Tortoise, Of Course

There are certain things I’ll never tire of. Fresh flowers on the table. Monogrammed linens. A beautifully trimmed lampshade. And tortoise.

I’m talking about that rich mix of amber, caramel, and deep brown that somehow makes everything feel a little more collected, and a little more chic. It also happens to pair beautifully with my favorite color: green.

I’ve always loved pieces that are as beautiful as they are useful, and tortoise does that effortlessly. A tray. A picture frame. A pair of salad servers. Even a matchbox feels special dressed in tortoise.

So I thought I’d share a few of my favorite tortoise finds for the home and everyday life, room by room and, eventually, right into my closet.

In a room, tortoise behaves like the best kind of neutral. It adds warmth without asking for attention, and it plays beautifully with just about everything I love: bamboo, rattan, polished brass, crisp white linen, brown leather, and, of course, every shade of green.

I like it in considered doses. A Giuseppe Porcelli table lamp in tortoiseshell, finished with a crisp white shade, can anchor an entire corner. A Maitland-Smith Qing end table, inlaid in pen shell with all the depth of tortoise, is just as at home beside a sofa as it is next to a bath. Pieces like these give a room a sense of history, as if they have always belonged there.

Lately, I’ve become so obsessed that I’m designing a custom tortoise coffee table for one of my clients. If there was ever proof that you can have too much tortoise, I haven’t found it yet.

The table is where tortoise really earns its keep. It is practical and decorative in equal measure, and it layers easily with white china, clear glass and green linen, so the table looks collected rather than coordinated.

A tortoise glass cake dome turns an ordinary pound cake into a centerpiece. An amber tortoise pitcher from Pottery Barn takes me from lemonade in summer to cider in fall. Add lacquered placemats and a few glowing votives, and the table feels ready for the season without trying too hard.

Then there are the things I collect simply because I can’t resist them. I’m drawn to objects that work hard and still have real presence, the kind that look just as good resting on a shelf as they do in use.

A bar cart only needs a few beautiful things, and a faux tortoise ice bucket is one of them. A little tortoise glass candle lamp brings a soft glow to a bookshelf or a bar, and a set of tortoise mahjong racks is almost too pretty to put away.

Best of all, it’s timeless. Never trendy. Never trying too hard. It quietly earns its place everywhere. And because tortoise is too good to leave at home, I love wearing it too.

Tortoise may be the most versatile neutral in my closet. It carries the same warmth it brings to a room, and it works with everything from a white shirt to a camel coat.

An acetate headband from Jennifer Behr is the quickest way I know to look pulled together. Roger Vivier’s tortoise-print slingbacks, with their turtle buckle, are polished enough for lunch and easy enough for every day. And for fall, I’m reaching for black leather boots with a tortoise heel.

If you ask me, every room, table, and outfit could use a little tortoise.

XO,
Hillary