Oberto gili mixed flowers print out

Oberto Gili, celebrated photographer of houses and gardens, had always dreamed of living off the land. Of cultivating vegetables he would lovingly harvest, cook, and eat. Of tending grapevines whose plump fruit he would transform into wine (“not château quality,” he says, “but drinkable”). Of raising chickens for eggs and cows for milk and cheese. Not just any farm would do, though. The only location Gili ever considered when it came time for him to pick up a spade was the commune of Bra, near Turin, in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy—which is, neatly enough for the photographer’s farm-to-table reverie, where activist Carlo Petrini pioneered the Slow Food movement in the 1980s.

Born and raised in Turin, Gili spent childhood summers at his grandfather’s big farm in Bra, where he tagged along with the hired hands for much of each day, he says, “coming home for lunch and then running back to them.” His extended family still calls that countryside home, and the photographer and his companion, Joy Sohn—herself a gifted photographic chronicler of domestic settings—now live there, too, on about six acres that abut family members’ properties. “It’s better than having other kinds of neighbors,” says Gili, whose latest book, produced with writer Marella Caracciolo Chia, is Domus: A Journey into Italy’s Most Creative Interiors (Rizzoli). “We drop in on each other if we want to, because there’s no reason to call and ask,” Gili continues. “And because we know each other so well, we have fewer fights.”

Replacing an existing structure that was too dilapidated to readily salvage, the couple’s rambling, two-story stucco home is purposefully modest, heated in winter solely with woodstoves and cooled in summer, somewhat, with French doors flung wide. “We hardly spend any time inside when the weather’s warm,” Sohn says. The upper floor contains the master bedroom and a guest room (outbuildings offer other guest quarters), while the ground level is

An empty wall in your home is a blank canvas, and that’s good news. Whether you’ve chosen to arrange a collage of paintings in a hallway or carefully position a handful of wall-mounted sculptures in your dining room, there are a lot of options for beautifying your space with the antique and vintage wall decor and decorations available on 1stDibs.

If you’re seeking inspiration for your wall decor, we’ve got some ideas (and we can show you how to arrange wall art, too).

“I recommend leaving enough space above the piece of furniture to allow for usable workspace and to protect the art from other items damaging it,” says Susana Simonpietri, of Brooklyn home design studio Chango & Co.

Hanging a single attention-grabbing large-scale print or poster over your bar or bar cart can prove intoxicating, but the maximalist approach of a salon-style hang, a practice rooted in 17th-century France, can help showcase works of various shapes, styles and sizes on a single wall or part of a wall.

If you’re planning on creating an accent wall — or just aiming to bring a variety of colors and textures into a bedroom — there is more than one way to decorate with wallpaper. Otherwise, don’t overlook what textiles can introduce to a space. A vintage tapestry can work wonders and will be easy to move when you’ve found that dream apartment in another borough.

Express your taste and personality with the right ornamental touch for the walls of your home or office — find a range of contemporary art, vintage photography, paintings and other wall decor and decorations on 1stDibs now.

Olsen and her floral crew, Lisbeth God­tkjær Lauritsen and Lene Brandt, deploy the same arsenal of containers on which her predecessor depended, such as a hefty crystal campana­form urn and a couple of antique porcelain soup tureens touched with gold. One of the latter is tradition­ ally placed in the drawing room, atop a nail­studded brass chest that was a gift from Farah Aden, the Somali major­domo of Blixen’s Kenya farm. Olsen also uses many of the same seasonal plants – volun­teers oversee the gardens – including the honey­ perfumed linden blossoms that make an appearance in an unmistakably erotic passage in Blixen’s short story Sorrow-Acre.

Visitors to Rungstedlund, which is open all year round, are invariably en­tranced when they come across Olsen at work in the kitchen. ‘People like to see what I’m doing, which is very charming,’ she says. ‘But if it gets too busy and too crowded, I just shut the door.’ Her eff­lorescences may be inspired by Blixen’s, but they do not replicate them. For one, Blixen removed all leaves to allow the blossoms to take centre stage. Olsen rejects that editing, noting that deleting every leaf would mean stripping the garden of too many flowers. She does, though, honour Blixen’s sense of profligacy. One recent vase contained a cushion of hydrangeas dramatically speared with gladiolus, bud­dleia and leek flowers, while another was a whirlwind of cosmos, painted daisies, ornamental millet and Japanese anemones. Her takes on Blixen’s style are captivat­ingly opulent and practically carnal; the baroness would surely approve.

‘Karen Blixen was an extremely sensual person,’ Elisabeth Nøjgaard, the muse­um’s dire

I was flipping through my latest issue of House Beautiful on the subway this weekend and was delighted to see a beautiful Houston home featured on a 6-page spread.  I miss Houston and the tight-knit design community there, and always get excited to see the latest Texas designers featured in the big print publications.   The festive home below, decorated cheerfully for Christmas, belongs to designer Catherine Olasky.  Catherine began her design career in New York, working for Bunny Williams before moving to London to work with Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler.   While working in London, she ran across an old design friend, Max Sinsteden, and the two soon decided to launch their own firm  - O & S.   Together the duo have completed projects in Texas, Dublin, London, Nantucket, Boston, + more.   Although their portfolio is chock full of beautiful interiors, Catherine's Houston home is my favorite:

The Texas sun beats down on the black front doors, which proudly display two Magnolia wreaths (my favorite)! The entryway features Oberto Gili's Mixed Flowers photograph and a Bunny Williams Home console:

The living room features multiple seating options and lots of lovely design details.  The bullion fringe on the ottoman and the chair skirt add a feminine, traditional feel, while the layers of neutral tones create a warmth and lightness that feels comfortable.  The built-in bookcase shelves are painted a soft blue and lined with pretty brass swing-arm sconces. And that Fraser fir!

Olasky's three-year-old daughter trimming the tree may be my favorite interiors photo of 2016:

Can you believe the sofa in the background above is a sleeper from Crate & Barrel? Olasky bought it while working in Manhattan and it found a place in her Houston home, too.

The dining room features curtains in Nympheus linen by Thomas O'Brien and a chandelier by Jonathan Adler:

The sitting room sofa is my absolute favorit