Film Interiors: Easy Virtue

 

What's not to love about a wicked comedy based on a Noel Coward play and centering on the war of words between a glamorous American race car driver (Jessica Biel) and her deliberately hideous mother-in-law (Kristin Scott Thomas). Add Colin Firth, a decaying English mansion full of antiques and Jessica's Chanel-inspired wardrobe and the result is definitely worth a rainy afternoon's viewing.

 Foyer

Conservatory

Nursery

Libraries

Sitting room/games room

Images: Sony Pictures Classics.

Summertime Blues

 

For those of us who aren't lucky enough to own a beach house, adding a bit of blue and white to our interiors provides the soothing backdrop needed to take a mental vacation. In warmer climates (Morocco, Greece), cool blues are a nod to the ocean -- a way to integrate outdoor and indoor living. In colder climates (Scandinavia), washed-out blues provide a welcome respite from bitter temperatures and days without light. But for me, pretty patterns of blue and white remind me of Provencal farmhouses -- my ideal holiday.

 

Images: 1) Maisons Cote Ouest, December 2011/January 2012. 2, 3 & 4) Maisons Cote Ouest, October/November 2011. 5) Maisons de Campagne, September/October 2011. 6) Campagne Decoration, May/June 2011. 7 & 8) Country Living, British Edition, September 2010 & April 2011.