The chairs in our conference room at work were designed by the award-winning Italian designer Mario Bellini and the more I learn about him, the more impressed I am. And after seeing his Milan Pilazzo in the New York Times magazine, I think I'm in love. The mix of different periods of furniture and art is perfection as are the gorgeous photos by Jason Schmidt. In the living room above, the paintings are 20th-century Italian, the furnishings are by Bellini, Alvar Aalto, Norman Cherner and others. 
Mario Bellini graduated from the Politecnico di Milano in 1959 and has led a prolific career since then which includes practicing architecture; designing furniture for Cassini, B&B Italia, and Vitra among others; editing the magazine Domus; and teaching. And that's the short version!
The stairway frames the living room and leads up to the library. 
The murals in the dining room were painted by British artist David Tremlett and the Cab Chairs were designed by Bellini in 1979. 
The library is visible from the foyer that contains an "eclectic blend of objects" from various eras. 
Behind the house is a beautiful garden. 
I love how the 16th-century Aubusson tapestry acts as an extension of the headboard in the bedroom. 
Another view of the impressive library. 
"A pivoting silver-leafed wood panel separates the home office form the foyer." Bellini's desk is actually an Ettore Sottsass's La Strutture Tremano table.
Even the indoor swimming pool is fabulous. 
Bellini's architecture and design studio is housed in a former industrial space in Milan and was designed in zinc coated iron. Below is the main studio space. 
Photos by Jason Schmidt 
Why don't you check out some of these amazing museum exhibitions this weekend now that they weather has turned cold!
In addition to Van Gogh, MoMA also has a wonderful exhibition entitled Kirchner and the Berlin Street which chronicles the street scenes of German Expressionist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner that were painted between 1913 to 1915. They are considered some of his best works so check them out before the show says auf wiedersehen on November 10th.
As someone who's studied art history, I have many favorite artists and Vermeer is chief among them. The fact that there are only 35 known works of his art in existence and that The Frick owns three of them always amazes me. These three paintings have not been seen together in over 10 years so this is a special treat. Just make sure you get there before November 2nd!
One of my readers was kind enough to remind me that the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum has a lovely exhibit of 19th-century watercolor interiors from the Thaw Collection on display through January 25, 2009. They are so beautiful and intricate that I can't believe they are watercolors! 
Everyone keeps telling me that I have to check out the Giorgio Morandi exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. I'm embarrassed to say that I don't know much about this artist so that makes me want to see it even more. Morandi is touted by The Met as "one of the greatest 20th-century masters of still-life and landscape painting in the tradition of Chardin and Cézanne." Pretty impressive! 
When the Design Director of Bilhuber and Associates, Kevin Isbell, asked me to be his plus one to the book launch party for Defining Luxury:The Qualities of Life at Home, I didn't have to think twice! Jeffrey Bilhuber is already a design legend and his new book is beyond gorgeous! The photographs by Trel Brock pop off the page! I never realized that Jeffrey Bilhuber used so much color so that was a welcome treat! It was fun meeting Trel and hearing the stories of how Jeffrey and his team would work all week and travel to the shoots every weekend! A lot of hard work went into this book and I can guarantee you will enjoy it! 
Jeffrey Bilhuber defining luxury at Bergdorf Goodman 
As I alluded to in my Gossip Girl inspired post, the November issue of Domino has a great feature on bloggers and while I not profiled, I was very honored to be included as one of their noteworthy blogs. I won't ruin it and tell you who made the cut because I am sure they want to announce it on their own blogs but I know you will enjoying peeking into their fabulous homes. Thanks Domino!
Habitually Chic here, your one and only source into the fabulous lives of Manhattan's design elite! Which up and coming designers and bloggers were spotted at the Domino Book of Decorating launch party at The Conran Shop tonight and who will be featured in the pages of the November issue? I'll never tell so I guess you'll have to wait until your copy arrives. XOXO, Habitually Chic
I guarantee that no client could get a hold of their interior designer last night to discuss their decorating emergency because everyone in the industry was at the Williams-Sonoma Home store opening party! The place was packed with more than 800 guests and I ran into old friends and made a few new ones during the night. I was very excited to meet Ron Marvin who's apartment is a favorite. I think my excitement might have scared him a little so sorry about that Ron! Ashley Whittaker couldn't have been sweeter and also has a few bachelor clients which was funny to talk about! My friends wouldn't let me leave until I talked to my design idol Steven Gambrel. He and I actually met briefly late last year so it was funny to give him my card and tell him that I styled it after his! Eddie Ross and Ondine from Top Design were also there, as were my friends from Flair. So fun! I unfortunately missed getting a goodie bag though! I hope there wasn't anything too fabulous in it! 
I was also very surprised that the team at Williams-Sonoma even knew about my blog, let alone that they were as excited to meet me as I was to meet them! Above are just some of their amazingly talented team from San Francisco including President Dave DeMattei, Patricia Sellman, Monelle Totah, Abigail Jacobs, and Kirsty Williams. Missing was Amanda who I hear is a big fan of my blog! (Sorry you couldn't make it! Email me and we'll chat!)
Williams-Sonoma Home is a welcome addition to the New York marketplace. We often source items from the catalog and online so it will be nice to now be able to go into the store to check things out in person. I especially loved the shagreen boxes and all the sparkly accessories! Stop by and see for yourself the next time you are near Columbus Circle! You won't be disappointed and then on your way out, you can pick up an espresso maker, bundt pan or cookbook in the regular Williams-Sonoma store. One stop shopping at it's finest! 
