- France and Italy have long been the go-to spots for fashionistas, serious foodies and design mavens. Rich patinas, satisfying earthen hues and myriad natural materials translate into timeless, unabashedly elegant yet livable rooms appropriate for our times. Award-winning designer Betty Lou Phillips shows how the best from two European countries combine to create la dolce vita the good life in ways that are unexpected and fresh, timeless, and unabashedly elegant yet livable.