November recap

November has been beautiful and sunny for the most part, which was just as well as "Swan-in-Chief" Jerrine came for a visit! We had lunch at the beach, and it felt like summer ... while sipping chilled Rosé, we fed little sparrows with baguette crumbs and watched sailboats bumbling along the blue Mediterranean Sea.

Wiener and Roley came with us too, of course, and spent a considerable amount of time under the table devouring their bones. Then onto the lap for a little snooze! In case anyone wonders where Roley is ... he is happily nestling with his Dad.

Picture credit: Jerrine

Picture credit: Jerrine

The beach lunch was followed by a couple of fun days in Paris. While walking around the hotel's neighbourhood, we stumbled upon this adorable little boutique specializing in peppers and pepper mixtures from all around the world.

It's located in one of the prettiest squares in Saint-Germain, right around the corner from the Manuel Canovas showroom, where I often go to source fabrics for my bag insert collection. 

Because of the long pause in blogging, I almost forgot to show you the finalized chairs for the showroom entrance. You might remember the poll we had about which fabric to choose (here)? While I tended towards pink in the end, I changed direction after coming across the fabulous Hedgerow fabric by Andrew Martin for KitKemp, painted by Melissa White.  The fabric's large vignettes show dragons, dogs, leopards and unicorns under giant fruit trees laden with plums, berries and grapes. It was love at first sight, and I thought it would be perfect with the forest backdrop on the walls and carved foxes and oak leaves of the console table. The fabric comes in a pretty pink (Cerise) and warm yellow (Quince). I couldn't decide between them, so I went with both!

The chairs themselves are buttoned Hugo Carvers (with a customized height) by the Dining Chair Company in London. Their showroom is located in Pimlico, and when I was in London last spring, we finalized the placement of the fabric. I decided on the leopard for the back, the dog for the sides and the unicorn for the seat. It all worked out perfectly, and I could not be happier with the result. 

Work in progress (pictures by the Dining Chair Company):

Console table detail

Mix and match: Quince and Cerise

The "Tall Trees" wallpaper behind Amélie, the mannequin, is by the same artist as the Hedgerow fabric above, Melissa White. The Ozone scarf is tied in a variation of the Origami, where the first end is tied around the second, secured with a small double knot.

More scarf knots! I shared them on Instagram a couple of months ago, but don't think I posted them here yet.

1st row from left to right: Asymmetrical Wrap,  a variation of the Ondulation (both ends are the same length and brought through a round ring) and the Chemisier

2nd row: Ondulation (with both ends pulled through a round scarf ring, one end shorter), Croisée and Petit Bib

3rd row: Cascade, Ascot and Gavroche Flower knot

Scarf: Inside Out by Kit Kemp

Towards the end of the month, the fields and trees finally exploded in autumn colours and shades of gold, yellow, red and orange (can anyone spot the dogs in this pic?), 

 A perfect autumn meal ...  oven-roasted golden carrots and sweet potatoes, filled aubergines and a sprinkling of parsley and cherry tomatoes. 

Lunch the next day consisted of leftovers, fried up with some pasta from the day before. I love cooking with leftovers, not only because the flavors have intensified over night, but also because they lend themself to surprise dishes that sometimes even become new staples. 

Bowl: Mythical Creatures by Kit Kemp for Wedgwood

A new, sky blue appliqué flower combining paint with embroidery. Wish I had more time to indulge in this!

Soon I'll be saying goodbye to my wonderful Tesla Model S, which I've had since 2017. It is the best car I've ever driven, powered almost entirely by solar. A new one is on its way (I've been monitoring the cargo ship's movement with great excitement for the last two weeks ...  today it finally docked in Zeebrugge, Belgium). More on this soon! 

Wiener and Roley cuddling in their Lord Lou Arthur basket 

The entry of Ralph Lauren's flagship store in Paris, glamorously decked with lush greenery and giant golden baubles. Jerrine and I had a champagne night cap at the Ralph's bar, toasting the end of the trip. A perfect start into the holiday season!

Happy holidays and enjoy a most beautiful festive season!

xx

As always, none of my content is sponsored or paid for by a third party. There are no affiliations, paid advertising or collaborations. Just showing things that I love. 

Beach Club: Palace Plage here

Spice's shop: Compagnie des poivres et des epices here  7 Rue de Furstemberg, 75006 Paris

Dining Chair Company here Hugo Carver here

Hedgerow Fabric by Andrew Martin here

More about Melissa White: here

Ozone scarf by Kit Kemp here

Tall Trees wallpaper by Kit Kemp here

Lord Lou Arthur dog basket: all available Lord Lou items can be purchased with a 15% discount through my site or via email customerservice@maitaicollection.com

Ralphs here

If you are interested in my Tesla Model S, please email me for details maitaicollection@orange.fr

Thank you

First of all, an enormous, grateful and massive thank you to everyone who responded to the last and previous posts. I was completely floored by the sheer number of comments; it was something that I had not expected at all. I am so touched and humbled to know that the blog is still loved and appreciated, and was amazed to learn that so many of you are not/no longer interested in, or simply wary of, social media or Instagram. 

Of course, I will continue with the blog (how could I not!) and will do so with renewed energy and enthusiasm. Thank you all (including those who replied via email) from the depth of my heart for taking the time to write; it meant so much and I am grateful to every one of you. My apologies for not having responded individually or personally this time ... I tried at first but couldn't keep up. Will give it my very best in the future, and hope some of you will drop by from time to time to say hello in the comments!

Today's post does not only mark the continuation of the blog but also coincides with the 15th anniversary of my first Kelly, a 32 Retourne in Clemence Ebene.

Nowadays perhaps considered a "boring colour", but I love the dark brown Espresso shade and still adore carrying this bag.

Left: Ms Ebene, brand new out of the box in 2007. Right, still looking fabulous in 2022.  The chair is the same in both pictures, only that it's been re-upholstered recently (Iliad fabric by Lewis and Wood).

In honour of the anniversary, I am wearing the same dress as in 2007. I don't know where the chain necklace (left below) disappeared to, so I replaced it with a long pendant necklace from my collection (available here). The same goes for the shoes, so I am wearing my tri-coloured Roger Viviers that go quite a while back too:

To celebrate Kelly's 15th anniversary, the necklace comes with a 15% discount (please enter the following code at checkout: Anniversary15). The same discount applies to the ivory version (black: here and ivory: here).

In exciting news, I am so happy and pleased to show you a further completed part of my workspace expansion and renovation project. What a lovely coincidence that the colour scheme is perfectly in tune with the birthday girl's dark espresso Clemence leather!

I wanted it to be a glamorous and multi-purpose space where I could bring my laptop and work, develop new recipes, host lunches and hold future workshops. An extension of my workspace, rather than a traditional-looking kitchen.  The workshop website is currently under construction, and I hope to come out with it soon! (if you have any thoughts or suggestions, please let me know in the comments below)

Instead of uniform cabinetry, I decided to mix plain stained wood surfaces for the top wall units and island, with a more classic look painted wood cupboards that have mouldings and cornices.

The walls didn't remain white for long ...

I went for a warm medium brown (Mouse's Back by Farrow and Ball), that also covers the ceiling:

For the cabinetry, I chose Farrow and Ball's richly pigmented "Off-Black", whereas the plain-surfaced island cabinetry and upper wall hanging units are dark stained wood.

For the stone surfaces I fell in love with an amazing piece of black African Fusion quartzite, which adds a glamorous and dramatic touch. The patterns in this stone have incredible depth and sometimes elements that sparkle. It feels like looking into space!

Although the main elements are dark, the overall atmosphere is rich and warm ... strategically placed ceiling spots (DH is fantastic with lights) and integrated cabinet lights cast a warm and inviting glow throughout.

It was an exciting day when the cabinetry arrived.  I am overjoyed with the end result, but it has been a fairly difficult process and it took quite a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get there. All this is forgotten now, and I could not be happier.

Here's to the next ten years of blogging, and I hope many of you will accompany me! It is amazing to think that by that point my Kelly will be a quarter of a century old.

Hope everyone is happy and well, and wishing you a beautiful remaining autumn xx

(There is no sponsored content in this post; all items were purchased by me. There is also no affiliation with any of the brands/companies mentioned above or below)

Appliances: Wolf range cooker and Subzero fridge by Subzero and Wolf

Paint: Mouse's Back and Off-Black by Farrow and Ball

African Fusion quartzite stone and installation by Anastay, St Remy de Provence

Cabinetry and installation by ACC Menuiserie