The Garden of Good & Better
The 'Chronicle's Nod to LIVING SOUTHERN
By Kate X Messer, Fri., Jan. 25, 2008
Hence our salute to Southern living. No, not so much the mag (although we won't deny the occasional guilty page turn), but more the mise-en-scène, the genteel feel, the eclectic shotgun wedding of tacky and taste. Southern style is not all mint juleps and bourbon & branch (a little sip can, however, prime the creative juices). It's as breezy as a streetcar, as languid as a Georgian drawl or a slow pungent draw from a Cuban cigar, as cozy as a backyard barbecue or as mannered as an afternoon tea: elaborate, excessive even, yet deliberately modest and understated just as often. Hopefully some of our suggestions herein will help slow down your interior design process, inspire you to reconsider some classic Southern home decor elements. It's time, darlin', to stop and smell the gardenias.