Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles 2006.12 "Luxury 101 - Our Design Diva Spells It Out"

Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles 2006.12 Page 136

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LUXURY 101
OUR DESIGN DIVA SPELLS IT OUT

By Marcia Sherrill

HERE WAS A TIME not too distant when it was easy to sum up luxury. It's what they had and we wanted: Furs! Champagne! Fancy cars! Jewelry! From the famous treatise on luxury from the 19th century. The Theory of the Luxury Class, came the phrase "conspicuous consumption."

As an undergrad at Vanderbilt, I found myself in the used-car business, buying cheap foreign cars such as Karmann Ghias, Volvos and Fiats in Birmingham and selling them at a tidy profit in Nashville. Trust me, the axiom caveat emptor definitely applied, as I doused the rusty wrecks with New Car Smell and limited my selling hours to night and my buyers only to men. I just had to have that Perry Ellis jacket, that Cartier watch, that Louis Vuitton bag all on layaway for nine months.

But today, even Target sells cool home accessories by the very fancy Michael Graves and Victoria Hagan, while the Gap taunts us with a dancing Audrey Hepburn from Funny Face in a perfect pair of skinny black pants. Clearly, we need a new definition of luxury, so here are a few suggestions:

Lavish yourself with the small things that make a huge difference: A Montblanc pen; a bottle of Creeds perfume; stationery from Mrs.John L. Strong at B.D. Jeffries; an alligator belt from Flemings.

UItimate dining. Atlanta's come a long way from the mayo-laden congealed salad at the Swan Coach House. With the visionaries at the Buckhead Life Group, Bob Amick's evergrowing empire and Kevin Rathbun's fresh take on all things epicurean, we might just out-Vegas Vegas. For the food-obsessed, Atlanta is the town for world cuisine. And look, Ma, no oven mitts or Crock-Pots!

X-tra time for you. Thanks to all the time-saving devices such as Black Berries and nannies, you can treat yourself to a much-deserved soak in the tub - best spent with Jo Malone (the fragrance, not the woman, but I do hear she is awfully cute!).

Unbelievable furs. They're there for the asking in Little Five Points' thrift shops and at the monthly Scott Antique Market. It is way, way cooler to grab a three-quarter-length mink that smacks of Driving Miss Daisy than to shell out 20,000 greenbacks - even if your friend has a friend whose best friend has a showroom at The Apparel Mart.

Ranch-style houses. Yep, we said it first. The bills are leading the way. After local designer Bill Cook snatched up a Brady Bunch-esque, down- in-the-mouth ranch in Sherwood Forest, and designer Bill Stewart brought Mod back with his heavenly ranch redo, now designer Bill Peace is revamping a converted gas station for his own abode. Ranches are in and way below market. Don't believe me? Check out Atlanta's Northcrest neighborhood (northcrestmodern.com)—a virtual time capsule of
'60's sass.

Yummy gourmet foods. We like it served up at Eatzi's, Alon's, Whole Foods, Star Provisions and Jenny's beloved soup shop in Buckhead Village. Just slap it on some of your beautiful bought-it-on-eBay Richard Ginori china and call it an evening.

Bye-bye, Neiman Marcus InCircle points. Make mine a luxe life!

Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles 2006.12 Cover

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