Designers Guild ~ Cabochon collection

"Egg and Dart"

I used this "egg and dart" border as the cornice in a recent bathroom renovation. It is a plaster moulding in an egg-shape followed by an arrow or dart. Egg and dart is an ornamental neo-classical moulding widely used in the 18th century and obviously originally in classical Greek architecture. The mouldings can be made from wood, stone, plaster or pressed metal.

One of my Favourite Designers Guild Collections ~ Arabella

The Orsetti trims from Designers Guild are so beautiful and I love using them. The attention to detail is exqusite. Different textures, fabric, shapes and colour palette allows for the definition of the individual.

A suggested back-cover for my book.....am still working on it.

Some beautiful shoes! From the Marie Antoinette film. I could wear these shoes now ~ the 18th century was so fashionable.The yellow ones are my favourite .........

"Bathroom renovations" ~ use of calacutta marble on the horizontal surfaces of the bath and vanity give a sleek feel and the mozaic vertical surface lends itself to perhaps a more classic European feel. The Plaza Hotel in New York has just done a massive renovation on its private residences and used the mozaic tile which I feel adds a beautiful contrast to the vast expanse of a full slab of marble. I have used the two contrasting surfaces with restraint and then done the floor and shower recess in calacutta tiles 30 x 30's. The bath and basins are by Villeroy and Boch.

Christmas 2009 with pictures! We had a wonderful day with all the trimmings - the turkey was enormous. I did the table setting in a silver/green/white theme with some pastel lilac and pink thrown into the mix. I sprinkled the cloth with silver star scatters to give a festive ethereal feel and had a beatiful flower arrangement for the centre.

Christmas 2009!

This is a picture of my bedhead with some gorgeous monogrammed cushions and of course a bedroom is never complete without pale pink roses and green Irish bell! Am just starting to post some pictures of my work which will eventually go into my book ~ hopefully one day it might be published! Bedhead is in the style of Louis 16th .

Love this exquisite creation by Laduree............

I took this picture in the "Hall of Mirrors" last July ~ loved the candelabra and also the gorgeous mirrors.

This gorgeous chateau is Vaux le Vicomte ~ 1656-1661 ~ I took this picture when visiting Vaux in July last year. It is actually 17th century but I think set the precedent for the 18th century. " Vaux-le-Vicomte, Nicolas Fouquet's estate, the Lord high treasurer of Louis XIV, is, in the middle of the 17th century, one of the most modern and elegant masterpiece that none of the royal properties can yet compete with. Irritated by such ostentation, the young Sun King, condemned Fouquet to life imprisonment, and took from Vaux his inspiration to build Versailles." (Quote from Vaux-le-Vicomte brochure).

Obviously it didn't pay to outdo the King! However this stunning chateau is hauntingly beautiful and every summer they do a re-enactment of the party that Fouquet gave the King in 1661. I attended the Summer Candlelight Visit where they light 2000 candles within the chateau and there is a champagne bar in the gardens and an orchestra. One felt like one could have gone back in time..... It is interesting to think that if Fouquet had not created Vaux with the help of the architect Louis Le Vau, the painter Charles Le Brun and the gardener Andre Le Notre would Versailles have been born? All these men achieved great status with "the construction, decoration and gardens at Versailles" but were relatively unknown when Fouquet commisioned them for Vaux. Would history have been different?

strawberries and cream "fairy cakes"

with accompanying rose petals of course!

Another one of the bath!

I think Marie Antoinette would have liked this bath ~ it is a French slipper bath which I had custom painted in powder pink. I also teamed carrrara marble tiles and benchtops in this bathroom to create a very elegant 18th century style bathroom

Designers Guild bed definitely Marie Antoinette style!

This bed by Designers Guild is one of my favourites ~ it has a very Marie Antoinette style feel to it with the padded and buttoned head and end. Also, the gorgeous plush bedlinen and fat pillows.

I baked these cupcakes with my daughter Georgiana ~ we had great fun! I was wondering about the pronunciation of "Georgiana" in "The Duchess" film as it was pronounced as "Jor Jayna". My Georgiana was named after the Duchess of Devonshire and of course, "Miss Georgiana Darcy" of "Pride and Prejudice" and I believe it was pronounced in Regency times the same as it is today ~ so I am querying the authenticity of that pronunciation in the film. Was that how it would have been pronounced?

This is exquisite ~ imagine how much work was involved in creating these masterpieces. When I was at Versailles the tour guide commented that they very rarely washed their hair and that Marie Antoinette introduced regular bathing at the court of Versailles. Is this correct?

I love this image from the Marie Antoinette film - the fan is gorgeous as is the hat.