A Necessary Indulgence: Videos on Design & Decor

This post was so fun to put together, I may never get out of my pajamas! Today I’m sharing with you one of my secret loves (now not so secret): design videos. You know I’m obsessed with art books, decorating magazines, auction catalogs, online sites (Chairish, Pinterest, 1st Dibs, on & on…)….but sometimes you just want those pictures to come alive — and thanks to a few sources, you’ll find they can!

So if you’re at work in an uninspired office right now and wishing you were in a sun-dappled garden in Ojai….

Or you’re on vacation with the kids in a beautiful garden but wishing you had time for yourself to go furniture shopping on the Upper East Side with Alexa Hampton….

...now you are just a click away from being there. I leaned on these videos liberally during the worst of my cancer treatment & it really did take my mind away. (I just don’t know why all the shelter magazines don’t do great videos? And for that matter, their websites are generally not great. Subscribers would LOVE to see more & have it presented in a clean, easy-to-navigate fashion — hint hint, Conde Nast & Hearst.)

But I digress! The real treasure trove is be found on Quintessence, run by Stacey Bewkes & Susanna Salk.

Their video series, which you can find on Youtube & subscribe to for updates (https://www.youtube.com/user/quintessenceblg) has amazing array of interviews with designers, architects, stylists in their home for great behind-the-scenes look. Below are some of my favorites. Note: the most recent one with Muriel Brandolini doesn’t typify their usual style — that one is all voiceover & doesn’t have the give and talk of conversation that you’ll see in most Quintessence videos.

Here’s an overview of Quintessence interviews, which emphasizes their apt tagline, “Giving Design A Voice”

Visit Mark Sikes in his divine California house & garden!