I’m actually more excited about the homewares than the clothes. And I think a couple of things might sneak their way into our apartment… (All photos from the Target lookbook.) What do you think?

I loved it too. But my moment of truth and beauty came at the little-known Capuchin Crypt. This is a small crypt, unassumingly tucked away off one of Rome’s busiest streets. It is decorated (if decorated is the word) with the bones of hundreds of monks. Painstakingly arranged in beautiful patterns. I wanted to write about it, but then found this eloquent blog post from The Life of a Lost Muse, that did it for me: http://thelifeofalostmuse.blogspot.com/2010/05/capuchin-crypt.html

Thanks for putting it into words. So beautiful, heartbreaking, and such a useful reminder of our tiny place on the earth. I unearthed a few more pictures from Google images that i wanted to share (photography was not allowed inside):

So, after my favorite colors of Italy, here are some of my favorite shapes. Shout out to our beautiful hotel in Amalfi, the Luna (an old convent), for providing most of these, although the Vatican museums were kind enough to donate a few…

So, i was delighted and inspired by the range of color on display – some natural, some not, some vivid, some muted. Here are my favorites:

(Georgia O’Keefe, Abstraction White Rose, 1927)

But the next few weeks and months will see us start the endless process of ‘tweaking’. Now that everything is in place, we now need to make everything look great.

For inspiration, i turned to a very stylish pair of friends, Jess and Tim, who have managed to capture their diverse styles and eclectic tastes together into a cohesive whole in their London apartment.

I hope they don’t mind me sharing some of the design elements that make their space so cool, and won’t mind when Rick and I start ‘reflecting’ them in our own place! Flattery guys, flattery!