Doris Leslie Blau and Our Favorite Designers

I'm currently on the hunt for rugs for both my living room and dining room, and the timing couldn't be better. Why? Because Doris Leslie Blau has just introduced the new 2009 Designer Carpet Collection, and most of our favorite designers are featured. Albert Hadley, Miles Redd, Todd Romano, Markham Roberts, and 42 other designers have created modern carpet designs for this venerable company. (That's Mr. Hadley's design at top.)

I really like the range of designs. Roger Jones' carpet is very cool and elegant. Now that one would look great in my dining room, but I could also see it in a icy blue bedroom too. And the other designs? Can't you see them in living room with a Ventry Ltd. sofa, upholstered in a neutral of course, and a chrome or lucite cocktail table? I'm thinking something very Billy Baldwin. What do you think?

(The designer collection carpets are made from various materials including silk, wool, and banana-leaf fiber and come in different weaves. For more information, visit the Doris Leslie Blau website.)


Todd Alexander Romano


Markham Roberts


Miles Redd


Roger Jones of Colefax & Fowler


Veere Grenney

Good Drama

You know what I've been taken with lately? Uplights. Are you still with me? Have I lost a few readers??

I know that uplights are considered by some to be gauche, perhaps due to their use and abuse back in the 1970s and 80s. I suppose they might, and I stress might, be in the same league as those big and bad track lights from a few decades back. But you know what? I think that when used tastefully, uplights can be quite practical. And the light they give off can really add some drama to a room. Need some light in a dark corner? Stick an uplight on the floor. Want to give that bust on a column some brooding personality? Put an uplight on the floor at the base of the column. Or, shine a little light on a piece of wall art- preferably a large canvas- with an uplight.

There are different options available for uplights, but to get the most bang for your buck I would suggest the canister lights from CB2. Available in black or white, they're only $19.95 a piece. For that price, you can go crazy with uplighting. I bought one in black and I'm having fun trying it out in different areas of my home. And you know what I've realized? Dramatic lights are a lot easier to stomach than dramatic lives!


John Stefanidis used this chrome canister to light this large painting.


Mica Ertegun used an uplight behind this screen. Positioning an uplight behind a screen seems to be a big decorating trick of the trade.




David Hicks... On Uplights. When I think of uplights, I immediately think of Hicks. Here, he has used them to light blank walls (both painted and upholstered) and to light a corner of a room concealed by a screen.


CB2's Can Lights, available in black or white, are a great way to experiment with uplights.

Image at top: Even back in the late 1920s, people used uplights for a bit of drama. Don't you love that shadow that the calla lilies cast?

An Architectural Alphabet

Remember how we all raved- for months- about Andrew Zega and Bernd Dams' Chinoiseries? Well, hold on to your hats because they are back with a new book that I think might be one of their best yet!

An Architectural Alphabet (Connaissance et Mémoires) is the new limited-edition artist's book that features the duo's watercolors of the alphabet. Each letter is featured in an architectural or garden related scene. In fact, a few lucky letters are painted against backdrops of Chinoiserie follies. How great is that?

The new book, with a forward by none other than Charlotte Moss (I told you this was good!), is hand-bound in silk, numbered, and slip-cased. Forget the jewelry, baubles, trinkets, and bibelots- this is what I want for Christmas. I better start writing Santa right now.

Cynthia Conigliaro and Will Rogers of Archivia Books and Catherine Cormery of Connaissance et Mémoires are hosting a book party where Zega and Dams' new book as well as some of their recent watercolors will be featured. The event takes place at Archivia Books on Thursday, November 20 from 6 until 8pm. To RSVP, call 212-570-9565.

Carolyne Roehm and her Passion for Blue and White

I just returned from San Francisco where I attended a lecture given by Carolyne Roehm. Held in conjunction with the San Francisco Antiques Show, the lecture, entitled "All Roads Lead to Roehm" (very clever!), was a celebration of all things blue and white, including her new book A Passion for Blue and White. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy, and I really think it might be one of my favorite Roehm books to date.

In both her lecture and the book, Roehm champions the versatility of this classic color combination. First, you have an array of shades with which to work- from icy blue to cornflower to navy and beyond. And blue and white also works well with other colors too such as pink, yellow, and red.

I believe that many of us think of blue and white as being casual, and it certainly can be. Really, what is chicer than a white blouse with a pair of blue jeans? But Roehm also makes the case for blue and white to be used in elegant and formal settings too. I suppose you can say that blue and white is like the perfect date- you can take it anywhere and it will fit in marvelously. No need to put lipstick on the pig! (Just kidding.)

I have to say that I admire Roehm's efforts at putting her passion into images and words. Roehm's love affair with blue and white began many years ago, and years later it is still going strong. While other colors might stir my passion more, I think I might be coming around to the whole blue and white thing.

Joe Nye New York will be hosting an afternoon tea in honor of Carolyne Roehm and her new book on Wednesday, November 5 at the Joe Nye New York showroom. To RSVP, contact Christina Juarez, tel 917-463-3685. Wish I could join you!



Blue and white can be laid back and informal


Or it can be quite grand and proper


Blue and white can be exuberant


And it's also quite breezy


And you know what? It looks quite smashing on a cake too.

(All images from A Passion for Blue & White, Carolyne Roehm, Broadway Books, 2008)

Amaze Me!

In Regency Redux: High Style Interiors: Napoleonic, Classical Moderne, and Hollywood Regency, author Emily Eerdmans mentions an anecdote in which couturier to the stars Adrian commissioned Tony Duquette to design his Beverly Hills dress salon. And the directive that Adrian gave Duquette was really quite simple- "Amaze me". How fabulous is that? I'm sure that for many of you designers, these two little words uttered by a client might be like manna from heaven. It's a directive that gives the designer license to pull out all of the stops and unleash the full force of one's creativity. But I suppose it's also a command that is fraught with uncertainty and that just might provoke stage freight.

I've been thinking about this story for a few weeks now because I would love to tell certain people "Amaze me"- my shoe salesperson at Neiman Marcus, my general contractor, and my hair stylist, for example (and all three are pretty fantastic so I feel confident that they could do so.) But in terms of design, sometimes you see an interior and you can just tell that the designer felt compelled to give the client something ultra special and well, amazing. I wonder if this might have been the case in the following interiors (and a garden too).


The Paris apartment of Charles de Beistegui, c. 1933. Designed by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, the apartment featured this stunning cement staircase painted blue and white. Note too the crystal rail.


The entrance hall at Sa Torre Cega, Cala Ratjada, Mallorca, Spain. Carlos Ortiz-Cabrera of Maison Jansen was responsible for the Pop Art looking, trompe l'oeil painted floor in the foyer.



The Madrid bathroom of the Duchess of Alba, designed by Armand Rateau, c. 1925. The bath was carved from a single piece of white marble, and the walls were covered in gold lacquer with pastoral type scenes.


Landscape design can be used to amaze too, as seen here in the park of Mimi Pecci-Blunt's Paris home, c. 1926.

Images at top: The ultra chic, ultra glam studio of Adrian, designed by Tony Duquette

Todd's New Digs

One of my favorite stores in New York is Todd Alexander Romano Antiques and Decorations. Not only is Todd charming and friendly, but he has the type of style and flair that I hope to aspire to someday! Todd has recently traded up to bigger quarters in The Fine Arts Building on E. 59th., and I'm dying to visit the new shop in person. Todd and his assistant Nicole sent me some photos of the new digs to tide me over until my next trip to New York. But after seeing these images, I'm really thinking that I need to hightail it up there. Anyone care to join me?

(If you live in New York or are planning to visit there soon, make sure to stop by Todd's shop. The new location is The Fine Arts Building, 232 East 59th St., 4th floor. Tel. 212-421-7722.)

Now Available: The Tony Duquette Collection

Big news for you Tony Duquette fans. Baker Furniture, in collaboration with Hutton Wilkinson and the Tony Duquette Foundation, has just introduced the new Tony Duquette collection of furniture and accessories. The new line consists of reproduction pieces that were originally designed by Duquette throughout his long and prolific career. I must admit I have a weakness for furniture and objects that have a story attached to them, so I'm prone to like these pieces because of their history and lineage. But I also like the fact that the collection is anything but cookie cutter- much like Duquette himself. It's quirky, a bit bizarre, and really quite chic. What do you think?

(To see the rest of the collection, visit Baker Furniture's site.)


Regency Pagoda Lamp. Duquette produced various resin pagoda lamps that were originally inspired by an antique pair that were in his possession. Light is dispersed from the tiny windows of the pagoda; I would love to see this piece in person.


Organic Baroque Chair. Duquette came up with the design of this chair while serving in the army in World War II, but it was not until the mid-1960s that Duquette actually had the chair fabricated.


Elsie Tabouret. Not a Duquette design, but this tabouret was an Elsie de Wolfe creation c. 1926. de Wolfe was a mentor to Duquette, and the original tabouret that inspired this piece is ensconced in the Duquette studio.


Abalone Chandelier. This chandelier was originally designed for Duquette's one-man exhibition in Los Angeles in 1952. After the exhibition closed, the chandelier was moved to the Charles and Palmer Ducommun home in Bel Air, where it hung for many years until Duquette purchased it back from the estate.


Sunburst Torchere. The original torchere was designed for the drawing room at Dawnridge circa 1949.

Image at top: The drawing room at Dawnridge with the famous Sunburst Torcheres.

A Fantasy Movie Set

How fun would it have been to work as a set decorator on those old 1930s movies? It's amazing what art directors like Cedric Gibbons and Van Nest Polglase conjured up, usually using smoke and mirrors (literally and figuratively). Back at that time, budgets were limited and art directors were forced to create glamorous, fantastical sets for not a lot of money. Suffice it to say, I think they were quite successful. A bit over the top perhaps, but not quite tacky either.

On a whim, I decided to play set decorator and throw together a fantasy 1930s bedroom. I think Carole Lombard would look quite smart in this bedroom. I don't envision Joan Crawford in it though. I hear she was quite the rounder, and my pristine bedroom set might end up in shambles!

How about these velvet roman shades from Pottery Barn? White and grey were de rigeur back in the 1930s (and still are in my book!), and the velvet provides just the right amount of sheen. Shine, shimmer, and gleam are very important when one is designing a decadent boudoir!



And of course you've got to have some satin and silk, such as these quilted silk throws from Schweitzer Linen. I'd use either the cream or white.


I would have to find some place for Jonathan Adler's Montmartre table, because you have to have some type of Neoclassical element in the room. Or maybe you need a few...


...in which case I would use the Athena stencil and paint this Greek motif on every door in the room.



This acrylic pedestal from Richman Design would look fabulous in a corner with some type of urn on top. Perhaps a ceramic one with lilies in it? Or, what about an alabaster urn lamp?


I might use this old Western Electric rotary phone, but I would prefer it in white. If you're going to schedule social engagements or liaisons, you really should do it in style.


The leading lady would have to wear the appropriate attire for such a room. No flannel pjs!! But we wouldn't want our leading lady to dress (or undress) like Gypsy Rose Lee either, so this robe is glamorous but tasteful too.


Keep in mind that the next time you're on television or in a movie, your eyes will really stand out if you use false eyelashes. And as long as we're going with the glamour theme, what about these feather lashes from shu uemura.

Image at top: A still from the 1935 movie "Top Hat"; set design by Van Nest Polglase