Category: Interior Design

pierre sauvage paris colorful apartment bedroom belle vivir

A beautiful canopy bed in a bedroom where blue and white are the background.

When you live in Paris, you can have the luxury of choosing your next home based on the century of your preference.  A pure luxury when you are a designer professional or design aficionado.  For Pierre Sauvage and his partner, an 18th Century apartment provided all the proper features for their ideal aesthetic as opposed to an 19th Century one, which according to Pierre is perfect for a country home but not for an apartment because it may feel outdated.  ” I like classic structures and strong-looking floors, Like you see in the work of David Hicks in the ’70s,”  Says Sauvage.  And that may explain why Pierre Sauvage layered all the floors in the apartment in in different patterned rugs… a blue and red oriental-looking carpet in the bath, leopard in the library… and geometry in the dining room.  Pierre Sauvage is also the owner of Casa Lopez, a rug company and most of the rugs come from there.  The colorful apartment is featured very appropriately in the Color issue of AD’s current issue.  Blue and almost colored wood paneling reign in the apartment as a background for the sumptuous fabrics and furniture….

Read More…

I have posted about Interior Designer Tom Scheerer a few times before.  His signature tropical style is ingrained in the classics with an overdose of relaxation and comfort… just how beach homes should be.  No pretensions or stiffness, only elegant enough to set the right tone for casual but smart entertaining.

tom scheerer living room tropical style belle vivir

Tom Scheerer has been designing and building tropical homes in the Harbor Islands for over 20 years.  Although each home I’ve seen is individually designed, most share a common hallmark of Tom’s style… antiques, modern but traditional upholstered furniture and an absence of unnecessary frou-frou that occasionally interrupt enjoyment.  The result is a perfect beach home where its owners will enjoy the real pleasures in life.  His homes are not the typical American beach home were the most color scheme is red, blue and white… These beach homes are carefully curated to be uniquely tailored to their owners…  Below, a few images of Tom Scheerer tropical style… I posted a few times about Tom Scheerer’s spectacular beach style.  When I think of a long weekend the first thing that comes to my mind is a comfy beach house where to escape. Since we can’t go anywhere this weekend I can only dream of being in this gorgeous house that has enchanted me since the first time I laid my eyes on it.  I love how the beauty of this house slowly reveals itself.  As I keep looking at it I can notice the different colors and textures that at first are barely discernible due to the calmness in the colors. I also love how the playful patterns on the fabrics and wallpapers and the comfortable furniture make this house perfect for a family vacation home with a great degree of sophistication. As this house proves, a beach house doesn’t have to lack elegance.

Read More…

richard shapiro's home and garden outdoor via belle vivir

If you think that all homes in Malibu, California are glass houses and flashy ones, think twice.  This home, belonging to Richard Shapiro, antique dealer and head of Studiolo Home Furnishings is all about style and substance.  Richard Shapiro’s home and garden have direct reference to classicism from far and stylish lands as Italy and Spain with a breath taking garden inspired by French-Japanese gardens, yes such combination is possible as you’ll see below.  Some of the beautiful details Richard had interpreted in his Malibu beach home are a fragment of a fourth-century Roman column, a Spanish oil pot, and 17th-century Florentine marble lions… His authentic home was featured in Architectural Digest and his amazing garden in Elle Decor.  “I wanted complete seclusion and mystery,” Shapiro said of his Japanese-French inspired garden.  To Architectural Digest he said about the beautiful patina in his home… “If things are slightly off, I like it.”  Richard Shapiro’s home and garden are a true inspiration.

 richard shapiro's home and garden living room via belle vivir blog

A frescoed plaster finish on the walls while a 17-century Italian gilt-wood mirror adds the subtle touch of glam to the living room.

richard shapiro's home and garden library belle vivir

A daybed in the library.

Read More…

We all aspire to have a room with a view or perhaps even two… Now that our trip to Provence is fast approaching, I’m really looking forward to views of century-old towns, swimming pools and the sea.  The restorative power of a nice positive view is more than proven to provide an enhanced mood, attitude and eventually the entire wellness spectrum.  Now, quite often, we associate a room with a view with modern design, usually cold and bare but as these interiors below can prove, a good view can also be found in warmer, transitional design.  I would much prefer a sea view as in the image of that Mediterranean kitchen below but taking a bath with a City view would for sure feel very empowering…

 

room with a view living room with agarden view via belle vivir

The steel casement windows in this elegant living room is a darling of designers and architects and we don’t need to say why…

dining room with a view via belle vivir blog

I absolutely adore the atmosphere in this breakfast area… It’s soothing, warm while elegant…

Cynthia-Frank-belle vivir-view-to-Pool

Read More…

Christopher Burch’s Hamptons beach house is the ideal American colorful style.  Christopher is Tory Burch’s ex-husband and founder of C-Wonder, and his quirky colorful style is embedded in the decor of the house which was decorated by Christopher Maya.

Christopher Burch's Hamptons Beach House via belle vivir

For some, this house is considered small and modest when compared to the sumptuous mansions that are usually found in the Hamptons, funny enough the house has 6,000 sq feet, 8 bedrooms and is sitting on 2.75 acres. Burch describes his style as “a very quirky sense of classicism.” Maya was able to interpret Christopher’s taste while toning down the bright color hues that characterize the owner’s popular store, C-Wonder.

 Christopher Burch's Hamptons Beach House entry way belle vivir

Read More…

Steven Gambrel has been living every Interior Designer’s dream or perhaps it’s more appropriate to say every developer’s, architect’s and entrepreneur’s dream.  According to Elle Decor Magazine, Gambrel has restored over six homes in Sag Harbor, New York, as a matter of fact the designer owns a home in the town as well.  Enlisting Historical Concepts, a firm based in New York and Atlanta, Gambrel restores and preserves these homes to their original states of charisma while adding the modern touches of 21st-Century living.  Steven Gambrel’s style with its inclination to masculine lines and strong contrasting characters, is one that can appeal to both sexes, especially families.  One of his many elegant signatures is the use of a darker color paint on the inside moldings as well as on the kitchen cabinets trims.   His interiors usually exhibit a unique color combination, as I pointed out in this post about Unusual Color Combination in Interiors some time back.   Sag Harbor has been my favorite town in the Hamptons for its laid back bohemian vibe and also because it feels more like a beach town where you can walk.  I can’t imagine how rewarding it must be to be able to buy, restore and sell or even live in one of Sag Harbor’s charming homes.

Steven Gambrel Bridgehampton living room, sagharbor belle vivir blog

Read More…