Rooms

For those of you looking for another book to add to your design library, you may want to consider "Rooms". With minimal text by Carl Skoggard, the book is a compilation of interior photographs by famed Irish photographer Derry Moore. Moore has had a thirty year career photographing prominent interiors for publications like Architectural Digest. To me, his photos have a rather faded and ethereal look to them.

Below are some of my favorite rooms from the book; in fact, there were so many that it was hard to choose.


The private bath of Madeleine Castaing at her shop on the Rue Jacob

Chatsworth- home of the Duchess of Devonshire

London home of Lady Diane Cooper

Portrait of Lady Diana Cooper (I included this photo not just because of Cooper's peculiar choice of hats, but also because of the trompe l'oeil panels behind her that were painted by Rex Whistler).

Bedroom of Nancy Lancaster, located in her private quarters at Colefax and Fowler in Mayfair


Villa Trianon, home of Elsie de Wolfe

That Touch of Red

Albert Hadley once said that there should be at least one red accent in every room. I couldn't agree with him more. Red is such a powerful color and can add such energy and drama to a room. Red walls add sizzle, while red furniture catches your eye. Red can be used sparingly, if you choose, through displays of books with red dustjackets or bunches of red roses, for example. Below are some photos of rooms designed by various decorators. Some use the color proudly, such as Miles Redd, while others use it in a more subtle way. However you choose to use it, perhaps you might find some inspiration.

Miles Redd


Steven Sclaroff & Kate Spade

Sam Blount

Woodson and Rummerfield



John Loecke

Lampshades Part 2

In my post from earlier today, I mentioned that I had recently purchased some black pagoda-esque shades and red finials for some silver lamps of mine. Pinkmohair had asked me to provide some photos, so here they are. Hope you enjoy them!

Lampshade Chic

In the February issue of House Beautiful, Miles Redd mentions that bad lampshades can ruin both a good lamp and a good room. I think he is so accurate. So many times lampshades are an afterthought. How many times have you seen a beautiful porcelain lamp topped by a boring beige shade? Or a crystal lamp wearing the wrong-sized shade?

The fun thing about choosing a lampshade is that you can create an impact with your choice of shape, color, and material. Good quality and well-made lampshades can be quite expensive, but you can find chic shades at a decent price. And don't forget the finials- they are like jewelry for lamps! I recently bought shades for some plain candlestick lamps. In order to give the lamps some pizzazz, I bought some black pagoda shaped shades. But what really gave the lamps that added flair were shiny, bright, Chinese red ball finials. It was like an exclamation point at the top of my lamps.

White ceramic lamp with Brunschwig and Fils toile lampshade by Woodson and Rummerfield

Orange shades by David Netto

Houndstooth lampshade and black lamp at Balsamo


Lampshade by Oriental Lamp Shade Company

Feather shade available at Gracious Home

*Image at top courtesy of Edgar-Reeves, Atlanta

Celerie Kemble

I was looking through my files today and came across an article on a Philadelphia house decorated by Celerie Kemble (House Beautiful Feb. 2003). While the overall look is traditional, I think Kemble added some youthful touches (mainly through her use of color) to keep it from looking stuffy.

I'm crazy for the living room- I especially like the moss green grass-cloth covered walls (see above and below). The green is repeated in the green velvet ottoman and the green and cream striped bergere. I think the red floral Bergamo fabric that Kemble chose for the corner banquette adds some punch to the room and keeps it from looking too serious.




The dining room walls, strie painted and glazed, are such a rich brown/ochre shade. It's the perfect backdrop for the red Chinese Chippendale chairs and the red beaded chandelier.




Kemble created a tranquil bedroom by using soft green and cream as the color scheme. But what I love best are the bed hangings- so luxurious!

Lulu DK for Matouk

I just found out this morning that Lulu de Kwiatkowski will be designing bed linen for Matouk. I could only find one image on the internet (see above), but it looks like she is using some patterns from her Lulu DK fabric line. I think the third pillow down from the top is the Paradiso print, but I can't tell what the others are (perhaps someone else might be able to identify them?).

According to Home Textiles Today, the Lulu DK Matouk collection will feature six different prints in seven colorways. The line will include sheets, shams, duvet covers, and quilts. I can't wait to see the full collection, which I hope will be soon!

Paradiso

All The Best's Interview Series

For those of you who are curious about your fellow bloggers, you should go to All The Best's informative and beautiful blog. She has started to post a series of interviews with various bloggers. It is so interesting to read about what inspires others. Keep checking back as she will be profiling quite a few popular bloggers in the weeks to come!

Decorative Screens

1st Dibs is certainly not lacking in decorative screens this week. There are some beautiful ones that I thought I would share with you.

Michele C Antiques of Los Angeles has a circa-1985 screen comprised of Zuber wallpaper panels (the site calls them Juber, but I'm assuming they meant Zuber). The wallpaper is an 1830 design entitled "Views of Brazil" that was created using the original wood blocks. I just love the rich colors and the charming "exotic" scenes.





George N Antiques of NYC is offering a circa-1830 Neoclassical painted canvas screen. The two central panels depict a pastoral scene with a gentleman, two ladies, and a dog, and the two outside panels are painted with very typical Neoclassical design motifs. Also notice the faux-marbre effect at the bottom of the screen.





Screens are such wonderful accent pieces, and one of the beauties of screens is that they can be fairly easy to make. For full-on art deco glamour, why not make a screen using mirrored or antiqued mirrored panels? Or, if you're on a budget, you could have a handyman make a three or four-paneled wooden screen. You could add the design element by gluing on your favorite wallpaper!

Tagged- I'm it!

Looks like I've been tagged by All The Best (great blog, by the way), so now I will share with you six weird things about me. This list, unfortunately, was not too difficult for me to come up with!

1) I love to sleep under a pile of blankets in the summertime and then crank up the air-conditioning so that it's like an icebox!

2) I'm a nut for symmetry, and I always have to buy or display things in pairs.

3) I have great taste in tv shows. So great in fact that every show that I like ends up being cancelled after a few months (anybody remember that late great nighttime soap "Savannah" from the mid-1990s? I thought not!).

4) I can't leave dirty dishes in the sink after a party. I'm the fool who is up until 4am handwashing the china and silver.

5) I love china and can't have enough of it. I have my formal china, everyday china, breakfast china (seen above- love it but don't use it enough), dessert china, great aunt's china, and am now looking for luncheon china and holiday china. It's a disease!

6) And finally, I have organized my want list of books in my laptop, alphabetized by author's last name and with publisher and publication date included! Am I a Type A or what???

Anyway, enough about me. Now I would like to tag Maryam at My Marrakesh. Maryam, if you have already been tagged, then my bad!

Leontine Linens

OK, admit it, how many of you would give your right arm for some Leontine Linens??? I'm crazy for linens, and Leontine ranks up there with Porthault (in my opinion) as the ultimate in linens! Fortunately for those of us in Atlanta, they have just opened a showroom where we can see these gems in person (or, if you're in NYC, check them out at Bergdorf's). Until I get the chance to run over to the showroom, I'll just stare at these beautiful photos of custom orders, courtesy of their website.

Winter Antiques Show

The Winter Antiques Show , one of the most prestigious antiques shows in the country, is currently underway in New York. Held at the Seventh Regiment Armory, the show benefits the East Side House Settlement and runs from January 19-28. Exhibitors include some of the most illustrious antiques dealers in the country: Hyde Park Antiques; Kentshire Galleries; Leigh Keno; and Mallett.

I was looking at NewYorkSocialDiary.com's coverage of the event, and there were two booths that caught my eye: those of Elle Shushan and Carolle Thibaut-Pomerantz.

Shushan, based in Philadelphia, deals in American, English, and Continental portrait miniatures. Her site features a wide array of these miniatures which are truly charming. I like how she painted her booth pink and then added faux architectural features in black. Although the booth is far more theatrical than those of other dealers, I thought it was the perfect backdrop to display her wares.

Carolle Thibaut-Pomerantz is an antique wallpaper panel dealer with offices in New York and Paris. Unfortunately, her website is still under construction, but you can see some examples of antique paper panels on her homepage. The two examples below are also on her homepage. How amazing would it be to see her inventory in person?

(Photos courtesy of newyorksocialdiary.com)

Windsor Style

One of my very favorite things to pore over is the catalogue from the Duke and Duchess of Windsor auction that Sotheby's organized back in 1997. I know that they were certainly a controversial couple, but it can't be denied that they were quite stylish. With Elsie de Wolfe as a mentor and the firm of Jansen as her decorator, the Duchess of Windsor couldn't help but be surrounded by beautiful things. I thought I would share with you some of my favorite rooms and images from the catalogue. Enjoy!

Lorely Furniture

I'm sure many of you are familiar with Laura Yaggy's Lorely Furniture line, especially her popular python telephone table. I finally got around to checking out her website, and I truly love her furniture collection. The pieces are so simple, but what is so great about it is that you can choose amongst a multitude of finishes and colors- lacquer, crackled lacquer, lacquered linen, python, faux emu... the list goes on! She will even finish some of the pieces in faux tortoise- my current fave (as seen in my post from this past Monday). You can go as wild (or as tame) as you would like.

Here are some of the selections from her website: