and the introduction of color just right. Then, when everything is in its "proper place" (as Brockschmidt says), everything feels easy and nothing is jarring.

Orderly breeziness: my ideal decorating style! And what better theme to end on than that?