My entire home is furnished with the rustic furniture I bought when I lived in Mexico. It seems that most of the exotic places I have been, I have temporarily lived there. Not that Mexico is necessarily exotic.

I’m just not a big one for vacations. I’d rather live somewhere and relax, soaking up the local culture. I can see getting a little cottage by a bay that was isolated and peaceful. I do mean little, because I wouldn’t want to worry about upkeep. Maybe two rooms all total. I’d keep the furnishings pretty sparse, but the ones I did have would be luxurious. No Danish Modern in my cottage, even though I love it. I would go for more of a lush Moroccan feel, focusing on textiles and a few pieces of furniture that have a antique look and are are extremely well made and detailed. A big huge canopy bed would be a good start. Then I have a large couch with large matching chairs, all of them covered with pillows and throws in a monochromatic color scheme, but with different hues, patterns and textures.

I’d definitely have wood floors. They warm up a house so much. I’d throw a few rugs here and there, and put a large wooden dresser with about ten drawers in a convenient corner. Everything I had would be made out of natural materials. I’d have real wood furniture, cotton, silk and linen fabrics and wool rugs. I don’t think there would be one thing that was artificial in the entire house!

Of course, the final touch would be the large window on one side of the house that looked out onto the bay. How relaxing is that?