"Surround Yourself with Classic Beauty" has been TTR's motto since my very first days in Second Life. Now as most budding entrepreneurs can attest, choosing a business motto can be serious stuff so I took some time with the selection, wanting something that summed up the "visions of antiques that danced in my head". Antiques & Classic Beauty, now there's a match thought I.

When I found myself seduced drawn to the dark side (see Chasing Judith ~ Finding Caravaggio ), i.e. away from the 18th century and into the 21st, by the Princess Margaret Oakville Showhome 2015 I had to reevaluate my personal definition of "classic". Can contemporary interior design also be considered classic? And what about "eclectic" because if I'm taking a break from 18th century rules there's going to be a whole lot of eclectic going on. All that dynamic tension that comes from pairing a "Louis" chair with a Lucite table is just too good to pass up!

It's definitely an adventure transitioning to the modern world; so many things that need to be pulled together. Take animations, for example. "Movie night" complete with popcorn is just something you just don't use at Marie Antoinette's Petit Trianon.

This one little pose required a lot of effort. First there was the new sofa & television (currently streaming the Pentatonix video playlist), then the bucket of popcorn (modern props have become a bit of an obsession), the updated wardrobe, and last but not least, the guy to share it all with.

Mikhail was a whole sub-project in himself!

I guess that I really shouldn't begrudge him the time and L$ that it took to get him photo-ready. After all, he'll sit for hours sipping his cappuccino and listening to me learning the guitar without a word of complaint.

All this to say that I've been very busy bring my interpretation of Maison Margaux to life and along the way I've come to appreciate that classic & contemporary really do make a lovely combination. Throw in the a dash of eclectic and I think it's a design style that's just as beautiful as my beloved 18th century antiques.

Now that the MM Family Room is complete, I've opened up a new store dedicated to Contemporary Classics. It's small but it's a start and if you visit it inworld you'll find both Picasso's "Seated Woman" andOrazio Gentileschi's "The Lute Player" as store-opening gifts.

You can also find the MM Family Room Complete Furniture Set on the Second Life Marketplace along with related items sold individually.

I'll be moving on to the Living/Dining Room and I'm hoping that Mikhail doesn't insist on another new outfit for the photo shoot. At a minimum, I guess I really will have to invest in some shoes as he can't keep wearing those socks everywhere he goes. Or can he?

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Originally published at Maison Margaux: Exploring Classic Contemporary Interior Design

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Proprietress of Tatiana's Tea Room ~ Owner of the Provence Coeur Estate ~ Webmistress of this site

updated by @tatiana-dokuchic: 11 Oct 2016 04:56:57AM

I think this is absolutely wonderful.

Kudos and bravo! And you have used two of my favorite paintings. About the tension created by intelligent pairings of objects from different eras....Picasso most often framed his works in 17th century Spanish frames and to me they were marriages made in heaven. What is good in one era will remain good in another. Always.

Merci beaucoup, Lorsange! I was just saying that I've been creating for virtual worlds for 10+ years now and there's always something new to learn which keeps thinks interesting.

I didn't know that about Picasso and his frames. That's very interesting.

About the two paintings; maybe I've been looking at them for too long but to me they look like Picasso was riffing onGentileschi as they feel very similar to me.

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Proprietress of Tatiana's Tea Room ~ Owner of the Provence Coeur Estate ~ Webmistress of this site

I think Picasso very well could have been channelingGentileschi.

One of my favorite works of Picasso is his portrait of Franoise Gilot . . . . the only one of his muses/wives/mistresses who left Picasso, who didn't go mad or commit suicide but continued with own life as an artistand a successful onein her own right. Over the course of their 10-year affair (1943-1953) Gilot bore Picasso two children, Claude and Paloma. She later married the American physician and researcher Jonas Salk. Still living, she remains a fascinating woman; I think her strength and intelligence comes through in his portrait of her as a young art student.

I've never seen the original and do not know how it is framed, but I hope both artist and model would not be disappointed by how I've framed a likeness of it that will hang in the DECADES galleries. The frame is 17 ^th century Spanish; the pencil-on-paper portrait was done in 1946.

What an interesting woman. I'll have to learn more about her.

The sketch is beautiful and looks lovely as you've framed it.

On a related note, DECADES is now posted under our Sponsors on the main page

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Proprietress of Tatiana's Tea Room ~ Owner of the Provence Coeur Estate ~ Webmistress of this site