It’s not an exaggeration to say I leaped with joy when I saw the cover of  the 30th Anniversary edition of World of Interiors this month.  Featured are the fab trio that makes up Les Trois Garcons.  The two taxidermied ‘unicorns’ has solidified this girl as a staunch fan of their design.  I had to do some research and it’s all just too wonderful to see their interiors and read about their very over-the-top existence.  Every detail has been thought out to inspire and bring beauty into a space.  World Of Interiors features the new ‘weekend home’ that Les Trois has just completed.  A beautiful restoration of a  château in France.  Amongst my favorite things about this country home are of course the aforementioned unicorns, as well as a library dedicated to and turned into a room for curiousa and oddities.

The Telegraph recently did a review of the Trio’s hotspot eatery in London.  After reading reviews like this, I just want more and more…

Playful details are what the restaurant does best. Wedged between our puddings is an ashtray so voluptuous it seems rude not to smoke. Everyone nearby, including the unusually subdued hen party just behind, has lit up, but in this airy, high-ceilinged room only the most fervent anti-smoker would complain. Equally appealing is the salt cellar on our table – a glass Cinderella shoe the colour of mature Cognac.

As I ponder these witty touches, another waiter, an Irishman from County Cork, descends on us. “Madam,” he says, “Hassan would like to invite you upstairs.”

What to do? It’s unexpected, but I am very curious to see the owners’ apartment. Will I be shown the bedrooms? “Don’t leave me alone up there,” implores Peter, as we head for a narrow staircase at the corner of the bar. Greeting us at the top is Hassan, a genial, exquisite Malaysian, who introduces us to his misanthropic parrot, Jack, and his two elderly Dalmatians, Max and Oscar. Do the chefs walk them? “Oh no,” says Hassan. “They have a nanny.”

The flat is extraordinary, a fantasy antique shop filled with vintage frocks, sculptures and chaises longues. It’s as if Sir John Soane had married Marie Antoinette, only to fall in love with a taxidermist. Even the loo is wonderful, constructed out of an old Savoy lift rescued from a salvage yard.

images below of Lougelover and Les Trois Garçons in London.

I don’t remember how or where I stumbled across Erie Basin’s tumblr…just so thankful I did.  Owner Russell Whitmore curates everything in his beautiful Red Hook shop and then shares lovely lovely photographs on his blog.  He has such a keen eye for beautifully simple 1920’s diamond rings.  And I’m thinking I need to mount my own stuffed tiger’s head on wooden panel to create my own toy faux taxidermy.  I look forward to his tumblr updates each day.

ABOUT ERIE BASIN:

Owner Russell Whitmore takes a curatorial approach to antique dealing, collecting select 19^th and early 20^th century jewelry and objects with contemporary stylistic and cultural relevance. Ranging from early 19^th century neoclassical furniture to Victorian-era Egyptian revival jewelry to American folk art, the collection is eclectic, but carefully constructed.  This fall Erie Basin is also showing the contemporary work of Conroy & Wilcox, Paul DeBlassie IV, Lee Hale, and Mary Preston.