Tea at Trianon: Monochromatic Rooms

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

Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Monochromatic Rooms

From Clever:

Never is the impact of color on an interior space more obvious than in a room that dedicates itself to just one hue. Naturally, then, monochromatic rooms are consistently the spaces that inspire us most. Whether they’re simple and white or an unforgettably bright shade of green, monochromatic rooms provide their visitors with an enveloping escape from the everyday. Below, we’ve chosen six of our favorites, from the completely unattainable to the approachably low-key.

The DNA of a Greg Natale project is always there—from an expressive use of rich materials and colors to an incredible execution of layering. For the artfully maximalist interior designer, the greatest result of any project isn’t merely having his signature touches highlighted throughout a space, but rather having his clients challenge him as he simultaneously pushes them into new directions. This dynamic was exactly the case when working with his old friend, her husband, and their three children on their house in Sydney. (Read more.)