Handmade cards will be saved over anything with a bar code on the back. The cupboard is filled with chipped café au lait bowls because I prefer my toddler eat from china over plastic. While I’ll always be in awe of a home that is styled opulently, it will remain far from my grasp, along with traveling by helicopter for weekend trips.
Rooms styled with chinoiserie-patterned wall art painted in gilded tones that connect to the pillows, valances and upholstery on little footstools are
certainly well-designed, though the thought of shoving that little footstool a bit to the right—an action that would set off a team of designers armed with tape measures—does not scheme into a life filled with sandy people and a 2-year-old boy who terrorizes the garden in search of bugs.
There are displaced shovels in the shower and wooden trucks in the birdbath, but refinement still remains in high regard. Original art hangs from the walls. Beautifully illustrated children’s books create a timeless mosaic within the shelves. Formal dinnerware is used regardless if the meal is halibut or fish sticks. Beautiful things are cherished without being victim to them.
By Jacqueline deMontravel
Photography courtesy of Thinkstock.com
