My Style File - Barrie Benson

I admit, I have a little addiction. It started with ripping out pages from my favorite magazines, then turned into keeping online files of images I like; now I need to upload them onto our server just to have room for all of them.

So you understand why my head is constantly brimming with ideas, here is my monthly reading list (in alphabetical order):

Allure*
Architectural Digest*
Country Living*
Dwell*
Every Day with Rachael Ray
Food Network Magazine
Fine Cooking
Food & Wine*
House Beautiful*
Shape
Style at Home*
Wine Spectator*

I think that is it! All of the asterisk marked ones are my subscriptions, but I have a friend who gives me all her cooking magazines and more.

In, what I call My Style Files, are designers that I admire. Most of them keep a sense of fun and color in their work, and tend to mix modern with some traditional elements. Barrie Benson is one of my favorites. She and her architect husband took a mid-century modern ranch house, paying homage to its past and reworking it to make it fit their needs. The images are from her house.

Here is my favorite quote from the article, "For Barrie, the time had also come to turn her own craft inward. 'When you're a designer, your house is always the last you do,' she says. 'I always bought pieces here and there, but I was ready for my house to be finished.'" I am not a designer, but I understand the sentiment well, as I too, am ready to have my house finished!

My favorite picture (above) - oval Saarinen table, large banquette and chairs with vinyl-coated Schumacher fabric (Chiang Mai Dragon) for easy cleaning!

Photo credit: Chris Edwards