Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » living in: out of africa

Hi friends! I’m Amy Merrick from An Apple a Day and I’m so thrilled to join the design*sponge team as an editor. Wow, I can’t believe I just got to type out that sentence (and better yet, have it be true!). About me: I’m crazy for antiques, live for a good handmade project and compulsively hoard houseplants in my Williamsburg, Brooklyn apartment.

If you’re like me, sometimes you see a movie and just want to crawl in the screen and live in the character’s homes. Or hop into the pages your favorite book and never come out. Well, every Tuesday I’m going to be gathering a group of products that are inspired by your favorite books, movies, artists, restaurants or anything else makes you swoon…. Is it The Great Gatsby or The Secret Garden? Annie Hall or Amélie? Leave me a comment and let’s see where you’d want to live!

Out of Africa

One of my hands down, all time favorite movies is Sydney Pollack’s 1985 “Out of Africa” staring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. Set in 1914 colonial Kenya, the movie combines a to die for mix of elegant, ladylike charm, utilitarian safari and spectacular handmade Kenyan crafts. Not to mention it’s just about the most romantic movie. Ever. Seriously, it can make me weep even after dozens of viewings.

[image above, clockwise from top left: masai folding chair and footstool, brass anchor lantern $99, antique canteen set $3,850 (I had to include it, I’m sorry!), bronze binoculars $84, bulrush placemat $30, cotton hammock $11, brass pocket compass $26, canvas tent $606]

Based on the true story of Isak Dinesen, a Danish women who struggles to make a place for herself in Kenya, it’s the kind of movie where the characters bring starched white shirts, limoges crystal and a fancy pants gramophone on safari. While I’ll probably pass on investing in fancy crystal to use at a picnic in the park, I’m crazy about the idea of taking along a few favorite indoor items outside with you. A portable record player and some sweet chipped plates? Yes, please!

[image above, clockwise from top left: hamman cotton towel $32, queen anne pitcher $99, white desk $349, African palm baskets $50+, bamboo room divider $95, market basket $42, wicker trunk $135, campaign bed $1250]

thanks, joy! i am so lucky to have amy as part of the team- she overwhelms me with her awesomeness. ;)

and i’m introducing another new amy next! i am overjoyed to have such talented ladies as part of the team

xo
g

This is a WONDERFUL column idea!!!!!!! YAY! I have to echo Tara’s comment of Anne of Green Gables…some of my other comfort books: Rebecca, the Little House series, Pride and Prejudice, The Secret Garden, multiple Barbara Kingsolver novels….oh I could go on and on.

Oh, how wonderful! I’m a big fan of 1930s England – the Lord Peter Wimsey novels (by Dorothy L. Sayers), especially, but Inspector Alleyn (by Ngaio Marsh) and the early Christies (Poirot, Miss Marple, Tommy and Tuppence) work too!

You forgot to include where to get a young Robert Redford to wash my hair! :)

As for living in movies, for me it would have to be The Thin Man. I even used to have a dog named Asta! I also love Amelie.

welcome to the team, amy :). . . watching the “directors cut” extras of the movie “amelie” definitely made me appreciate the interiors (especially the color selections) so much more. excited to see what’s to come!

anne

How about:
- the south of France, arid landscape, al fresco dining, warm summer afternoons, etc. in “My Mother’s Castle/My Father’s Glory”
- 1960s Catskills family-summer camp/vacation vibe of “Dirty Dancing.”

I havent seen ‘Out of Africa!’ But I love Meryl Streep so I must see it. I think I could live in Greece after watching ‘Mamma Mia.’ (another nod to Meryl) Some recent movies I’ve loved are ‘Australia’ (Nicole Kidman and Hug Jackman) and ‘The Proposal.’ (Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds) I loved the locations of both; Australia and Alaska! Someday I may visit…until then I am stuck at my day job sneaking onto blog sites to escape! Ha!

Say Anything (1980s Nerdy California Bungalow)
Anne of Green Gables (Victorian Canadian Youth)
Amelie (Single in Paris)
Kissing Jessica Stein (Single Creative NYC)
Secret Garden (Floral Garden Cozy Private)

100 Years of Solitude or House of Spirits. The amazing descriptions of traditional open airy courtyard homes makes me want to build my own such home. The fanciful and magical descriptions of interiors are also a lot of fun.

Welcome Amy! I am a huge fan of “An Apple a Day” so I’m super psyched for this column. Yay!

[...and I'd love to use the colors of every/any Almodóvar film as summer inspiration, maybe just toned down a teeny tiny smidge!]

What an amazing idea! I would love to see what you could do with the Secret Garden too. Oh, and also Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil – not necessarily my dream environment but it fascinates me …

oh my goodness – Amelie! And The Royal Tennenbaums house with a little Steve Zissou thrown in…? And even if it’s a little cheesy – something that evokes the rainy Northwestern forests in Twilight. Sigh.

I loved the NYC apt. in Hannah and Her Sisters. Ditto Susan Sarandon’s house in Stepmom, and the little bungalow where Rene Zellewegger lived in Jerry Maguire. Oh also: Meryl Streep’s house in One True Thing. Seriously gorgeous…

Great column! Wonderful suggestions – would like to add the movie “Hilary and Jackie” – I love the feel of the entire film but also the home where they grow up and the country home where Hilary lives with her family.

i’ve frequently said the my ultimate dream aesthetic is a mashup between the (cancelled too soon) tv shows Firefly and Carnivale.

Carnivale has that beautiful, romantic 30s era loveliness, whereas Firefly combines elements of Victorian and pan-Asian fashion with a sci-fi/steampunk twist.

Both just completely gorgeous.

Oh my god. Y’all are blowing my mind with ideas! d*s has the best readers, EVER!!! I can’t get over how you are listing my favorite movies! And i need to netflix momma mia asap!

I can’t wait to pull something together for next week!

someone already said but i LOVED all the houses and furnishings in the newer “pride and prejudice” with kiera knightly. and i just watched “marie antoinette” yesterday and i would love to see a feature on versailles furnishings. oooh! or “pretty in pink” – you could do iona’s apartment or molly ringwald’s.

I once mentioned to the shampoo girl at a salon that I wished she was Robert Redford washing my hair like in “Out of Africa”. She said “who’s that?” I can only assume she was born under a rock in the 1990’s.

i remember an lovely movie from the 90’s called “the scent of the green papaya”. The movie was apparently shot entirely in a a movie studio in Paris although it took place in Vietnam… the house was BEAUTIFUL. Made me feel elsewhere. Thanks for giving us the oportunity to remember these places in time!

I am in LOVE with this column! So great!
I would love to live in Michelle Pfeiffer’s house AND clothes in the new-ish movie, “Cherie”. Art Nouveau and Art Deco galore!!

PS. My parent’s built their home in L.A. area and based a lot of the design on “Somethings Gotta Give”. One word: Gorgeous.

For the Out of Africa one, I am not happy with the chair. In the screenshot, it was obviously a wooden one, maybe like a brit campaign chair. I have some of those, and a friend has some of the convolutedly folding U.S. campaign chairs. They are all more comfy, more sturdy, but mostly have a Victorian charm about bringing something that unfolds to an actual Chair, vs. a fabric sling directors chair out into the wild. Works much more to the civility thing.

World Market had a cheap but functional British campaign chair for a long time, so they pop up at normal places; you don’t have to get antiques.

Love in the Time of Cholera – I have to admit I have never seen the movie, just read the book. But, I am totally obsessed with Cartagena. The fusion of style that has gone into the ancient coastal city is just amazing.

Great idea – Can’t wait to see more!

I LOVE this idea–thank you, thank you, thank you!
I, too, love the sets in Amelie and would love to know how to pull off an Emerie et Cie inspired look for us poor Americans. Like, comparable colors in local paint stores?
Thanks again–
xo

this is such a great idea! I love it! I have to admit that i sometimes like movies (including some sinkers) just for the environments. I second Royal Tennenbaums and Great Expectations. There are so many great ones, gotta get my thinking cap on…

Amelie is a given for sure all that red and green! Next on my list would have to be “A Good Year” (oh how I luv France), Chocolat (Vianne’s red shoes and the dinner party scene!). Now, dating back a bit, Practical Magic, I remember really liking the house that the aunts lived in.
This is a great idea, I look forward to reading more from Amy!

Yes, yes, yes! I love this new column, and Out of Africa was a wonderful way to begin – I would love to step inside that world, and Amy, you did such a lovely job capturing the spirit! Can’t wait to see what you come up with next :)

stephen

i think the point of amy’s column is to find pieces inspired by the movie, rather than direct sourcing of the same objects. an all-wooden chair would be equally nice, but i think amy’s choice of folding chair fits the theme nicely, even if it’s not the exact style from the set :)

grace

Oh what a great idea for a column! Love it. And Out of Africa– I have to rent this again. I don’t think I’ve seen it in 15 years!

I have to put my votes in for Anne of Green Gables (gosh how I wanted to be her when I was a kid!), and Chocolat, and Mamma Mia.

I keep thinking about Blue Lagoon for this too…or any audrey hepburn movie!

SUPER rad post!!! I think Out of Africa is a brilliant beginning to what is surely going to be an incredibly fun and much-loved series at Design*Sponge. Welcome, Amy!

I nominate the following:

Under the Tuscan Sun (film set amid the beauty of Tuscany and the Amalfi coast)

Atonement (the book was MUCH better than the film, though the film was gobsmackingly gorgeous)

Sixteen Candles (one of the funniest films ever and it’d be so entertaining to see items culled as insipiration)

I second The Secret Garden!

this is awesome! it would be amazing to see some inspiration from JAKE RYAN in sixteen candles. that preppy but cool, clean cut look with the work boots, khakis, etc. other picks: dirty dancing – think baby in her white keds and tied shirt with short shorts; and lastly the virgina suicides. pure ’70s little house on the prairie meets hippie.

Diane Keaton’s house in “Something’s Gotta Give” and Jennifer Aniston/Vince Vaughn’s apartment in “The Break Up”. I live in Chicago and I am dying to know where that place is – way too nice for a art gallery asst. and tour guide!!

I’m so happy to read this column is coming my way! I dressed as Streep’s character in O.o.A. just to try to channel a bit of the Scandinavia meets Africa pre-war glamor…I’ve been trying to redesign my bedroom in this style, but have been totally stuck – these pieces give great ideas! What fun!

I want to live in the film Sunset Boulevard. I’m trying to make it a reality, but being only 23 makes it hard for me to be a washed up middle-aged, glamourous, AMAZING Gloria Swanson. If you need help finding turbans, candlesticks, a butler named max or Cecil B. Demille, give ear here!

ps…i love an apple a day!!! SO MUCH! i can’t wait for this!!

I loved this article! Out of Africa is a favorite. How about the Italian villa and the clothes of Enchanted April or Jane Campion’s 1850s New Zealand setting for The Piano..I loved the Scottish influence that showed up in the plaid fabrics versus the tribal influence of the natives; and who can forget that hoopskirt tent on the beach.

I’m totally gonna get into this. Amy, I read you on Apple a Day as well! See, I love this idea so much that I don’t want to even pick a movie house that I love without doing research. I am going to be paying attention in every movie I read from now on.
Oh, but now I’ve thought of one, even though I haven’t seen this movie in a really long time, but I remember loving the great room covered in plants – Great Expectations with Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow, her grandmother’s (great-aunt’s?) house.

Loved Out of Africa – I dream of having one day a large porch with the record player and daybeds and lounging chairs for afternoon naps! I would also say I would love to be in The English Patient. Cooling desert clothes and sexy 20s evening wear! (Being near handsome Ralph Fiennes & beautiful Kristin Scott Thomas wouldn’t hurt either)

I probably didn’t need another reason to obsess over Design Sponge, but here it is!

I second (or third) Royal Tenenbaums and most of Wes Anderson’s films:

Rushmore
Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
The Darjeeling Limited (oh, that train!)
Hotel Chevalier

plus:
500 Days of Summer
Moulin Rouge
Fido
Marie Antoinette
Madmen
Quicksilver (Kevin Bacon’s loft)
Factory Girl
Science of Sleep (office, Stephanie’s apartment)
Ghost World (Seymour’s retro apartment)

Oh, I also vote for Anne of Green Gables!

Pride and Prejudice (the BBC version in particular) would also be wonderful to move into.

Or maybe The Scarlet Pimpernel (with Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour) but minus the Guillotine.

Yay Amy! I am thrilled for you over your new position here and just as thrilled for me since I’ll now be able to read these wonderful posts every week! Seriously, what a wonderful idea for a weekly post, can’t wait to see what you do with it :)

As for movies, I’m definitely a fan of some previous suggestions: Amelie, The Secret Garden, and The Royal Tennenbaums… all would be amazing. Another one I wanted to throw out there is the late 60’s Parisian flat in Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Dreamers, it’s a dream for sure :)

OMG! This is the greatest idea ever, Amy!!! So excited to see what you pull together.

The following are my ideals:
** The Aviator (divine art deco inspired opulence)
** Sean Connoroy era James Bond movie sets
** Get Smart (the original – amazing 60’s decor)
** Hichcock i.e. North by Northwest
** For inspiration, Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless mind, Romeo and Juliet and anything by Tim Burton

and of course, the ones already noted:
** Secret Garden
** Great Expectations
** Agatha Christie

Soooo excited!!!

I know I already commented on this post yesterday-BUT-I just have to add that not only is this a fabulous idea for a column, but reading through all the comments has given me SO MANY things to add to my “to watch and to read” list-I was feeling stagnant, this is so perfect!

What a fantastic idea! I’m really looking forward to seeing some of the above movie suggestions realised in this new feature.
Now I’m probably getting ahead of myself…but the buzz about Tim Burton’s 2010 adaptation of Alice in Wonderland is exciting….so I’d really like to see a take on this e.g. plays of scale, oversized and miniature furniture, surreal appeal, tea party chic and products with human characteristics. It is one of the interior trends we are predicting for Spring/Summer 2010 at Scarlet Opus.

love, Love, LOVE Out of Africa! I get a little drunk off the scenery and the settings and … Robert Redford.

Other “worlds” I’d love to see featured: Madmen or Down With Love (60s mod), Under the Tuscan Sun, Amelie, and Pushing Daisies.

Loving all the comments and looking forward to reading more!

These will be so much to read!

It’s an oldie, but my votes goes to the Rosalind Russel version of Auntie Mame. Each iteration of Beekman Place (Auntie Mame changes up her decor often) is spectacular. My favorites are the Chinese themed home at the opening and the ultra- Modern one in the engagement party scene,

Hi Amy! Your new column sounds great. I adore movies and know there are several I’d like to live in, but you had me with ‘Out of Africa’ – my all time favorite movie, especially after moving far from home and ending up on a remote farm (though not in Africa!).

I just watched it for the umpteenth time the other day. It’s such a magnificent film, and I still see something new each time I watch it. Have you seen the ‘making of’ documentary and the other extra stuff included on the DVD? They’re fantastic. And of course I have the soundtrack, too. ;)

So glad you’ve joined Design Sponge.

well, again, i’m a little late but i’d like to nominate

Atonement – the actual house is in Shropshire and they do guided tours. i’m going camping near there next week!

Kramer vs Kramer – they fight in the nicest apartment.

High Society – for all American poolside old school glamour. and Grace floating her boat in the cutest swimsuit.

and The Ice Storm! has anyone else mentioned that? oh, that house is amazing.

Lord of the Rings -

Bilbo Baggins’ Bag End- Who wouldn’t love a round door?

Rivendell – beautiful, hand-carved furniture and Liv Tyler’s velvet gowns!

The Princess Bride, Pride and Prejudice, Rear Window, The Little Princess, The Bourne Trilogy, Ocean’s 12

i totally agree with alice in wonderland and peter pan but i’d have to say that i’ve always wanted to live in the royal tenebaums, lost in translation or the darjeeling limited.
those movies are not only visually stunning but they make my heart all warm inside.

i cant wait to see what projects you have on the way. i’ve got a big, beautiful new apartment and i cant wait to decorate and i’m looking for new ideas!!

What a fanastic post! Some that I like not yet mentioned:

-2008 Brideshead Revisted
-Happy’s white, sparse NYC apartment in Gigantic
-the pink jewelry store in the Umbrellas of Cherbourg
-Scottish beach house and light house in the movie Half Light
-Bridget Jones’s Diary
-the early 90’s feel of Tom Selleck’s house in Her Alibi.
-Evening
-The awesome 80’s look of the Weekend at Bernie’s movies, remeber Bernie’s huge vacation home?
-So I Married an Axe murderer with Harriet’s artsy-nautical apartment
-The Skeleton Key
-Harry’s apartment in When Harry Met Sally
-Just Like Heaven
-No Reservations (shrink’s office)
-Pee Wee’s Big Adventure
-Barbra Streisand’s A Star is Born

Alexandra—Ooooooh I second that on Bronte’s apartment in Green Card!!! the floral prints and vintage McCoy planters and celluloid picture frames….one of my Favorite movies. I wanted to name my daughter Bronte too but I didn’t get my way on that!

Dittos on the Thin Man (with extra credit for a Garance Dore guest columnist for Nora Charles clothes!), Amelie (duhduhduh), and the Royal Tenenbaums. Hated the movie The Hand that Rocks the Cradle but loved the house. Room with a view.

And oh the books! Jane Eyre and The Moonstone!
But as a new mom – my latest home decor inspiration? All the books of Eric Carle. Definitely. And the Up movie.

Oh my goodness Amy, I’m so excited for you! I’ll have to start reading d*s again, just for you (not that I don’t love it, I can just never keep up with the deluge).

Meanwhile, can you believe I’ve never seen this movie? I’ll make sure to rent it before I go to Kenya in March!

i love this column idea desperately! i’m overwhelmed by all the comments so i am not going to read them (ignore if there are repeats). i would actually kind of love to live in the cramped faded glamour of the cartoon the triplets of belleville, oddly enough. amelie is a given (i have a blue lamp inspired by that movie that has brought nothing but good things into my life since i got it), and there’s also a gorgeous movie (dutch?) called antonia’s line.

i loved prime, with uma thurman, and also love me if you dare – though i think both of those may have been more about mise en scene and light than they were about the actual homes. and intimate strangers. so many! but mainly i’m looking forward to seeing what gems you come up with :)

I second “bewitched” with Nicole Kidman. I also would love to see Either Cameron Diaz or KateWinslet’s characters homes from “The Holiday”. I know it’s not a house, but the Shop Around the Corner from “You’ve Got Mail” is also inspiring.

I’d love to live in Wes Anderson’s created world… Particularly the world of the brothers in the Darjeeling Limited. I’d like to be a part of the world each of the brothers lives in when not traveling together in India.

So many wonderful suggestions have been made already! My faves:
The Secret Garden
Old Savannah (Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil)
Practical Magic House!
The Orient Express
Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow
The English Patient

What a delightful column!

I’m not sure if this link will work, but I have compiled a netflix list called “Art & Style Inspiration” of all the movies I can remember that inspire me! Those with netflix should check it out!

http://www.netflix.com/StrangerLists?prid=160818757&showList=48577&lnkce=mdp-stranger-list

I love this post!

And you definitely called out one of my favorite movies — The Secret Garden! I swear, I credit this movie with my move to England!

Also Pride and Prejudice.
500 Days of Summer for some awesome apartment decor

I love ‘Living In’ and wanted to chime in with my suggestions. Someone suggested The Dreamers, and I couldn’t agree more. What a beautiful apartment, and I would soo love to crawl inside and live there forever! And how about ‘Two for the Road’? Just lovely.

Ok…the living in idea is perfect, and all of these movies are some of my favorites! I mean, Mamma Mia? The Godfather? Little Women? Out of Africa? I feel like designsponge is reading my mind. I think an interesting idea would be A Little Princess – totally a kid’s movie but the NYC Victorian girl’s school mansion in it was one of my favorite interiors…not to mention all the Indian influences!

Out of Africa is one of those movies that I never get tired of. Every time I come across it on TV, I’m drawn in and sit through the whole amazing show again. I also adore the “new” version of Sabrina with Harrison Ford. I love, love, love the coach house. My third favorite movie is The Holiday. I can’t get enough of the house in California and the cottage in the English countryside. Keep up this fabulous column! Thank you.

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