American style icon Gloria Vanderbilt with her sons, Anderson and Carter Cooper, at their home in the Hamptons in 1972
In honor of the late Gloria Vanderbilt, decorate outside the box.
“Decorating is autobiography,” the late Gloria Vanderbilt said in her HBO documentary produced by son Anderson Cooper. While she liked to say that “of course, everything is autobiography,” Vanderbilt’s fantastical artwork and layered interiors were so uniquely personal that they’re forever etched in the minds of maximalists, eccentrics and traditionalists alike. On the day of her death in mid-June, images of her inimitable flair flooded feeds, with shots of her Southampton home standing out. At her summer house on Long Island, Vanderbilt boldly wrapped the walls of her bedroom and living room in pink gingham and amplified the look with coordinating sofas and artwork. In my 2014 interview with the style icon, she explained how to be just as creatively confident: “Respond to what your instinct tells you. There should be no one to please but yourself.”
Custom napkins with buffalo check fabric, $35 per yard, ballarddesigns.com
Rattan Welsh bistro chair, $248, Anthropologie, CityPlace, West Palm Beach
Totally Tikaa pink gingham dinner set, four plates for $70, by Lenox at Williams Sonoma, The Gardens Mall, Palm Beach Gardens
Buffalo check throw, $128, by Lands Downunder at Bloomingdale’s, The Gardens Mall, Palm Beach Gardens
Kerri pink gingham headboard, $850, madredallas.com
Checkmate pillow, $45, by Pehr at onekingslane.com
Photography by: JACK ROBINSON/HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES; BRANDS
