If you ask Dave, I’m a bad tourist. I’m hard to get out in the mornings for any sight seeing and I’d most happily spend my vacations sitting in cafes, people watching, and generally avoiding the tourist trail. For this reason, I have never been to Harrod’s in London. Nonetheless, I was tempted into the old fashioned London department store experience by way of Liberty London. Housed in an enormous Tudor style building, it’s pretty hard to resist. I caved.
Liberty is known for their floral fabrics. You’ve probably seen their shirts in collaborations with places like J Crew. Florals: definitely not my area. So after getting an eyeful of scarves and shirts (OK, they are quite pretty), I headed for the furniture and lighting section, which featured a rich mix of modern and antique pieces, perfect for filling up that hypothetical London flat.
Despite my affinity for the sleek midcentury look, I adore the idea of a cozy library, filled with bohemian textiles, old books, quirky lighting, antiques, and art. One of the houses near where we rented a flat had a library which we could spy in the evenings as we returned home. It had tall shelves filled with books, walls hung with paintings, and it cast a cozy glow as we passed it in the street below. These little moments from Liberty remind me of that house and fill me with London-envy:
2 Comments
Any idea who the painting with the orange, pink and white stripes across the portrait of the lady is by?
Hi Abi! Good question– I did some digging and (thanks to Google’s search by image) it appears to be the work of Chad Wys. You can find his work at https://chadwys.com. That piece is called ‘Brutalized Gainsborough 2’. Cheers!