Antique Garden Furniture Show and Sale

Garden lovers, take note. The 20th Anniversary Antique Garden Furniture Show and Collector's Plant Sale , chaired this year by Bunny Williams and Barbara Israel, will be hosting their preview party at the New York Botanical Garden this Thursday evening from 6-8 pm. The party is a great opportunity to get a first look at the annual show which is known for its impressive displays of antique garden furniture and ornaments as well as exotic plants, all of which is for sale. This year's show, of which the proceeds benefit the New York Botanical Garden, is open from April 27-29.

For more information or to purchase tickets for the preview party, please contact cbalkonis@nybg.org.

Image at top: A French 19th c. carved stone deer from French Country Living Antiques. This statue as well as those below will all be available for sale at the show.




Boy with Swan, 1875. Côté Jardin Antiques.



Terracotta maiden, c. 1870. Barbara Israel Garden Antiques.



Lead Fountain Figure, English, c. 1940. Barbara Israel Garden Antiques.

2012 Atlanta Decorators' Show House

Yesterday, I attended a press preview for the 42nd annual Atlanta Decorators' Show House & Gardens, presented by the Atlanta Symphony Associates. This year's show house takes place at Knollwood, a beautiful 1929 home designed by famed Atlanta architect Philip Shutze.

This year's show house is really a knock out thanks to a stellar line-up of designers. Each room has its own unique style, and yet interestingly enough, the rooms all flow together quite nicely. I was impressed by how cohesive the show house is.

I took over two hundred photos of the show house, but no matter how terrific the show house is, I won't overwhelm you with all of those photos. Today, I'll show you the first floor rooms with the second and third floors to follow next Monday. The show house opens to the public tomorrow and will remain open through May 13. For more information on the house as well as how to purchase tickets, visit the official website.






You enter the house into the Foyer, decorated by Melanie Turner of Turner Davis Interiors.






The Ladies Parlor designed by Tish Mills of Harmonious Living by Tish Mills







The Back Hall by Kelly Hansen of Kelly Crago Hansen Interiors




The Butler's Pantry by James Farmer of James Farmer Designs







The Family Dining Room was designed by the talented mother & daughter duo, Alison Womack Jowers and Cheryl Womack of Womack Interiors. By the way, the amazing dining table is a Maison Jansen "Palais Royale" table from Parc Monceau.







The Dining Room by Carole Weaks of C. Weaks Interiors. It's nice to see two round tables in this space as opposed to one long dining table.








Stan Topol and Reynolds Brown of Stan Topol & Associates decorated the Living Room. The photo of Stan with Billy Baldwin was taken while Stan was working for Baldwin, his mentor. Baldwin sent the photo of himself to Stan's mother.







John Oetgen of Oetgen Design decorated The Solarium. Many of the designers included something musical in their rooms in honor of the Atlanta Symphony Associates. John stands near a stand with sheet music. Butterflies (not real) are used in place of chess pieces on this antique Chinoiserie games table from Parc Monceau.



The Library designed by William Murphy of Essary & Murphy.





The Gentlemen's Powder Room by John Fernandez and Jennifer True of Fernandez & True Interiors.


All photos are the copyright of The Peak of Chic.

Young and Elegant

In last week's post on desks, I showed a photo of the c. 1960s Paris apartment of American James H. Douglas, the nephew of Jim Thompson. (Yes, the Jim Thompson of Thai silk fame.) The apartment, decorated with the aid of Georges Geffroy, is quite elegant and sophisticated, fitting for a cosmopolitan young man who was a world traveller. And as one might expect to see in the home of Jim Thompson's nephew, Thai silk abounds.

The photos, taken from the book The Best in European Decoration, are unfortunately mostly in black and white. The bright side, though, is that the photo captions are so descriptive that the lack of color is not a handicap. I'm including the book's captions, below, to help you get a better sense of how beautiful this apartment must have been.





The sitting room-library is seen above and in the photo at top. The luminosity of the golden yellow Thai silk curtains and armchair is set off by browns and greys of the walls, carpet, screen and sofa. To the left, the original plaster of Caffieri's bust of the writer Jean de Rotrou, signed and dated 1781. The bookshelves are lined in green taffeta edged with a short fringe.



The sitting room-library has walls hung with cognac-colored material and golden yellow Thai silk curtains. Thai silk also covers the sofa in tones of warm grey and ochre. The Spanish-style screen is of dark brown, stamped velvet. Next to the screen is a Louis XVI desk, and a small Louis XVI armchair painted white and upholstered in brown suede. Above them, a charming portrait by Greuze of a young girl. The octagonal table in the foreground is a George IV English wine cooler. Elephant grey carpeting.



The entrance hall doubles as a dining room. Ingenious use of space creates the impression of a large apartment, but there are actually only three rooms and the entrance. The raw silk curtains are beige on one side and an extraordinary orange changing to yellow on the other. Six Louis XVI chairs are painted white and have black velvet tufted seats. The black lacquered table on steel legs can be folded up and rolled away. Against the wall, Louis XVI wall brackets. In the background one can see the library.



The living room carries on the sober elegance and refinement of colour of the rest of the apartment. Beige walls, 18th century Tibetan rug of faded blue with a white design, sofa and armchair is natural-coloured heavy Thai silk. Small pillows in velvet printed like leopard fur. The curtains are in changing shades of olive green Thai silk. White Louis XV chair to the left covered in deep blue velvet. The magnificent Louis XVI vertical bookcases, lined with rust brown taffeta, and a desk that can be glimpsed on the right, are by the great 18th c. cabinetmaker Jacob.




Detail of the bedroom. This room's character comes from the delicate, cool tones of the silks. Walls and the front bed curtains are in silvery grey; window curtains and the back bed curtains are in a deeper silvery blue. The checkered silk of the bed combines both colours.




The quiet harmonies of grey and blue silks create a restful atmosphere. Over the Louis XV stone mantelpiece painted like marble is a portrait of Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles 1, by Henry Stone, a pupil of Van Dyck. In the foreground, an English 18th century desk and a Louis XV chair upholstered in black leather. On the desk, a pair of 18th century English crystal candlesticks and a 19th century silver box found in Siam.

All photos and text from The Best in European Decoration.

Lenox Hill Neighborhood House Dinner

Last week, Lenox Hill Neighborhood House hosted their annual Spring benefit at Cipriani 42nd Street, NYC. This year's theme was "Spring Fever", and as you can see, the designer tables certainly captured the beauty and frivolity of the season.

This year's Honorary Design Chairmen were Bunny Williams and John Rosselli, both of whom have devoted much time over the years to the organization. The event's design committee included Christopher Spitzmiller, David Duncan, and Michael McGraw. By the way, I have to mention that Christopher will be receiving the 2012 Elizabeth Rohatyn Award for Community Service for his volunteer work with Lenox Hill. I am very proud of him.

Below are photos of a few of the designer tables. (I did not have the opportunity to attend, but a kind person sent these photos to me.) Other designers whose tables are not seen here include Michael Devine and Thomas Burak, Steven Stolman for Scalamandre, Ashley Whittaker Designs, and many more.



Ten Swans a Singing by Christopher Spitzmiller. (Another view of his table is at the top of the post.)




Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah by Elizabeth Pyne of McMillen Inc.

Set Sail for Spring by David Duncan Antiques.




A fanciful table by Leta Austin Foster.



This table decoration by Etos.




Bright Lights, Big City by Lindsey Coral Harper.




Patrik Lonn Design and L'Olivier created this table with a cloth that looks like it pussy willows on it.



Roric Tobin for Geoffrey Bradfield Inc.



Nick Olsen is always so creative!



A Ryan Korban designed table.



Schiaparelli by Harry Heissmann.



Midnight Garden by Mr. Call Designs.



Harbor Island by Alessandra Branca.

All photos courtesy of Roberto Ricci and Marco Ricca for Lenox Hill Neighborhood House.