Country French and Charles Faudree

In our land no one does Country French interiors better than Charles Faudree. It is not only me, but a  lot of people in America, when think of Country French interiors, his is the first name that comes to mind.

Charles interiors are not overbearing or stuffy instead they are very inviting, very lived in and cozy, they are an eye candy.

Charles's Country French Living and French Country Signature are my bed books,  they do the same thing as my other bed book,  Annemarie Schimmel's  Nightingales Under the Snow does, put me in a good, relaxed mood.

He is my favorite Interior designer, and a fellow "OKie", why should not like him :)

Pictures, from Charles's Country French Living, and French Country Signature.

Hand knotted rugs, works of art!

Bare floors and bare walls I don't like, they have to have art on them. For both I prefer to have the real stuff. For floor's prefer hand knotted rugs.  I consider hand knotted rugs to be works of art, they can bring life into any room and change the whole outlook. Love them and can't have enough of them. To tell the truth, we have more rugs than have floor space in our home.  I enjoy layering them on each other, it gives an extra rich look. (Katharine Hepburn was very good at layering hand knotted rugs, and so is Ralph Lauren).

Tabriz(Wool)

 Nain (silk/wool)

In this great country of ours, Persian rugs still cost less than what they cost in Persia itself. The recent embargo on Persian rugs have caused the prices to go up, but they are still within reach. Please buy if you can, they are a good investment too. (Kindly stay away from those fashion inspired, in muted or washed color, get the real vibrant colored ones). After use, they will become more beautiful, like wine, they get more "delicious and precious" as they mature.

Here are some beautiful specimen from my personal collection...

Tabriz (Wool)

Bukhara (Silk/wool)

Traditional and tribal rugs

 Mashhad( Wool)

Antique runner Saveh (Wool)

 Traditional (Wool)

Bukhara (Wool)

It is all about cars today!

For most of the people, cars are just a mode of transportation, but there is a small population that is smitten by cars. I am one of them, sight of a shiny old car on the road makes my heartbeat go up.

Whenever I have an opportunity, I photograph cars, and occasionally  do charcoal sketches and paintings too.  I will share these on this blog time to time.

My painting of a Mercedes 450SL

Mercedes 450SL

Jaguar E type

Jaguar XK140

'52 Mercedes 220

BMW Z4

Mini Cooper

Ralph Lauren the interior designer

Ralph is one of my favorite interior designer. I am not crazy about his over priced clothes with over sized horsey logos, but I am crazy about his interiors.  He does magic, layer upon layer, very classy, very classic and timeless.  One thing Ralph Lauren, Katharine Hepburn and myself in common, we all like to layer Persian rugs. Here are some of my favorite pictures from RL's interiors.

RL's Bedford home

RL's Bedford home

RL New York store

RL New York men's store

RL's Bedford home

Pictures courtesy of : RL.com, neo horsey style, vjporium etc.

Do you have some pocket change?

These 2 homes, in Nichols Hills, OK. are for sale.
    Both are nicely done, enjoy!
    First home is listed at $895,000.00

    Second (the Tudor) is listed at $2.5mil.

End of style recession?

Recently I have discovered some excellent men 's style blogs, I am excited about that. Few days back a friend who runs a men 's wear store in our town, said to me "do you know the tie clip is coming back" ? Really? "Yes and it is mostly the young people who are buying them".

Excuse me!

Picture re-blogged from fashion police.

What is he thinking?

I think along with economic recession, flip-flops, ragged jeans, faded crew necks, and endless casual days are coming to an end.  How pleasant it would be to get rid of economic and style recession at the same time.

Picture re-blogged from Kleidsam

The dream car!

Saw it on BMW blog, it is very interesting and serious. The man on this BMW is very content and seems to enjoy the ride. Why not, are we not supposed to enjoy what ever we have.
Petite wife asked me today on our way home from the Chinese grocery store, "what is your dream car"? My reply was, "honey I don't have a dream car, every car I drive is my dream car".