All the necessary elements of a room should not arrive on installation day. Room should always be left for the things we will acquire...the objects we cannot live without.

Just as a picture is created by adding a dab of paint at a time, the best arrangements are created a step at a time, with pauses so you can step back and see the overall effect.

I'm more influenced by people's attitudes and spirits than by their particular style. Whether it's Elsie de Wolfe or Pauline de Rothschild, I always admire women who had a vision and stuck to it. Because ultimately, the way you live has to be a reflection of you.

There are two things that make a room timeless: a sense of history and a piece of the future.

Decorating is a footnote to real life for me, a means to an end: Living well.

Casual elegance is all about the mix.

Take the time and do some small thing that will be noticed and remembered. Choose your objects carefully, and buy only what you love.