MEXI COLOR THEORY: CASA HYDER

While in San Miguel, we stayed with several friends at one of the most spectacular homes I have ever slept in: Casa Hyder. Over a period of three decades, the house was painstakingly built and decorated by the Hyder family from Ft. Worth, Texas. The bright colors, variety of textures and patterns from around the world, and huge number of Spanish, Italian and Mexican artifacts is impressive.

The facade of the house from the street.

One of many outdoor seating areas.

The dining room.

The main living room.

Our bedroom.

My favorite space was the open air entrance gallery, filled with hunting trophies and Mexican ceramics, and lit with a huge Morrocan lantern.

The layering of vivid colors and patterns had me excited to get home and redecorate. I realized, however, that all this color in a tight urban space would be too much. I need color and pattern like this in shorter doses and spread over a larger space to keep from going crazy or burning out on it.

I spent hours just wandering around the house over and over. I hope I get to return to Casa Hyder someday. For more information on the house, check out this New York Times article.

SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE

We were lucky enough to spend New Years with friends in the beautiful Spanish colonial town of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Here are some images of the town and the surrounding countryside, where I rode a horse for the first time ever. It was a great trip... Happy 2012!

LAST IMPRESSIONS: THAILAND