Alice Naylor-Leyland @aliceinherpalace posted this glorious Easter tablescape on Instagram this week, and it left me completely charmed and breathless. Note the white lettuce ware plates… Tory Burch for Dodie Thayer just released a new white lettuce ware collection this spring! Alice has exquisite taste, which she inherited from her elegant mother, Serena Fresson… You can read a Q&A I conducted with her here, and click here to tour Nantclwyd Hall, the home of Alice’s in-laws, decorated by the legendary John Fowler.
Last week, The Glam Pad underwent a much-needed makeover as I finally switched my web platform from Blogger to WordPress. A giant thank you to Lisette from High Note Designs for my beautiful new website! We’re still cleaning up a few formatting issues in past posts, so please bear with me until the dust settles.
Image via Sophistication is Overrated. Click here for my book review.
Have you heard that Tinsley Mortimer is joining the Real Housewives of New York cast? In all honesty, I am appalled by the catty “Housewives” drama, however I may just have to tune in to catch a glimpse of Tinsley’s fabulous apartment, which I featured here.
Tinsley Mortimer in her glorious apartment. Image via TV Deets.
I was thrilled to read this feature from Architectural Digest on current design trends. Anna Brockway, cofounder and chief marketing officer of Chairish, reports that searches are down for midcentury modern, and up for “the more ornate and feminine.” That means Chinoiserie. Art Deco. Hollywood Regency. And lots of pink… “Granny chic is totally on fire,” she says. I’ve been reporting for some time about the return to traditional decor and the return to pretty. It is happening!
“Granny Chic” is in, and it doesn’t get any more chic than the late Deborah Vivien Freeman-Mitford Cavendish, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire.
Are you watching FEUD: Bette and Joan? I am particularly loving the glimpses it provides into Joan’s (recreated) William Haines-designed home. It is incredibly glamorous, despite the fact that she covered her beautiful furniture in plastic… You can read more about this hilarious fact via Vanity Fair. And for more Joan-isms, I highly recommend her cult-classic book, My Way of Life. Lastly, the 1930s Holmby Hills home used for the movie Mommie Dearest was for sale last year… You can see more here.
Joan Crawford’s home, as portrayed in Mommie Dearest.
If you’re not already following my friend Holly Holden’s Classic Design Channel on YouTube, you will want to subscribe here. I was thrilled to see lovely Bettie Bearden Pardee from Private Newport feature Holly on her beautiful blog this week… Holly’s timeless, classic style is not to be missed! Click here to subscribe, here to read about Holly’s book, The Pretty and Proper Living Room, and here to read more about Classic Design Channel.
“If pretty and proper had a recipe, it would be: add one full measure of British Understatement; stir in equal parts Southern Gentility and Manor House Elegance; finally, garnish with a dash of Preppy Whimsy. Serve from silver… of course.” – Holly Holden
Click here to subscribe to Classic Design Channel.
I am thrilled to welcome my latest sponsor: Charlotte & Ivy. Whether your go-to decorating style is preppy chic, French country, Hollywood glamour, Chinoiserie, or all things blue and white, you’ll find the most beautiful hand-selected pieces through their online boutique. They also specialize in fabulous custom beds, club chairs, and spool chairs. Their Charlotte Chinese Chippendale dining chairs are perfect and can also be custom lacquered. Lots to discover on this expertly curated home collection website with many exclusive designs. Check them out today!
Happy Spring!

Congratulations on the makeover. You look wonderful, dahhling!
Charlotte & Ivey have lovely things, including the Frances Elkins chair. Yes.
Yes, pretty is back at last and WE predicted it, didn’t we? The pendulum always has to swing back the other way.
Thanks for making my weekend. We are expecting more snow here in upstate NY. But that means a cozy fire tonight, and watching FEUD whilst lounging on my Emily Gilmore Louis XVI canapé corbeille with a chinchilla faux fur throw and popping bon bons . I love the cold, because cocooning is so nice. 😀
Andrea,
Weirdly, I clicked on your Amazon books link, and started reading My Way of Life- Joan was writing about the view from her penthouse at 70th and Fifth, where I worked years later when it was owned by Ted Forstmann! Life is strange, and it’s a small world!
I enjoyed this post, since I do follow Tinsley, and hope to see her on RHNY soon! Also have seen the funny and odd Jessica Lange FEUD – which is so bizarre, especially “Mamacita” the slightly creepy maid !
Now all I have to do is learn how to make Holly Holden’s recipe for fabulous cheese straws, served on old family silver, of course! LOL!
Dean