WE WROTE about displaying figurative art and nudes in March of last year, but thought it was worth revisiting this topic again because the act of surrounding oneself with such works can provoke interesting conversations about artistic expression, the human form, and personal taste.
Aldourie Castle, a 300-year-old baronial estate, has been thoughtfully reimagined for the modern day while retaining its historic charm. Situated on the enchanting banks of Loch Ness near the quaint crofting village of Aldourie, the castle is enveloped by 500 acres of exquisite gardens, woodlands, and wildflower meadows.
WE ALL KNOW the iconic opening scene of the 1963 film Charade: Audrey Hepburn looking devastatingly chic in a chocolate brown Givenchy coat and oversized sunglasses, sipping coffee on a sunny terrace in the French ski resort of Megève.
I still love software as much today as I did when Paul Allen and I started Microsoft. But—even though it has improved a lot in the decades since then—in many ways, software is still pretty dumb.
ON SATURDAY we walked to one of our favourite pubs along the Thames. It’s right on the water, with a row of tables on a dock set below the large outdoor terrace that backs onto the pub and we were very lucky to get the very last available one. The weather was unseasonably warm, the leaves were just starting to turn, the air was crisp on the water and when P asked me if there were anywhere else in the world I’d rather be right at that moment, I was amazed to realise that there wasn’t.
WE GAVE a small glimpse into the London home of designer Rose Uniacke in November of last year, as well as a look at some of her work the following month. This month, coinciding with the recent release of her latest book, Wallpaper magazine featured more of the designer’s Warwick Square home.
In 1775, a Swiss watchmaker named Pierre Jaquet-Droz visited King Louis VI and Queen Marie Antoinette, in Versailles, to show off his latest creation: a “living doll” called the Musician. She was dressed in a stiff rococo ball gown and seated at an organ...
THE INSTAGRAM algorithm seems to think that we love all things Scandinavian at the moment, and perhaps we do. That's how we came across Finnish social media content creator Metti Forssell (@mettiforssell) for this instalment of 10 IMAGES. We hadn't known of her before, but we love her penchant for chubby furniture and boiserie, chevron flooring and chandeliers; coffee and pastries on marble tables, shrimp pasta, bouclé chairs and more...
During the summer months in the Oxfordshire town where I live, I go swimming in the nearby 50-metre lido. With my inelegantly slow breaststroke, from time to time I accidentally gulp some of the pool’s opulent, chlorine-clean 5.9m litres of water.
THE LAST TIME I did a Life Lately was way back in February, and a lot has happened since then. Here is the latest photo diary⏤a few snippets from the past days and weeks, from the pink peonies and tulips in Fulham (just before we stopped in at the charming Fox & Pheasant pub) to sailboats on the Thames, the Tate, chestnut trees in Bushy Park, and more...
AS MENTIONED earlier, we’ve been searching for a coffee table that we both love. It hasn’t been an easy search, as I was looking for something with Carrara or Viola marble, but P was looking for a wood one. In the end, we discovered that there aren’t that many choices available after all, but in our searches...
YES, I KNOW, I introduced my new design aesthetic recently, only to change back less than a week later, but this time, I think it will take. It's not exactly White Chocolate Minimalism, but it's definitely as serene and calming, yet with enough charming details and flourishes (ceiling beams, crown moulding) to keep things from becoming too austere. There seems to be quite a bit of blacks, browns, and dark, rich woods in this iteration, but it feels earthy and not oppressive...
THERE IS A LINE from a Bruce Springsteen song that goes: “I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face“⏤and while I don’t want to change my face, I do like to change my clothes (often), and my hair (sometimes⏤in fact, just last week). A friend once asked me if I changed my décor tastes to match where I happen to be living at the time (she was visiting us in Spain), and I realise that yes, yes I guess I do.
Technology and globalisation have made it easier to relocate anywhere in the world than ever before. In our new series Imagine Yourself In, we will be exploring new towns and off-the-beaten-path finds around the world. Whether you’re looking for a change of scenery, a slower pace of life, or just a new place to call home, there’s an endless list of destinations waiting to be discovered.
In his 1976 book, Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment to Calculation, the computer scientist Joseph Weizenbaum observed some interesting tendencies in his fellow humans. In one now-famous anecdote, he described his secretary’s early interactions with his program ELIZA, a proto-chatbot he created in 1966. Following a set of rules meant to approximate patient-directed Rogererian psychotherapy, and following a simple script called DOCTOR, the program made quite an impression ...
