An Oscar Worthy Event

I write often about entertaining at home as I'm afraid more and more people are either forgetting to do it or are becoming indifferent to it. I've blogged about hosting small dinner parties on a school night, having people over for drinks, and entertaining guests at large cocktail parties. But what I haven't written so much about is hosting a charity event at one's home. It happens more often than you think. Say you're involved with an organization that appeals to you to host a dinner for said charity. What to do?

Danielle Rollins of Atlanta held just such an event at her home last fall. Danielle and her husband are actively involved in Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, so along with Neiman Marcus they decided to host a dinner in which CHOA was the beneficiary. And to make it even more special, Oscar de la Renta was a guest. Now let's stop here- imagine having Oscar to your home. Can you imagine? Would you panic? Freak out? If you answered "yes" and "yes", then you're not alone. Fortunately, Danielle is an accomplished hostess so she knew just what to do.

Knowing that Oscar was often the guest at glamorous events, Danielle wanted to keep it low-key and very "Georgia". Gardening is important to both Danielle and Oscar, so Danielle set up a long table for 60 people in the lower garden behind her lovely home. Ivory linen hemstitch tablecloths were sewn together to create one long cloth, and under this were custom made burlap cloths. Atlanta floral designer Michal Evans was responsible for the all white dahlia arrangements- so simple and yet so chic, while celebrated chef Anne Quatrano created a farm to table menu using only local ingredients for the event.

So on to the table. Neiman Marcus loaned Danielle the fall toned Herend plates, while she mixed her own sterling flatware with that of friends, a look that she prefers. The hostess' own iron candelabras stood prominently amongst borrowed William Yeoward crystal hurricanes and flower goblets. But truly, one of my favorite things about the table are Danielle's boxwood embroidered napkins with an "R". How gorgeous are they!

No post about entertaining and hostessing would be complete without mentioning that one must go with the flow at his or her parties. Danielle was all dressed for the event in a gray sequin Oscar shift when one of her guests arrived in the very same dress. Without skipping a beat, the hostess turned around, scooted up the stairs, and changed into a green Oscar dress...and she still had a marvelous time at her own party.

Image at top: The garden as it appeared before the guests arrived. Danielle's home is a Philip Shutze; if you think the exterior is pretty, then you need to see the interiors. You will want to move in ASAP!


Danielle with her guest Oscar de la Renta. This shot was obviously taken after the dress change.


The lovely table set with Herend china. Note the pretty place cards.


Danielle's iron candelabras set amongst the white dahlias and wheat grass.


Danielle's boxwood linens that I highly covet. How pretty would they look with a "B" on them?


Mixed flatware. I believe I spy Tiffany Hampton (my pattern as well), Chrysanthemum, and Shell and Thread.



As night fell. What an enchanted scene.

Carolina, Adrienne, and Cole

You know that I love pretty textiles. Actually, make that wallpapers too. That's why I was excited to meet Cole Deming, an Atlantan who covers the Southeast for both Carolina Irving Textiles as well as Adrienne Neff Uzu Collection.

Now, I know that most of you are familiar with Carolina Irving. Her hand printed linen fabric satisfies our need for that dash of the exotic in our homes. But, Adrienne Neff might be a new name to you (it was for me). Neff recently established her eponymous wallpaper line, one characterized by prints that are ethnic in spirit and yet also contemporary in feel. Inspiration for the prints include 16th c. Japanese screens, cut agate rock, onions (yes, onions), and Pueblo Indian ceramic water jars c. 1,000 AD. Obviously, Neff is one informed woman. Oh, the paper, hand blocked in water-based inks on recycled paper, is made in Brooklyn, just as Irving's fabrics are hand screened in Los Angeles. Let's hear it for American made fabrics and wallpapers.

I've included images from both lines. The unprofessional photos of Cole's fabric samples are ones that I took; keep in mind that because the linen is so soft, it can't help but get creases when folded! That's part of its beauty. The professional Uzu photos are quite clever; the wallpaper was used as book bindings, something which only adds to the paper's charm.

If you would like more information on these lines or to order samples, please contact Cole Deming at coledeming@gmail.com or (404) 754-9673.

Adrienne Neff Uzu Collection:


Acoma



Jagged Agate, Yamanoma, and Renjyu



Uzu, Jagged Agate, Yamanoma, and Acoma


That's Giant Onion on the book at top, and Uzu in the background

Carolina Irving Textiles:


Patmos



This is a new version of Patmos Stripe; it's white on a gorgeous blue dyed linen fabric. Seriously stunning.



Palermo




Mimosa Vine



Chios

Print at top: Calico in a beautiful charcoal gray colorway.

(Wallpaper images courtesy of Adrienne Neff Uzu. Irving photos by Jennifer Boles.)

Black Steel

I normally wouldn't disclose any medical conditions on my blog, but I'm thinking I may have a hormone imbalance. Actually, I'm only kidding, but I have noticed a surge of testosterone in my design chemical makeup. It started with the aluminum blind thing and has now morphed itself into a current obsession with black and metal, two things typically associated with a masculine aesthetic. The estrogen seems to have taken a back seat.

So the black thing stems from a flashback that I had recently about a black galley kitchen that I saw back in the 1980s. It was in a suite at The Carlyle and it made a great impression on me, despite the fact that I was a preteen. I remember thinking "One day...". I have a dated kitchen that I'm thinking of tarting up (or perhaps I should say butching up) in black and more black- this despite the fact that Van Day Truex admonished anyone who dared decorate a kitchen in anything other than white. Black lacquer, black tile, black marble. It's all so aggressive. It's represents a strong point of view. It's confident. We need a shot of confidence, don't you think?

The fascination with metal came about when I was looking at Geoffrey Beene's Manhattan apartment. I really find all of that steel interesting. I can't say that I would encourage anyone to replicate this look exactly. But, if used with a light hand (a metal table, steel bookshelves, or even a steel clad wall), the cool metal could add a little swagger to a room.

And of course all of this talk about cocky design is timely as Oliver Stone's follow-up to Wall Street, Wall Street- Money Never Sleeps, is due to be released soon. Remember Charlie Sheen's slick kitchen replete with the de rigueur pasta maker? So very 1980s. In fact, does anyone remember if his kitchen was black??

It all comes full circle, doesn't it?

(Image at top: The bedroom of designer Michael Schaible c. 1985)

Black:


Melvin Dwork created this "winter" bedroom by using lacquered black/green walls. (OK, so not 100% black, but you get the idea.) Actually, I think very little about this room seems dated, despite the fact it was decorated over 20 years ago.


I'm still obsessing over this black kitchen from Lee Bailey's City Food cookbook. I know that you can't see the details, but I think this shot is evocative of that edgy drama so prevalent in interiors from 30 years ago.


Look past that shadow in the crease and you'll see a pretty fantastic room decorated by Joe D'Urso, a designer whose work just might make a modernist of me yet.

Metal:



Geoffrey Beene's Manhattan apartment was one big steel trap. I chose to show the one image that doesn't seem quite so dated. I love that industrial steel stair rail.


In small doses, metal doesn't seem quite so scary, especially if it's a drinks table like this one in this Jay Spectre designed home. Note too the steel cabinetry that houses a bar, audio equipment, and a TV. This brings up another point- remember when technology was sexy? When it played an aesthetically important role in a room? It just doesn't seem the same today.


In the same Spectre designed house. The dining room is thoroughly traditional except for that sleek dining table and steel and marble sideboard.


Aluminum panels decorate one wall in this home by Ron Wilson. There's something oddly intriguing about this room.

(Top photo: New York Interior Design, 1935-1985, Vol. 2: Masters of Modernism. Dwork photo: Manhattan Style; Beene photo courtesy of Celebrity Homes II: Architectural Digest presents the private worlds of thirty international personalities. D'Urso photo from The New York Times Book of Interior Design and Decoration. Spectre photos from Architectural Digest, September 1977, Jaime Ardiles-Arce photographer. Wilson photo from Architectural Digest, October 1977, Russell MacMasters photographer.)

From The Archives Of...Peacock Alley

Imagine if your family's business was linen. Neat, huh? I say this because my family's business is really large machinery, something which tends to befuddle me. (I still don't understand how any of it works.) But linens? I totally get that. So say if a family member started a company like, oh, Peacock Alley, well, I would probably want to continue the family tradition too.

Peacock Alley was started in good old Dallas, TX back in 1973 by former stockbroker Mary Ella Gabler (that's her, above). Gabler was prescient in her prediction that people would start spending more quality time in the bedroom. As such, Gabler saw the linen business as an opportunity to introduce high quality, fashionable bed linens to people who may not have thought much about bed linens before. Starting with patchwork pillows (remember, this was the 1970s) and evolving into a full line of bed and bath linen, Gabler developed Peacock Alley into a successful business that still thrives today. In fact, Gabler's sons run the family business today and are positioning the company to remain viable well into the 21st century.

I remember growing up with Peacock Alley linens; they just always seemed to be somewhere around our house. My mother bought a set of sheets at either Lord & Taylor or Neimans back in the late 1970s, and she still talks about how they wore like iron. If you look back at the Peacock Alley archives, you'll see the different bedding trends: prints, neutrals, minimalism, and prints once again. But the thing about Peacock Alley's prints (and their color selections too) is that it's all rather subtle. I believe that people prefer sedate bedding (meaning no loud prints), and these linens fit that bill. You can buy a few pieces, and more than likely it will go with what you already have on your bed. Just take a look at their Spring 2010 collection. Can't you see some of these linens working with what's in your linen closet?


From the Spring 2010 collection, the Lotus Ensemble collection


Fortuna Ensemble, Spring 2010


Eden Collection, Spring 2010


It all started with patchwork pillows.


Another look from the 1970s. I think this Lily of the Valley print is actually quite sweet.


A minimal look from 1998.

All images courtesy of Peacock Alley

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

...Actually, make that a few days late. Last week, Christie's held one of its Interiors auctions featuring property from one of the few still-intact Billy Haines interiors. The California home had been decorated by Haines between 1960 and 1965, and except for the occasional reupholstering job, the home pretty much remained as it was almost fifty years ago. And even more interesting is that the home was never photographed for publication.

The furniture and accessories are quintessential Haines. You have low slung chairs and sofas, comfortable upholstered pieces, custom mounted lamps, and Chinoiserie everywhere. There are lots that are evocative of 1960s era design- quilted upholstery and faux bamboo to name two- as well a few gems that still look fresh today, namely that unusual red crewelwork (see below). Anyway, take a look for yourselves. My one hope is that someone thoroughly photographed the home before it was dismantled.






A Billy Haines designed crewelwork sofa, c. 1960; realized price $8,125


A pair of Haines' "Seniah" club chairs upholstered in a red floral print, c. 1960; realized price $1,250


C. 1960s Haines designed dressing table and mirror with Chinese porcelain inset; went for $1,625


Pair of faux bamboo quilted headboards and armchair and ottoman, c. 1960; $4,000.


Pair of Billy Haines' bedside cabinets, 1960; $5,250


Patinated metal, marble, and hardstone inlay table; Haines, 1960; $8,750


A Haines designed zodiac rug; $3,000 realized price.


Tang dynasty Chinese straw glazed pottery soldier mounted on a Haines designed lamp base; $1,063.

Tory Burch Spring 2010

So we all oohed and aahed over Tory Burch's apartment when it appeared in Vogue, and we flipped for her breakfast room that was featured recently in Elle. If you're like me and have been waiting for more glimpses into the fabulous apartment of Tory, then today's your today.

Why, you ask? Well, Tory's Spring 2010 collection debuts today. And it was shot by famed photographer Tina Barney...in Tory's apartment...and Polly Mellen is featured in it too. See, I told you this is good stuff.

I'm including a few images here, but to see the full spread, visit the Tory Burch website. Also be sure to watch the behind the scenes video of the shoot (see below) which includes Tory and Tina's conversation about the role that interiors play in both women's work.

(All images courtesy of Tory Burch; Tina Barney photographer)

Hope to See You Next Week

Just a reminder: I'm looking forward to seeing many of you next Wednesday night at Tory Burch, Phipps Plaza. It should be a fun night of cocktails and clothes. See you then!

Reel Style at Home

I've got to be honest- I don't really get the home theater thing. As a child, I knew of nobody who had one in their home, no matter how large the house. Family rooms or TV rooms, yes; home theaters, no. Even if I had the space, I still don't think that I would have one. Personally, I can think of better uses of space...like a gift wrapping room à la Candy Spelling. (Just kidding.)

The space issue aside, when have you seen one that actually has style and panache? Most look like miniature versions of your local AMC theater. I get that comfort is key (which obviously explains the overstuffed recliners that are often seen), but why the dull, boring fabrics? And the color schemes tend to be pretty vanilla too.

I think this is why I'm so taken with this Elsie Sloane Farley designed "moving picture room", located in a New York home circa 1929. This is pretty snazzy, isn't it? The walls were covered in a Chinese wallpaper, and the trim was painted powder blue. Those luminous curtains were made of blue glazed cotton. Note too the fireplace (so cozy), the classic star ceiling fixture, and the long window seat with various shaped pillows. And because this was obviously the home theater of a swell, Farley added a Chinoiserie tilt top table in the back corner.

Now I'm sure that back in 1929, a home theater was quite novel- something which might explain the luxe surroundings. I can just imagine the home's owner entertaining guests for exclusive moving picture nights, and I think it's also safe to assume that the guests dressed for these get-togethers too. I admit that the chairs don't look particularly comfortable, but keep in mind that in the late 1920s, movies didn't run as long as they do today. And, people had a bit more decorum back then. Seriously, how many females of that era do you think sat with their feet propped up on the seat in front of them or worse yet had their legs splayed open?

So if someone twisted my arm and insisted that I have a home theater, I would probably do as Elsie Sloan Farley did. In my one concession to comfort, though, I truly might buy some Barcaloungers and have them upholstered in a Scalamandre Chinoiserie print fabric. I borrow this idea from society doyenne Oatsie Charles and her designer John Peixinho. In my book, anyone who can make a Barcalounger look stylish deserves an Oscar!