Escape to a historic garden home in the UK

FREE IMAGES Right now they are repointing the brick in my apartment building, and the never-ending grinding noise is UNbearable. What I wouldn't do for a little silence!  At least I can virtually escape.  One thing I like to do is do property searches for country chalets, manors, and garden cottages throughout the UK and Europe.  I'm always able to find some charming little (and big) property that looks like it's been plucked right out of Pride & Prejudice.  I just delve into the photos and try to imagine what it'd be like to spend the summer there. I used Savills today, and they have an amazing array of dream properties.

Here are two properties I discovered this afternoon.

The first, Clapton Mill, used to be a Paper Mill, and has STUNNING grounds, and even a room in the home where you can view the waterfall that running under the home.

Dreamy.

Another gem I found is a Georgian property in a secluded village setting...just the description makes me feel a little better!

I'd spend most of my time outside and in this bright studio

I'd take my high tea out in the garden...I don't know how proper that is though...

What do you think of these homes - how long would you like to retreat in them?

*disclosure: this post in partnership with Savills.co.uk

Antique rugs from around the globe (lots of eye candy!)

FREE IMAGES Few items can make an impact on a room like a rug. They do, after all, sometimes take up the most physical space, and can take up the most visual space as well. If you're lucky enough to start designing a room from scratch, a lot of designers will recommend you chose a rug first, and then pull colors from your chosen rug to use in furniture, accessories, etc.

 I have never been lucky enough to get to start a room from scratch, but I do know how hard it is to make a bold rug work with furniture and decor that you already have. See my struggle and solution here. I love my oriental rug (from Iran) so I made it work, but I would have loved to be able to chose furniture after purchasing the rug as opposed to making my already existing furniture work with my beloved rug.

While my rug is not an antique, and I'm not lucky enough to own any antique oriental rugs (yet), I do like to peruse rug galleries with treasures from all around the globe.

(All of these amazing rugs are from the Nazmiyal Collection in NYC.)

 Here are my favorites from countries around the globe:

From Morocco:

I absolutely adore the textures in these Moroccan rugs ...

...and the colors!

Beauties from Isreal

Click on these to see enlarged versions - the detail is amazing.

How amazing (and unique!) are these vintage rugs from the Caucasus regions?

The below are from Spain

*disclosure: This post is in partnership with Nazmiyal Collection