Real LI

Need some design advice? The editors at Elle Décor have some ideas for you, straight from the homes of the rich and fabulous, compiled in the new book, "So Chic: Glamorous Lives, Stylish Spaces" (Filipacchi Publishing, $40). Included in the richly illustrated pages are profiles of three East End homes that at one time or another were owned by Ralph and Ricky Lauren, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, and Reed and Delphine Krakoff.

The Laurens still own the Montauk compound where they raised three children. Built in 1940 by Antonin Raymond, a Czech native who became a leader in Japanese modernist architecture in the 1950s, the main house is decorated with vintage pieces in pale woods and bamboo, rattan and wicker. There are three outbuildings on the property, including a guesthouse, cottage and screening room. Lauren tells the editor that the home is primarily used as a summer place, but that he sometimes stays there year-round. "There is something serene and rejuvenating about being there during the winter."

Sarah Jessica Parker and husband Matthew Broderick’s Bridgehampton home -- which they sold in 2005 for a reported $4.5 million -- is described as a 19th century farmhouse to which they added a wraparound porch. Parker asked interior designer Eric Hughes to create a home with, "color and light, and comfort, comfort, comfort." The couple swapped the home in 2005 for an oceanfront dwelling in Amagansett, reportedly paying $4.7 million.

Reed and Delphine Krakoff’s Southampton abode also made the cut. Krakoff is president and creative director for Coach, and his wife, Delphine, is a designer. The couple’s 1970s-era modernist Southampton home, which records show they sold for $11.5 million earlier this year, was decorated with artwork and sculpture and hand-painted furniture. Krakoff’s selection criteria is simple: "We don’t buy it unless we both like it."

The book was edited by Margaret Russell, editor-in-chief of Elle Decor and judge on Bravo's "Top Design," who has spent many a summer in the Hamptons.