Picture perfect Sunday morning

I rarely dedicate a post to an entire magazine, let alone two....but this morning was such sheer delight, so I bend all my rules and show you some beautiful pictures and share the fun!



As if to let us forget the lasts weeks of rain, this morning rose sunny and delightful and a breakfast on our deck beckoned...
And after pancakes, bagels and toast had been devoured, I made myself most comfortable and sunk into my magazines which I had saved for a quiet reading hour or two this weekend.

So, find yourself a nice spot, grab a drink and let's go! (Well, as good as it gets in front of your screen...)
PS: You can enlarge every picture by clicking on the image!

Opening the first pages of VERANDA, I felt I had died and went to designer heaven.



I saw Jeff and Kellie Hepper's Houston garden, designed by Danny McNair with the interiors by Pamela Pierce.



A dream in French design, build with a strong European flair. Aged and classic. I was thinking of my blogger friend Joni from Cote de Texas She loves French design and creates the most delightful spaces. Living down there, she might know the place...




Turning the page, thinking to myself 'If this has been the only good thing in the magazine it was worth buying' see my delight upon reading 'Botanical Hues', a Newport Beach,CA home created by the design team Hallberg - Wiseley. Just recently I had posted on glass cabinets and right there was the perfect example, botanical prints, colors picked right from nature, a restraint palette of greens, sandy creams, dark woods and metals. Plenty of natural design elements, combined with crystal and mirrors.





I adore these colors and loveliness of it all.
Could it get any better?
Well, moving on I came across a very artistic home design, which has become very familiar to me, since I have admired his visions and I laid eyes on his designs more then 15 years ago: Vicente Wolf.






This time it's his own Manhattan home and after starting to look I needed a serious break...I felt overwhelmed by all the beautiful pictures I had seen within 30 minutes and had to stop! I needed time to think, felt a mix of admiration, delight and almost despair...
Do you know that feeling? Upon seeing something absolut fantastic, but totally and
ridiculously out of reach? It's not envy, it is passion and bottled up desire...




To shake myself up, I took a tour of my garden and house, reassured myself that I was perfectly fine and returned to my garden seat and the next page...
Conversations with Carolyne Roehm, table scapes and her incredible sense of style.



More beach homes, recipes by chef Patrick O'Connell!



And yet, I was only half way through with my reading and ELLE DECOR was sitting on the table, waiting for me.
Well, an orange juice and some more coffee gave me strength and I opened the first pages...



It began fabulous, Miles Redd's 12 things he can't live without, Kathryn Lynch's beautiful artwork. She'll participate in a group show at Manhattan's Sears Peyton Gallery July2 - August14. I am sure to go and see it after we return from our summer vacation.



And then a great and in-depth article and pictures about Kansas City, which had become a familiar place through another blogger: Mrs.Blandings...I am so ready to go and visit the Midwest!



Followed by an extensive portrait of Aerin Lauder and her homes in Manhattan and the Hampton's. Delightful to say the least.




And then turning the pages to find Williams-Sonoma's vice president of design Monelle Totah's gathered treasures in her San Francisco apartment. I love the dining room and it's airy and elegant feel to it!



Was is possible to find all the rooms of my dreams collected in two magazines between about 200 pages???

Wait, I am not through yet and now my fingers twitch and I am so hyped, that my coffee is cold and the juice got warmed by the sun...


Well, Scott Currie's weekend home keeps all the promise of the perfect beach house: nautical, relaxed, laid back beauty by the sea.



And after feasting my eyes on the summer blooms displayed on page 84 - 87, I arrived finally at a design right out of the African dream, designer Martyn Lawrence-Bullard had the golden touch for a Malibu real estate broker.


How beautiful!

I am nearing the point of exhaustion, but my curiosity is spiked and now I want to see it all:

The Long Island vacation home designed by Kathleen Clements, gorgeous, gorgeous!



And another Hampton's retreat: some sleek backdrop for a cutting edge art collection....



So now, devoted reader, I've come to the end, my nerves are raw and I am exited about all that what lies between these pages I have just rejuvenated myself and will re-read those pages and cherish them for a little while longer, until...



Well, you've guess it: The next magazine on the shelves!

Love - Victoria



Most pictures taken from the incredible pages of VERANDA and ELLE DECOR magazine July/August 2009, table scapes and pictures from the window ledge by V.Zlotkowski