Faded Glamour by the Sea by Pearl Lowe
Description
Fulfilling a lifetime dream of finding a house by the sea, Pearl Lowe now brings her laid-back decorating style to coastal living with Faded Glamour by the Sea.
Pearl Lowe’s gloriously decadent yet perfectly lived-in decorating style was featured in her bestselling interiors book Faded Glamour. Now Pearl is taking us to the coast, and in Faded Glamour by the Sea we get the first glimpse of her new home – a beautiful renovation project that she and her husband, musician Danny Goffey, have created in East Sussex. Built in the 1940s for an artist whose shell sculptures are still dotted round the garden, the house and adjacent cabins have been lovingly restored by Pearl.
The house may have been a life-long dream for the couple, who have always loved the solace of water, but it has only been just over a year in the making, thanks to the inspiration Pearl has drawn from many friends who live in the area and also further afield. And so she takes us on a tour of their seaside homes. A pair of antique dealers whose love of all things French inspired them to set up their own brocante in Kent; an artist with a love of beach huts; an author who swapped London life for a clifftop house with his own writer’s hut. Add to this the Malibu beachfront home of stylist Rachel Ashwell, the hippy-chic style of supermodel Helena Christensen’s waterside retreat and the ‘punk noir Victorian’ vibe of the hotel created by friends from rock band The Libertines. In Faded Glamour by the Sea Pearl visits these properties, and as the owners tell their stories she explains how she found inspiration for this new chapter in her life.
Review
We get sent many beautiful books to review, but Faded Glamour by the Sea by Pearl Lowe is one of our absolute favourites and her comments below really resonated with us.
‘I have always had quite a nostalgic love of the British coast, which I think is often overlooked in our quest to find the exotic. But for me it makes my heart sing. Think of all the majestic Victorian and Edwardian hotels on the promenades of our coastal towns. The rows of beach huts, painted in vibrant sherbet and ice-cream hues that line our shores. Then there are fish and chip shops, the rickety shacks, the cafes, the piers, those wonderful old guesthouses.
All of this appeals to my aesthetic – a sense of faded glamour, a style that I would describe as a mix of the gloriously decadent yet well-lived in. It is elegant but whimsical, eclectic but well thought-out. In my last book Faded Glamour I took you on a tour of some of the inspiring houses that I felt embodied that look. Now I am going to take you to the coast to visit properties which I believe play with this theme.’
And this is the joy in this glorious book, it is packed through with the most wonderful, inspiring and uplifting stories behind the different homes and the passions that have driven the owners to create their own magical homes by the sea.
The content is built around the following:
Introduction
My Faded Glamour by the Sea
Hut Heaven by the Sea
Eclectic by the Sea
Beauty by the Sea
Carriage Life by the Sea
Pale and Interesting by the Sea
Wandering by the Sea
Vintage by the Sea
Retreat by the Sea
Tequila by the Sea
Rock-n-Roll by the Sea
Elegance by the Sea
Shabby Chic by the Ocean
Each chapter is devoted to a particular owner who share the very beautiful interiors of their homes.
The photography is sublime, and each home includes wonderful examples of furniture, textiles, decoration, vintage and antique items, plus Pearl adds a very useful list of stockists to inspire you to create your very own home by the sea; and even if this seems a remote dream in the future, there are so many wonderful ideas that you can incorporate in your own home, even in the tiniest corner shining like a beacon of hope.
This is a book to love, cherish and keep revisiting as a constant source of inspiration. We absolutely loved it! Highly Recommended!
Faded Glamour by the Sea by Pearl Lowe, published by CICO Books (£25) Photography by Dave Watts © CICO Books.