Tea at Trianon: Bold Blue Interiors

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Monday, August 31, 2015

Bold Blue Interiors

I love a touch of blue in decorating, as long as it is just the right blue. From Southern Lady:

From the moment Emily Larkin of Dallas-based EJ Interiors met the Davidsons, she knew their home didn’t match the couple’s vivacious personalities. “The house was extremely dark, very traditional, and the window treatments, furnishings, fabrics, and paint colors were worn and out of style,” Emily recalls. “Their home was missing the welcoming, up-to-date look it deserved.” The designer started with color. “Since blue almost acts as a neutral, it’s a great way to ‘introduce’ color to clients who aren’t used to a lot of it.”

Emily chose to keep some of the family’s pieces—such as brilliant handed-down antique rugs—to add history and character to the spacious home. “We juxtaposed these traditional pieces with more modern and glitzy elements like the Lucite coffee table and dramatic metallic rope mirror to bring in a fresh look.” (Read more.)