I do believe it’s time for a Go Fug Your Room! It’s been so long that I’m sure we’ve all forgotten how to do them.
Anyway this one seems particularly fitting as I was in la Grande Pomme only last weekend and am flying back out this weekend for Blogtour and of course we’ve all dreamed of having a New York brownstone of our very own.
The pics are screen caps taken from a ‘73 Questions’ interview on Vogue TV. You’ll get an idea of the house from the screen caps but I do recommend that you watch the video as SJP comes across as cute and charming and the sort of person I would tragically like to be BFFs with (though I would have to have WORDS with her about her old-fashioned and derivative new shoe collection).
First of all I think we can all agree that the house has MAGNIFICENT bones – that arch, those stairs, those ceilings, those windows, THAT. LIGHT. And I do find it refreshing that it seems so normal and lived in. How wonderful to see a celebrity who has books and art, whose house doesn’t appear to be styled to within an inch of its life, and who could conceivably occasionally allow her three kids to share the space.
So SJP, take it away.
Loving the hallway, not sure if that’s a rug or tiles on the stairs, but they look like quintessentially Victorian encaustic tiles and so work for me, though I thought that was more of a London thing rather than New York.
I’m struggling with this room though Sarah J. I just don’t like that green on the wall, it just seems too bright and unsophisticated really, especially when matched with peacock blue velvet and hot pink accents, including a pink zebra-striped pouffe thingy (just say those words out loud and you’ll know how WRONG that sounds).
And maybe there are rather too many books and little pictures and tchotchkes and THINGS just cluttering things up. The bar is quite fun though.
OK Ms P. No need to look like that, it’s just MY OPINION (which is what the Minx says when she is about to say something breathtakingly rude).
Let’s move on shall we? Arch gorgeous, artwork lovely, light, windows and fireplace amazing. Possibly one too many ping pong tables. (Seriously?)
But yes, SJP I would be proud of this end of the room too. So pretty. I’m particularly loving the celery green and robin’s egg blue (behind the door) accents – much nicer colours than the green on the sitting room walls.
Here’s the full video, which I do recommend. Her English accent is terrible though.
So, in your considered opinion is this house fugly or not? Feel free to show additional workings in the comments.
Update: Oh and thanks to commenter Becky for reminding me that I blogged about SJP’s glorious house in the Hamptons more years ago than I care to remember. She is one lucky girl.
A ‘Not really’ from me. and was that a Christmas tree on her doorstep?!
OK, now I have I have to rewatch. I didn’t catch that…
I read somewhere that she still hadn’t taken down the holiday decorations from her front stairs. Which is fine, but am sure there was a tree when she was chucking the interviewer out at the end…
I love the green! Though maybe more as a colour rather than necessarily on those walls… It made me think of painting the garden door a similar shade, which I think could work nicely with a hot pink flowering something or other nearby… I love love the space; with the books, pictures and STUFF it reminds me of Islington townhouse homes of my childhood friends (though obviously there was a whole lot more pine involved) so looks very friendly and familiar to my eyes. I prefer the white room – though the flow between the two seems a little jarring- and am a sucker for robins egg blue in almost any circumstances, but particularly on doors (God bless Farrow & Ball).
That green is a bit too sickly for me for a wall colour, but YES to garden door…and I know exactly where you’re coming from re. Islington houses. The space is TDF.
The shoes! She appears to have raided my mothers 1983 shoe stash and added a few inches to all the heels to make them even more crippling! What’s that about?
Not a fan.
I KNOW. What happened there?
I’m with you on the green. Just reminds me of too many suburban NJ family rooms in the 70s watching bad tv. I get why the ping pong table is there though. With three kids needing something to do within earshot ina tiny Manhattan house it’s a good use of space.
I actually can’t imagine the horror of three kids trying to play ping pong in that tiny space and trying not to knock precious tchotchkes off the mantelpiece. I need a stiff drink just thinking about it.
I love the green! And the sofa, and the amount of books! And I really want a ping pong table right in the middle of my living room now.
Fran, you win ‘Commenter Name of the Day’
i voted NOT REALLY. It’s just so different from any of her other homes. LIke that Greenwich Village place they had was so much more modern, and I always loved that first Hamptons house on the cover of Elle D. years ago with the blue milk glass chandy – it was so spare and eccentric in a good way. This seems like it’s not quite put together yet, but also has the charm of her quirky fashion sense, which I like; it seems more personal and cozy and not done up just for some magazine shoot. Also, shelves can be for filling. Sometimes they look much more cluttered in photos than they do in person. I’d rather someone have tons of beloved books and objects to haphapzardly fill them with than some decorator who buys books and objects for looks and perfectly styles them.
I’m used to receiving the same boring internet comments at my job all day long that say “this doesn’t look lived in” “It’s sterile,” [wahhhh] regarding rooms that have been styled for photography (or are intentionally minimalist, don’t get me started) and I’m like “oh wow, should the photographer have left the toilet brush out and some used tissues on the floor so that you can be distracted from the actual design, which is what we’re here to talk about?” But we’re catching SJP lived-in, without a stylist (I’m assuming), and I do appreciate that. It seems like they are comfortable and happy there.
I blogged that Hamptons house! Thanks for the reminder.
I went for ‘Not Really’ too, for pretty much the reasons you describe. SJP always seems to be very comfortable in her skin for a celeb and trying to live life as normally as possible which is really refreshing.
I designed a beautiful animal themed nursery for my son with a few bright green walls. It seemed like such a wonderful idea at the time. Until I started taking pictures of him in his bedroom and every photo required painstaking work to remedy what that color does to the skin. We are moving in 2 months. I can never consider that wall color again.