Decorating is like math, a game of adding and subtracting.

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.

Decorating is like music. Harmony is what we constantly strive for. At home, we want a peaceful atmosphere where the objects are the notes and nothing is off-key.

An empty room is a story waiting to happen, and you are the author.

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

... our objects, bibelots, whatnots, and knickknacks-say the most about who we are. They are as honest as a diary.

What we remember most about rooms we like is the 'atmosphere.'

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.

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.

A positive mindset alone in the absence of hard work will get you nowhere.

A pessimist is a man who tells the truth prematurely.

The right path and easy path are usually two different things, and when it’s time to choose, always choose the right path over the easy.

Poetic words are usually more stimulating than accurate. Taking them too seriously is a mistake.

Suburban houses and tin sheds are often the objects of ridicule.

Good soldiers, bad officers; however don't forget that without them we would not have any Civilization.

The law itself is on trial quite as much as the cause which is to be decided.

To know only artificial night is as absurd and evil as to know only artificial day.

Lena's hair was sticking out in about fifteen directions, and her eyes were all small and puffy from crying. So this was what girls looked like in the morning. I had never seen one, not up close.

You have to make doubt and devils obey you. Don't ever treat the devil nice. Treat him mean and tell him what to do.