WHERE I'VE BEEN & WHAT'S NEXT
Hello from London!! It has been WAY too long & I’ve missed everyone - I’ve been deep in the trenches of British decorative arts scene & was apparently not quite ready to come out of my creative cocoon:) But I’m finally settled here & bursting with things I want to share with you this Fall - & beyond.
My little “mews” house in Marylebone neighborhood of London
Moving from DC to London was a surprisingly hard adjustment - like being an awkward middle-aged college freshman at many points. But as soon as I connected with the creative community here (ergo, my fellow decorative pillow aficionados), things began to feel more familiar….
Chelsea Textiles Sample Sale at the local town hall
I’ve been soaking up the British take on design and have been fortunate to go to several lectures & workshops that really zoom in on that style. I can’t wait to share a post with you next week about my trip to the British countryside (Sussex) where I got to spend the whole day with the truly inspiring Tess Newall! Tess is a decorative painter (think Beata Heuman’s muralist) who has a line of beautiful home decor items - and soon, a course on Create Academy.
Another maker/entrepreneur who is really inspiring me is Isatu Funna (below at her recent wedding). I adore her London shop (& website), Dar Leone, which stocks beautiful elevated everyday basics.
I use these trays from Dar Leone in every room now it seems! They are brilliant for corralling whatever clutter you have & turning it into an elegant little still life…
Dar Leone’s trays come in all shapes & colors….
Below, more joyful wares - these from potter Henry Holland, shown at Liberty, my favorite department store here….
The pace here in London is different & I find that I’m relishing more “quality over quantity” these days. Well, that AND I think we can all admit our email inboxes are full enough already — so here’s my idea:
Every Thursday, I’ll have a fresh Newsletter for you with inspo from creative places in London (& beyond). My aim, like in the past, is to highlight beautiful & original perspectives on interior design/home decor & what I call “wearable fashion” - ie; below, one of my new favorite clothes brands, Me + Em…this shop is in my neighborhood but also in the U.S. now too!
If email is not your thing, no worries - I’ll def share more on Insta with you of everything I’m seeing. I’ve been so turned off lately with how commercial Instagram has gotten, but hey, there’s a lot of good there too — & I intend to be on THAT side of it:)
To wit, above is a candid I posted on Insta of Ashley Hicks (and me, awkwardly beaming) at a recent book signing for his new tome, David Hicks in Color (from Cabana Press). It has a really interesting art direction style, courtesy of Martina Mondadori, plus some of the most iconic images of David Hicks interiors - very fun read.
Lastly, I’m open to ideas for how this amazing community of like-minded women can get “off the screen,” or off the page & actually connect more. I’m always gobsmacked by how plugged-in you guys are & how generous you are with your leads & ideas….has DEFINITELY enriched my life immensely, so thank you for all your DM’s (@Elegant.MayhemDC) & emails (Lee@ElegantMayhem.com)!!
CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW last May with Ginny W. of Lilac and Page - a must follow on Insta!
One idea is a quarterly Elegant Mayhem book club, where we all read a design book or stylish biography & then share/connect, probably virtually. No idea how, but if you’re interested let me know & I’ll dig into it more!
Also - I’m going to be updating the Shop section of ElegantMayhem.com to include some of the items I’m seeing here that are avail on both sides of the Atlantic….I find it slightly addictive once I get going so have been holding off - but no more!:) Stay tuned on that...
Thanks so much for reading & I hope you are having a nice Fall wherever you are!
Cheers,
Lee