down came the rain

photo source:: cherry blossom girl

lights out, nobody home. Or at least that was this old blog's situation, yesterday. For 12 hours we were without power, here, in the beach cities. It was sort of frustrating. I could use my iphone to check email but blogging on my iphone? not there yet. Not to mention I was running very low on power.

With no electricity, no kids at home, no urgent phone calls to return, I walked through my quiet house, lighting a few candles, adjusting a wonky picture frame here and there and finally sitting with a stack of magazines.
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Vogue did a great spread on Charles and Oly Thompson's Brooklyn brownstone.
the Thompson family sans new born son

Farrow & Ball wallpaper

Oly, a Muscovite textile designer and former dancer and her husband, a photographer have transformed this antique building into an eclectic mix of White Russian salon, meets cool, modern family home.

18th-century Sicilian sofas and bergères. The slipper chairs are upholstered in antique kilims, the cane-back armchairs in Le Manach fabrics.

Using found items from Moscow flea markets, Russian art modern and old and a love and deep knowledge for textiles the Thompson's have pulled together a layered deeply textural look that's anything but predictable.

The layers of detail, Russian influence and art collection completely pulled me in. There are so many photos of perfectly appointed , untouchable spaces in the world that are pretty dreamy, but certainly not child friendly.

While there's certainly a level of culture and sophistication, some of the rooms look as though giant balloons filled with fat colorful confetti just, moments before, bursted into a million pieces.

art: Summer Bubbles (2008), by Alexander Vinogradov and Vladimir Dubossarsky.

Each room, oozes with creativity and a bon vivant, laid back 'cool'. An obvious reflection on this family's take on life.


multipanel mural painting, Windy, is by Alexander Vinogradov and Vladimir Dubossarsky, 2004

vintage-linen bed covers and Le Manach headboards

Interiors, Photographed by François Halard for Vogue

Read more about the Thompson family here