Starting with my first apartment, the quest for blue and white in all types of decorative elements began. I scoured flea markets and import stores to find dishes, lamps, and linens to go in my blue-and-white cocoon. Whenever and wherever I traveled, I searched for affordable offerings in blue and white and discovered how many cultures were as much in love with this classic combination as I was. In museums, each country offered up beautiful interpretations: Azulejos from Portugal, Delft from the Netherlands, Chinese porcelain from the famous Ming and Kangxi periods, porcelain created from export from the Far East, founds of tiles and vessels from Turkey, indigo fabrics from Japan, blue-and-white dhurries from India, faience from France, Wedgewood from England, and Meissen from Saxony. The list was endless. While I could not afford the blue-and-white antiques from around the world, each country made reproductions and new designs for the budding collector.

I have consistently used loved to design with blue and white. I used it at Weatherstone, my home in Connecticut; in Paris, at an apartment I had; and at Westbury, my place in Aspen. When I rebuilt Weatherstone after a fire, the classic color combination found a place in many of the new interiors. Just as I love to decorate with it, I have done an entire garden of delphinium in various shades of blue, violet and white, and mixed those towering spires with masses of iceberg roses. As is clear in my previous books, a majority of my decoration for lunches, dinners, and parties revolves around my collections of blue-and-white china, ceramic dishes, and decorations. This books includes new photos of tables often with the same dishes, but used in a new way.