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As Thanksgiving is upon us I wanted to share a fitting place from my last European trip -the Hofburg Palace King's apartment museum in Vienna. Located right on the edge of historic city center, the Hofburg palace complex was built upon from the 14th century up until the end of the Hapsburg empire in 1918 to become the epicenter of the government. As you can imagine it is immense! The entrance to the museum is under the green dome above through a tight hallway in the St. Michael's wing - apparently grander entrances still serve other governmental purposes. The tiny entry barely could coral the hoards of people jockeying to see the collections. It was as crowded as a Macys the day after Thanksgiving! The first part of the tour is through the extensive pantries of the palace: acres of cabinetry holds the Emperors' china, silver, and gilt-ware used over the centuries.  Some of it was rather familiar and ordinary, if lovely, such as the 19th century porcelain above. However oth...

If you purchase one design book from the large selection out this fall it must be Cecil Beaton at Home by Andrew Ginger with forward by Beaton expert Hugo Vickers. This large tome on the most famous taste-maker of the 20th century is a must for any design library. Each chapter is devoted to a different time period, and corresponding house, in Beaton's life and reads mostly chronologically. Some of the images you will undoubtedly be familiar with but there were many I had never seen before. I loved Beaton's watercolor of Ashcombe seen above, later inhabited by Madonna and Guy Ritchie. Beaton was a harbinger of today's media obsessed culture where every moment is photographed for instagram or facebook, so we are lucky to enjoy may snapshots he took of his friends enjoying his homes. This isn't just a pretty coffee table book but rather a lavishly illustrated biography of Beaton's personal life and one that cannot be missed! I highly recommend you get your copy today...

My friends over at TheRegencyShop recently sent me a Nelson Ball Clock to check out. The iconic design was developed by famed industrial designer George Nelson for the Herman Miller company. Nelson is best known for designing the classic mid-century modern pieces for Herman Miller between 1945 and 1972 while he served as their director of design. I had an original orange colored clock from 1949 from my grandparents laundry room which I sold off years ago. The originals were plug-in models and had the ugly electrical cord as well as being somewhat noisy. The new versions are both silent AND stylish, taking 1 AA battery. I love the cheerful, bright multi-colored design which works well at my work desk seen above! They offer many well-priced iconic items from their online shop including architect Mies van der Rohe 's Barcelona Chair ,   lovely leather Chesterfield Sofas , and Arne Jacobsen's Egg Chair ! Definitely take a look at their website to see these and other stylish offe...