Table of contents for Spring 2026 in MILIEU

I would like to open this letter with a word of gratitude for someone whom we have relied on since our premier edition in 2013. Master color corrector, Steve Ransom, who had a long career in publishing before we began our work together, has an uncanny ability to match the color of a fabric or paint chip so that it is translated perfectly for the pages of MILIEU. No matter how nuanced a color, he can match it. It’s a rare skill, a real creative yet technical talent that he possesses. Please join me in congratulating Steve on his upcoming retirement. Out of profound appreciation, I dedicate this Spring 2026 issue to him. Creative people find their way in any industry and apply their skill in a manner that is…

John Tribble not only knows his period styles, able to instantly identify every iteration of Louis XIV, XV, and XVI, but he also knows how to read the antiques market. After nearly 30 years buying antiques and restoring them, all the while having his workshop build new custom furniture, he has good news to report. “I would say that antiques died around 2015, but I now see a resurgence, a big resurgence, a rebirth. There’s a lot more interest in what I call ‘brown wood furniture,’ especially pieces from the 18th and 19th centuries.” While Tribble admires antiques of all eras, he has a decided penchant for anything Louis, with Louis XVI his favorite, defined by its pared-down, linear, restrained, elegant forms. And in his new pursuit of bedside tables,…

Twelve people gathered in the kitchen of La Mirande to hear their cooking instructions. The ingredients, the dishes, the methods were all coming from Thomas Longuesserre, the Provence-born chef of the Avignon hotel’s restaurant La Table Haute is also director of the école de cuisine and instructor of private classes. Wearing their white aprons, the participants, some hotel guests, others enrolled just for the day, listened in English as Longuesserre issued his friendly—and inspiring—instructions. Prior to describing the courses they were to make, the chef emphasized that what everyone was preparing was a simple, representative menu that respects the local ingredients of the season. “We’ll start with asparagus prepared three ways—raw, cooked, and in a creamy velouté,” he explains. “The second course is a roast wild duck, bred here in…

Book Signing With Isabel López-Quesada The renowned Spanish interior designer Isabel López-Quesada celebrated her latest publication, Isabel López-Quesada: Town & Country (Vendome Press), with a book-signing soirée in late October hosted by Pamela Pierce, MILIEU Founder and Editor-in-Chief. This is Isabel’s second book, and it showcases her signature interiors across the Mediterranean, Caribbean, and beyond—where timeless and contemporary styles blend with effortless elegance. Several of Isabel’s projects have been featured in MILIEU, most recently on the cover of our Fall 2024 issue. Guests included colleagues from the Houston design community, as well as many of Isabel’s friends and family members, some of whom journeyed from Europe for the event. Spanish bites and beverages were enjoyed as Isabel signed copies of her book.…

It was the perfect design match. Marta de la Rica, the prolific Spanish-born interior designer, was commissioned by a Spanish family moving to London to transform a Victorian-era mansion. They meshed as designer and client not only because they spoke the same language, but also because they shared the same culture. It helped, too, that de la Rica and the clients had a history, for the designer had transformed the young family’s home in Bilbao, Spain, years earlier. This collaboration, however, would require different skills. As de la Rica, emphasizes, “This was our first commission in London,” but that is not to understate the degree to which this “first” was an unqualified success. Much to her credit, she proves here that she possesses an uncanny ability to embrace English motifs…

Nothing is ever out of sight when Serge Castella and Jason Flinn begin a design project. When conceiving, for instance, the grounds of their latest home in Spain’s Costa Brava, they looked into the distance to the medieval church tower piercing the sky in the nearby village of Pals. Upon seeing it and the town’s other centuries-old architectural forms against the horizon, they choose to plant rocketing Tuscan cypress trees around their pool, as a visual echo of what is in the background. Those natural green, tapered shapes create a link between the home and its locale. “That distant church steeple is so emblematic of ancient European towns situated on hills like that,” says Castella, who, along with his longtime partner in life, is known for his work as an…

“I always try for beauty and warmth, whether the home is very traditional or very modern. I want people to be taken aback by how beautiful the rooms are, but I want them to sit down and chat or watch a movie. Beauty does not have to be stiff and unwelcoming.” —BARBARA WESTBROOK “History in the Making” p. 94 “I design not just to achieve a final look but also to help clients enjoy the space as they create moments with friends and family.” —MARTA DE LA RICA “Spanish Adaptation” p. 106 “The juxtaposition of pieces is what makes this house work. There’s a nice tension throughout. You walk inside and you immediately feel at home.” —ROBIN RAINS “A Beach Find” p. 118 “There’s always a jigsaw puzzle to solve…

John Danzer’s favorite place in a home is whatever is outdoors. The garden, the terrace, the yard, some locale actually outside of the home is where he wishes to spend time. As the founder of Munder-Skiles, the premier maker of outdoor furniture, it makes sense that he would come to see any space beyond the confines of interior rooms as the best spaces for living. “I think my love of garden furniture has a lot to do with having always lived in small houses,” he says, from his Paris apartment that he shares with his longtime husband, Chip Allemann. “The real space was always outdoors. The wonderful thing for me about outdoor furniture is that while sitting outside, everything around you changes so much, so fast.” He speaks about the…

When Minnie Evans (1892-1987), born and raised in Eastern North Carolina, started drawing, she was in her early 40s and found herself, inexplicably, creating unexpected shapes on a brown paper bag. Unaware of any artistic traits in her family and far from the rarefied world inhabited by art professors under whom she had never had an opportunity to study, Evans—married at 16 and the mother of three—later recalled that, while doodling with those first designs, she had heard a distinctive voice telling her to “draw or die.” Apparently, those words made an impression. The result of that mandate is heralded in an unforgettable exhibition at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art, “The Lost World: The Art of Minnie Evans” (open through April 19). From the High, the show travels this summer…

In January, MILIEU was proud to serve as a national media sponsor of the 2026 Antiques & Garden Show of Nashville for the opening keynote lecture, marking the 36th year of this beloved celebration of heritage, hospitality, and enduring American style. Under the banner American Elegance, the weekend called to mind the trappings of a perfectly kept East Coast estate: heirloom antiques, manicured gardens, and a sense of timeless ease that never goes out of fashion. Thoughtfully moderated by Alfredo Paredes, the highlight was Friday’s opening keynote, “Living Legacy: The Classic American Style of Ralph Lauren,” featuring the designer’s son David and his wife, Lauren Bush Lauren, whose grandfather was U.S. President George H.W. Bush. The conversation explored brand, philanthropy, and the emotional power of design—how classic American style can…

Robin Rains is one of those designers who is never not looking—at the world, certainly, wherever she is, but also at where a client lives, what they see out their windows, how those people see their own homes. For instance, on one of her frequent shopping/scouting trips to France, seeking out antiques, she was wandering the stalls of a Paris flea market when she eyed a 1950s-era, multi-armed chandelier hovering in mid-air. “I walked into the booth and there it was,” recalls Rains from her Nashville office, “and I knew the moment I looked at it that it was perfect for this couple’s bedroom. It was a new–old vintage piece meant for their home. I knew, too, that these homeowners would love it.” And because Rains is such a seasoned…

ENGLAND: The Land Gardeners Bridget Elworthy and Henrietta Courtauld refer to themselves as “gardeners, curators, and change-makers,” as they design landscapes in England and often bring the classic English gardens they fashion to locales in France. They are dedicated to preserving soils and native plants, endeavors which result in “healing our planet.” Their materials and creations include roses, kitchen gardens, peonies, parterres, potagers, tulips, and brilliant cutting gardens. SPAIN: Urquijo-Kastner Landscape and Garden Design Studio From their Madrid design studio, Renate Kastner and Miguel Urquijo make gardens throughout their native Spain. They regard a garden as a kind of canvas upon which they can be creative. “A garden is a space where we can allow ourselves to create,” they say, as a reference not only to their approach, but also…

On Paper Some might consider what Kate Semple makes an act of magic. “I have always relished the idea of making something out of nothing,” says the artisan from her studio/workshop in York, England. Semple’s “nothing” is actually an ongoing series of works made from discarded paper and cardboard (or card, as she calls the material). Her vessels are very real, actual objects whose presence redefines rooms. Although Semple, a ceramicist, had long been fashioning objects of clay (and still does), she was forced in 2020 to turn to a different medium. “During the pandemic, there was a clay drought,” she explains. “I was expressing myself through three-dimensional objects and I wanted to continue, so I had to look for materials I had on hand. Papier-mâché was already a medium…

Celebrating Everyday Life Emma Sims-Hilditch declares right away in this (second) book about her interior designs something so refreshing and affirming about the discipline in which she has become a star. Of herself and her team, as they work from their Cotswolds and London offices: “Our design philosophy has remained the same; it has always been built on the principle that every house needs to work on a functional level before you even consider the furniture, fabrics, and paint colours.” There it is, her ethos about how to begin a design project, and, thus, how to see it through. Many of Sims-Hilditch’s projects are about how to restore, reconfigure, and make relevant for life today centuries-old buildings, as well as new ones that need to honor their historic locales. Here,…

From the outset, the Lester family’s vision for their rural Georgia home was rooted less in square footage than in generosity of spirit. Camden McClelland, project architect with Historical Concepts, recalls an early conversation with Jon Lester and his wife, Farrah, as they began the design process: “He made it clear that this was a place for friends, for their growing family, for their extended family, and for everybody to come to. And so we just asked him the very simple question, ‘Okay, how many bedrooms do you think you need?’ He looks at us, and he’s very confused, and he says, ‘I don’t know, 14, 20?’ His heart was so generous.” That generosity became the guiding principle of the project—one that shaped not only the home’s layout, but also…

“So often, homes in the smart neighborhoods of London feel stiff and rigid,” says British designer Nicola Harding, who was commissioned to reimagine the interior spaces of this centuries-old Regency townhouse in the city’s posh Notting Hill district. “The owners of this home have three young boys and a dog, however, and they love to casually entertain—so their plans couldn’t have been further from that.” Known for her skill at crafting spaces that genuinely reflect the people who live in them, Harding had already learned a lot about the family when she worked with them to design the interiors of their country house. “I was lucky to start off with a good sense of what makes them tick,” says the designer. “The lady of the house is a joyful person…