Black and Brass. Yum. Kelly Wearstler designed kitchen from the latest Elle Decor, photographed by Mikkel Vang.

I have to say, I think I’m liking this whole electronic magazine thing. Getting a notification in my inbox telling me my magazine has “arrived” is a nice feeling on a Friday…knowing I don’t need to run all over town to pick up a copy. And, frankly, I think the images are even better.

Photographed by Simon Upton for Elle Decor October 2011.

Have you ever recognised someone, not from their face, or name, but by their apartment?….well, that’s exactly what happened to me last month when I picked up a copy of Elle Decor.

Hmmm…I thought to myself, Michael De Perno…that name kinda rings a bell, but I couldn’t place it. I don’t quite know what it was that jogged my memory – lord knows some days I have trouble remembering my own name…but for some reason I had an Aha! moment and pulled out my very first kept issue of Elle Decor from May 2001 (almost exactly ten years earlier), and there it was, on page 214, Michael De Perno’s classic 1920’s LA apartment.

At the time the article was published I was living in a tiny apartment in Tokyo and De Perno’s apartment was great daydreaming fodder. It was light, airy, full of real furniture (I barely owned any at that stage) and I loved the classic details of the house. I also loved the mix of furniture, we had barely begun to buy the Japanese antiques we now own (in storage in Australia nonetheless), and I was intrigued by how he had put it all together.

Fast forward ten years down the track (where the hell did all that time go?) and De Perno’s new abode is still providing me with daydream fodder, except that now I’m living in a tiny apartment in Hong Kong. His new house is much more modern, and it seems his style has evolved in a similar way that mine has. I’m glad to see he has retained much of his furniture….(I think thats partly what helped me recognise the house as his)…a Japanese tansu here, a chest of drawers there, its still a nice mix. While the architecture of the house has changed, the overal aesthetic has not. Its still light and airy and I think that – along with the fabulous sense of indoor-outdoor living – is what I’m day dreamin’ about most.

Michael De Perno’s previous home, photographed by Jeremy Samuelson for Elle Decor back in May 2001.

De Perno’s new abode, photographed by Laura Resen for Elle Decor June 2011.

October 2007

November 2007

I had just started devouring my October edition of Elle Decor this morning, and was very nearly about to brush over the letters to the editor (they are so often from some whiney idiot who complains about the cover of last month, or the amount of homes of gay couples) when I found this! I can’t even begin to explain how excitied I was (…actually, still am).

Also, I want to apologise for any of the other great blogs that I now read on a daily basis for not mentioning you! I wrote this letter back in June when I just started reading/writing blogs, and have discovered so many more since then (see my fave list of blogs). Thanks to Elle Decor for publishing my letter…if I wasn’t your number 1 fan before, I definitely am now!

I spoke too soon. Just as I hit the ‘publish post’ button, I was handed my copy of the September issues of Elle Decor. Amazingly enough, it’s the very first time that I have actually received the susciption copy before I’ve given up waiting and gone out and bought a copy. I just need to get a copy of the new House and Garden and I’ll be set for the weekend. Well, for a few hours of it at least!