One of my all-time favorite designers is Mark D Sikes.  I could happily live in pretty much any room I’ve seen that he has done.  Studying the rooms he creates with his innate sense of chic style is a lesson in livable luxury.  His rooms are exquisite, yes, but oh so inviting and comfortable.

I just received my copy of his latest book, More Beautiful, and I am smitten all over again! 

Mark’s rooms have a timeless elegance about them.  They are the epitome of classic design.  He deftly mixes a host of traditional patterns, but nearly every room includes at least some stripes.  

He personally favors blues and greens and neutrals, but like any gifted designer can work in any color palette.

He creates relaxed, welcoming rooms with the addition of wicker and bamboo furniture, or natural grass rugs.  Antiques and bone-inlaid furniture appear often.  And contemporary mingles with traditional in an artful mix with ageless appeal.

And he loves subtle dressmaker details - which is no surprise since he started his career in fashion and visual merchandising before moving on to become an American design icon with a star studded client list and a long litany of published work and licensed collections, including his own line of women’s clothing.  

Mark has always been a student of beauty.  He grew up devouring fashion and design magazines and studying the classic and impossibly chic interior and fashion titans like Albert Hadley, Mark Hampton, Billy Baldwin, and Bill Blass and Oscar de la Renta.   

Upon moving to LA to pursue a career in design, he created his blog: Mark D. Sikes: Chic People, Glamorous Places, Stylish Things to beautifully document the things he found inspiring.

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He has two gorgeous design books out aptly titled “Beautiful”, and “More Beautiful” with amazing photography by Amy Neunsinger. The most recent book was released last fall and I just got a copy which I have been absorbing like a sponge.  I could sink into every single page. 

The first book was divided by color story, the latest is divided by style.  In it he covers the hallmarks of traditional, coastal, country, and mediterranean style through the lens of his own impeccable taste.  

The last chapter is a peek into the latest iteration of the exquisite home he shares with his partner Michael and at the time of printing, their 13 year old French bulldog, Lily. Lily passed away in November, but they have since acquired an adorable new Frenchie puppy named Poppy (she is a sister to Lily and has taken over Lily’s IG account! @hrhlily).

He firmly believes that home should evolve with you.  As he points out, you are not the same person you were 10 years ago, so your home should engage and reflect who you are now.  In his case, that means a bit more casual and relaxed.  His goal, and one with which I fervently agree, is to use every room in your home. 

He shuffled, recovered, and repurposed furniture, and designed new bookcases for the living room to house his collection of design books.  The striped, tented-ceilinged library still holds his 25 year collection of fashion and shelter magazines - a testament to his long-standing love affair with classic beauty. 

Blue is, of course, the theme of his home, and stripes appear in one form or another in every room. 

Not only are the images throughout the book stunning, the layout and attention to detail of the book itself is stunning as well. Artful collages and quotes are mixed with full page images and pages framed in fabric prints.  Even the book jacket contains a delightful surprise…and one I only stumbled upon by accident…with another 80 images printed in a grid on the reverse side!  I imagine it was a wonderful and unexpected way to share some favorite images that didn’t make it into the pages of the book itself! 

Every home afficionado’s library should have a copy of these gorgeous and inspiring books.

With regard to the importance of beauty at home, Mark says, 

“When you celebrate the little things more often and surround yourself with what you truly adore, you’ll find your whole world becomes infinitely more beautiful”

We couldn’t agree more!