Gosh! Have you heard of Villa Santo Sospir? Until today, I hadn’t. What a jewel of a home! It’s situated at the very tip of Cap Ferrat, between Nice and Monaco, and was the holiday home of Alec and Francine Weisweiller. Picasso, Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo were all guests. In 1950, Jean Cocteau came to visit, and covered every wall in his signature surrealist sketches. “When I stayed at Santo Sospir in the summer of 1950, I hastily decorated a wall,” said Cocteau. “Matisse told me that if you decorate one wall you should do the others as well. He was right. Picasso opened and closed all the doors. All that was left to do was to paint the doors. But the doors lead into rooms. The rooms have walls. And if the doors are painted, the walls have an empty look. I spent the entire summer of 1950 working on ladders. An old Italian worker prepared my pigments, immersed in fresh milk. A young woman lives at Santo Sospir. I didn’t need to dress the walls. I had to draw on their surface. That’s why I made line frescoes, with a few colours that echoed tattoo art. Santo Sospir is the tattooed villa.” Today, the villa is owned by a Russian real estate developer, and private tours are offered for the right price. Have a gander around online, the house feels like a love letter to bohemia.

I have a thing for scalloped edges, elaborate headboards, and (like everyone on Instagram) decorative tiles. This room brings all three together in a beautiful way. I like the contrast of fancy florals with the bold, geometric tile, and the worn green doors, and fading plaster add charm and character. I’m guessing we’re in Cuba. I’ve got no idea, but why not?

What a perfect little room, and perfect colour, too. The fabric is neither pink, nor red. Let’s call it pomegranate. And don’t you love the black scribbles along the canopy? This is a place where one comes to dream up ideas –– big, hilarious, weird ideas. Did I mention the leopard print ceiling? And the wallpaper? What a fearless combination of print and pattern.

The petals of certain flowers –– poppies, anemones –– can be so translucent that they look to be made of tissue. Marianne Eriksen Scott-Hansen’s flowers really are made from tissue paper, and they’re utterly divine. It’s a fantastical world she lives in, filled with giant peonies, dahlias and roses. I can’t begin to imagine the hours spent cutting through sheets and sheets of delicate paper.

This room feels a little like a hotel room, maybe it is one, but I do love the cloud wallpaper. It has the essence of a black and white film, maybe the twister scene in the first part of The Wizard of Oz. I find the light so elegant, and I love the deep chocolate of the walls. If you need me, I’ll be in room 203.

What a decadent idea, to plonk a Christmas tree in the bedroom! Erin Swift, over at fancy New York City based decorating service, Holiday Workroom, says no room is off-limits to baubles and wreaths. “I’m loving installing decorative elements in some unexpected places, like garland over headboards and a wreath in the bathroom.” she says. Mistletoe in the guest loo, my personal favourite.

There’s something cozy about a room so small that it can only house one piece of furniture. My daughhter’s room, at one time a cupboard, has a bed and a tiny, toddler wardrobe, and that’s it. She complains from time to time –– she’d like a desk and life size pony in there –– but for the most part she’s content in her quarters. And what more does a little girl need that somewhere soft to settle into at the end of the day?