Carleton Varney and HSN

I'm off to Tampa today to be a fly on the wall. Carleton Varney will be making his debut on HSN tomorrow, where he will be introducing his new line of home accessories. I'm going to head down there to meet Carleton and see what goes on behind the scenes at HSN . The only time I've ever been on the set of a television show was as an audience member on Jeopardy!, so I'm anxious to witness a design legend selling his collection on live TV!

Be sure to tune in to HSN tomorrow at 8am EST and 8pm-10pm EST to see Carleton's show. I'll report back on Monday, hopefully with lots of photos.

(Image at top from HSN.com)

Way to Go Joe!

No photos in this post, other than the cute picture above, because I don't want to spoil the surprise, but check out Joe Nye's Beverly Hills apartment in the August issue of House Beautiful. It's a great example of how to fit a lot of beautiful "stuff" into a small space.

My sister and I were lucky enough to visit Joe's apartment a few years ago, and it's just as charming in person as it is in the magazine. I couldn't hold a conversation with Joe because all I wanted to do was look around his place, study it, and take it all in. He has a great book collection. (When you see the photos, note how he has numerous copies of the same book; Joe likes multiples so that he can take one to the office or a job site. Very clever.) He's got furniture by Frances Elkins, Syrie Maugham, and Billy Haines. And accessories like you can't believe. That man could set ten different types of table settings- and that would only cover half of what he has!

Anyway, enough babbling, but I do think it's a home that you'll pore over, just as I did!

A Rare Opportunity

Frederick P. Victoria & Son is having its first warehouse sale, but don't think for a minute that the wares being offered are less than stellar. Most of the sale is made up of F.P. Victoria's models that remain from their former 55th St. location. These are models with pedigrees....


The Paley night table


A folding table that F.P. Victoria made for Jansen


The Mellon book table




A rope chair that was a favorite of both Michael Taylor and Robert Metzger.

Even better, you don't have to be in New York to take advantage of the sale. To see the sale inventory, visit their website.

(Image at top is a reproduction of an 18th c. Venetian armchair)

Count The Colors

To me, rooms bathed in a riot of color require closer inspection. Why? Because I admire the designer or homeowner who adroitly mixes four, five, and six colors in one room. And I'm not talking quiet, subdued colors but rather bold, gutsy shades. I can handle two or three strong colors in my rooms, but I'm not skilled enough to go beyond that. I'm afraid that the effect would be quite comical.

In the right hands, though, an array of color can be a symphony rather than a cacophony.

(That image at the top is a color palette recommended by Color Hunter; it matches the colors in the room photo that I uploaded to the site.)


Let's see... we've got blues, browns, oranges, and fuchsia in this room by Jonathan Berger. Oh, and touches of green too.


Pinks, blues, orange, reds, greens in the Newport home of Tracey Roberts and Paul Haigney.


Red! Yellow! Green and Lilac! The exclamation points are necessary in describing a room like this one in Paris. Not for me, but fitting for someone with a colorful personality.


This home in Athens is an enfilade of pure, deep color.

So why have I been thinking of bold color today? I'm captivated by this watercolor which captured the flamboyance of Thomas Hope's boudoir at Deepdene.


According to Country Life, there were four different shades of red and a green marble fireplace with columns capped by gilt-bronze capitals. Don't you wonder what it must have been like to have seen this room in person?

(Berger photo from House Beautiful, July 09, Francesco Lagnese photographer. Newport home featured in Weekend Retreats by Susanna Salk. Paris and Athens homes photographed by Massimo Listri. Hope drawing featured in Nov 07 issue of Country Life.)

Harrison Howard Has Been Hard at Work

My favorite painter of Chinoiserie scenes, Harrison Howard, has just updated his site with new works including one of my favorites, "The Architect", which is seen above. Harrison's paintings and prints are like instant mood lifters to me. How can one not be charmed by scenes with books, curtains, trellis, pagodas, butterflies, and coral? Not to mention those hard working figures who are busy painting, arranging curtains, and crab baiting. And I thought blogging kept me busy!

I've included a sampling of Harrison's work, but do visit his website to see more Chinoiserie scenes.


"The Two Gardeners"


"Bibliophile"


"The Dowry"


"Crab Baiting"


"Arranging Drapery"

Return of the Brass Bed?

Over the weekend, I found a January 1954 House Beautiful article that touted the "Return of the Brass Bed". The first thing that came to my mind were those shiny brass Victorian beds. But then the article showed a few examples that made me realize that brass beds can actually be quite fetching. Personally, I prefer brass that's hand rubbed rather than polished. And clean lines appeal to me more than curves and swirls. Maybe it is time for the return of the brass bed. Although, if all brass beds were as good looking as these, then there would be no "return" per se because they wouldn't have gone out of style in the first place.

(Bed at top was designed by Paul McCobb, while the brass campaign bed was Baker)


Baker Brass Headboard from Pamela Lerner Antiques (looks similar to that featured in House Beautiful)


Jacques Adnet bed. Leather and brass over steel frame. Available from Pascal Boyer Gallery. For those who can only handle a touch of brass.


Nickel and brass campaign bed by Maison Jansen, available through Wright Now


Acid Etched Brass Headboard by Mastercraft, from Assemblage Ltd.

The Man Who Launched A Thousand Floors

Perhaps not a thousand, but many floors have been inspired by David Adler. The late architect treated the ground with just as much care and attention as he did the walls, ceilings, and exteriors. Most of Adler's projects included floors adorned with a star motif, one of Adler's favorites, but harlequin patterns and metal inlay also figured prominently in his work. Seventy some odd years later and Adler's floors still capture our imagination.


Adler often incorporated five, six, and eight point stars into his floors. The living room of the Winslow house, Pebble Beach, CA, featured a pine floor with a walnut star inlay.


Most of Adler's stars were more stylized like this one in marble, which was inlaid into the terrazzo floor of the Clow residence, Lake Forest, IL.


Miles Redd painted an eight-point star on his kitchen floor, an homage to the late, great Adler. (Image courtesy of New York Social Diary)


A harlequin patterned marble floor in the gallery of the Clark house, Hillsborough, CA.


The master bathroom in the Atlanta home of Chad Holman and Keith Traxler features a harlequin patterned marble floor. Holman had been inspired by a similar floor that he saw in an Adler designed house in Chicago. (Photo courtesy of David Christensen photographer/Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles, October 2008)


A metal inlaid, ebonized floor in the Adler designed home of Mrs. Kersey Coates Reed.


Mrs. Kersey Coates Reed's house was certainly not lacking in glamour. The women's dressing room featured yet another metal inlaid floor.


The floor in Miles Redd's living room is reminiscent of that in the Reed house. (Photo from New York Social Diary)

Image at top: The porch of the Furness house, Middleburg, VA, featured a stenciled floor. Someone should be daring enough and replicate this floor in their home.

(All Adler images from David Adler, Architect: The Elements of Style)

Tête à Tête with Charlotte Moss

I'd like to thank Charlotte Moss for including The Peak of Chic in her July 4th edition of Tête à Tête. Joni, Ronda, and I all shared our thoughts on summer reading, summer style, and summer entertaining. As I won't be taking a summer vacation this year, I'll just have to live vicariously through Ronda and Joni.

And little Alfie was even featured, which certainly makes his mama proud.

To read Charlotte's feature, click here.

Eduardo Garza

For those of you who have lived in Atlanta for a while, you might remember a store named Geode which sold, well, geodes. I remember walking by Geode as a child (it was, interestingly enough, located at a mall) and being mesmerized by the displays of colorful crystals and minerals. They were so shiny, so mysterious, and so flashy. OK, so the insides of the geodes were flashy; the exteriors, not so much.

Perhaps it's this early childhood fascination with quartz and stones that explains why the stuff is like catnip to me. And perhaps it's why I was excited to be introduced to the work of Eduardo Garza. Eduardo creates sculptural pieces made from not only stones and minerals- my favorite- but also wood, eggs, and shells. (Van Day Truex always said that in design, Mother Nature is our best teacher, and Eduardo's work is testament to this.) His pieces, all hand made and sold as signed, limited editions, have caught the eye of both Bergdorf Goodman and Harrods, where his work is featured in the vignettes seen at top. In addition to being sold through both department stores, Eduardo's pieces are also available through his website.

If you're not familiar with his work, let me show you...


Citrine mounted on a gold leaf base. Far more luxe than the geodes of my childhood.


For those taken with purple, there is Amethyst mounted on a gold leaf base.


Rock Crystal on a gold base.


Fuschia stone encrusted lucite box


Fossilized wooden coasters with silver and gold leafed edging


Not all of Eduardo's work incorporates stones and wood. This handmade mask is dipped in gold.



The ostrich egg piece at top is perched on a gold leaf and malachite base with a finial handmade by Eduardo. A certain designer with the initials "AH" (and a man who is also my idol) used this piece on his designer table at the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House Gala. The smaller egg at bottom is an ostrich egg dipped in gold.



Eduardo also works with anodized aluminum. I think the island coaster series is fun. The coral tray is a different take on the classic ocean motif.