South China Morning Post

In last Monday's South China Morning Post, I wrote about my search for man-Spanx in my effort to conceal my gut.

Cropped version. Click on the image to zoom:

Chic Reads

I am obsessed with design books and I have a compulsion to buy them whenever I am at bookstores. Whenever we go on trips, I always come back with an overweight luggage filled with heavy tomes. When it came time to look for inspiration and references for the apartment, I only needed to go to my bookshelf as you can see from the Post-it filled book Hue by Kelly Wearstler (above). I love her Domicilium Decoratus and Modern Glamour books.

Orlando Diaz Azcuy and Elle Decor's So Chic (opened to Candace Bushnell's apartment)

These books really helped me set the tone for our apartment: Metropolitan Home's Glamour, Elle Decor's Style and Substance and Jan Showers' Glamorous Rooms

I know this one is old but I leaf through it all the time and I always find or learn something new. Bright Young Things by Brooke de Ocampo

Making An Entrance Part 2

I was unhappy with how our entryway initially looked like with the marquetry table and gilded mirror. I felt that it was too traditional and wasn't consistent with the classic chic look of the rest of the apartment. (See previous post for the photos)

Today, however, they delivered our new console table which we found at Altfield in Prince's Building. People who know me would be surprised that I bought a table with gold legs as I am all about chrome and silver. But I think the gold legs and its lattice-like design gives that entryway a wonderful dose of glamour and a touch of chinoiserie. Noticed how I accessorized it with a lot of silver - frames, vases, tray - which I think works really well despite the old rule that you should never mix gold with silver.

I am over the moon with the result!

Making An Entrance

Contrary to popular belief, I didn’t get rid of all of BB’s belongings in favor of my better taste. Whenever we get into arguments over who has better taste, I have a ready answer, which instantly knocks out all of his. I say, “I get paid for my taste.” Having made a career out of editing lifestyle and fashion magazines, I’ve got this one right in the bag. I’m sorry I digress.

True, I got him to dispose of most of his “I am a white expat living in Asia” tchotchkes like his Buddha’s, pottery and all sorts of wooden accessories purchased randomly on trips to Bali, Thailand and Vietnam. It is also true that we have stashed away his collection of Chinese and Asian art under our beds for more Western art. However, we’ve kept a couple of his pieces like the ones adorning our foyer: a gilded mirror and a semi-lune marquetry console table which have graced his apartments avant et après moi. I also happen to like both pieces.

Looking at how they are styled now though, I find that I need to break them apart because the overall look doesn’t really go with the rest of the apartment. Our key words when it came to the design of the apartment were classic, modern and glamorous. Looking at the photos above and below, all I get is classic.

I am faced with the conundrum of whether should I move the mirror somewhere else and find a replacement or move the console table and look for a substitute. As it is, we have run out of wall space. We have art everywhere even in the bathrooms. So I suppose the best way to go is move the console and look for something more modern to give the classic gilded mirror and edge, to make it ‘now’. And I may just have the perfect spot for the console!

Or maybe I should paint the foyer walls black lacquer as in the master bedroom?

Sharper Image

In the March 2010 issue of American Vogue with Tina Fey on the cover, Hamish Bowles featured the London home of Suzanne Sharp, the designer of the Sellarsbrook Blue rug that is now on our living room floor. The interview is insightful: Sharp started The Rug Company with her husband Christopher. When they were living in Riyadh (Christopher was working in film), they started collecting Afghan rugs from souks. When they finally returned to London, they opened a store and started selling the rugs. This led to the production of their own rugs by Nepalese weavers. They also invited top decorators in London and when that proved to be a success, they invited fashion designers as well.

Below is a photo of the Sellarsbrook Blue rug in the Sharp's study.

Close-up:

Our own Sellarsbrook Blue rug:

Chic Transformation - Ikea Billy Bookcase

Before:

We had thought of throwing our Ikea Billy bookcases (pictured above) in favor of something more solid. While they are practical, easy and cost-efficient, they weren't the most sturdy especially when laden with the fashion and design tomes that I collect.

Instead of just disposing of them, we came up with the idea of using them as shelves for my shoes, bags, magazines and other trinkets. We lined one wall of my closet/study with the bookcases. To give them a new life, my interior designer friend, Paul and I came up with the idea of painting the backs blue to match the drapes and the chaise that I had ordered. However, we were told that it would be difficult to do so because of their glossy finish. We would need to sand them down first.

Since Paul had spent his first day at our apartment taping cardboard to our guest bedroom windows because we didn't have curtains yet at that time, we had the idea of doing the same to the bookshelves. We went to the paper store on Lyndhurst Terrace and bought large sheets of blue cardboard. When we got home, Paul did the measurements and the cutting, and we pasted them onto the back of the shelves with blue tack.

After:

I must say that I like the results. I like the hint of blue peeking from behind the shoes and piles of magazines. It's a nice surprise and such an inexpensive way to breathe new life into something that would otherwise have gone to a dumpster.

What do you think?

P.S. I am not done organizing yet...

Cocktail Hour

We purchased this bar cart from a store in Singapore called Platform which sells Italian pieces. We acquired it a couple of days before the movers came to pack all our belongings for the move to Hong Kong. We haven't had the chance to use it. Now that we are more or less settled in Hong Kong, we hope to make great use of it. We just have to figure out what kind of drinks to put on it as we are not heavy drinkers. I personally am always for popping open a bottle of Champagne.

We placed the bar cart just by our foyer so that we can easily offer drinks to guests. Hanging above it are out cut out silhouettes by this brilliant artist called Karl Johnson which I had commissioned last Christmas - www.cutarts.com I first saw such artworks in a magazine feature on Jonathan Adler and Simon Doonan's home and after that I kept seeing them in all sorts of shelter and fashion magazines. I think they are a good alternative to oil portraits. Flanking it are lithographs (one black and white, the other in color) by Alexander Liberman who served as editorial director of Vogue and mentored the legendary photographer Irving Penn. He was also a renowned sculptor and painter. Some of his works are on display at the Met and the Guggenheim.