International Set: Giancarlo Giammetti

October is not too far down the pike, and with it comes cooler temperatures, fall clothes, and House Beautiful's International Issue, which will be guest edited by Chesie Breen. It promises to be a most interesting, and most stylish, issue.

Coincidentally, I just obtained a copy of the January 1975 issue of House Beautiful, which, lo and behold, also happened to be devoted to international design. Reading this old issue made me giddy because page after page was filled with photos of the homes of style setters and aesthetes, all of whom we still admire today. So, this week's blog posts will be devoted to this one issue of House Beautiful.

Today's post features the Roman apartment of Giancarlo Giammetti, the perennially-chic, former business mastermind of Valentino. The apartment is pretty swinging, but this was to be expected in 1975. The upholstered furniture is very much of its time, while the home's objets help to soften both the contemporary furnishings and art. My favorite room of all, though, is the garden room, in which the ceiling, walls, and seating are upholstered in a Valentino-designed cotton fabric, while the floor's custom ceramic tiles echo the fabric's print.

One oddity about the article is that Giammetti's name was misspelled throughout the entire article. Someone must have been asleep on the job.


Photo at top: This colorful room was off of the entry hall, although I'm not sure of its purpose. The walls and furniture were upholstered in rose-colored silk.  I love the choice of black trim and black furniture to puncutate those sumptuous pink walls.

Giammetti's prized Picasso hung above his antique writing table and horn chair.  It is interesting to see the thin strips of mirror on the wall.

Giammetti's living room with its "undemanding beige walls", according to the article.

Giammetti's bedroom, which was also decorated in undemanding beiges. Note the lattice on the wall.

Another view of the bedroom.  I have a feeling that had this been my bedroom, I would have tripped constantly over that tiger's head.

The garden room. Aubergine isn't the first color that comes to my mind for a garden room, but I think it looks positively smashing.


All photos from House Beautiful, January 1975, Emmett Bright photographer.

A Blue Ribbon Winner

I never cease to find inspiration from old interiors. It doesn't matter if a room was decorated thirty years ago or one hundred thirty years ago. As long as it was designed with style, taste, and authority, an old room can provide one with decorating ideas and even spark one's imagination.

It's rare, though, that I find an entire home that I would consider move-in ready, but such was the case when I stumbled upon these photos of Ferris Megarity's Manhattan apartment. This has to be my new favorite home. It's perfection, or at least, my idea of perfection.  The color scheme might be predominately neutral, but it's not snoozeworthy.  Those chocolate brown walls with crisp white trim help to wake up close-by beiges and caramels.  And can we talk about those snappy chairs covered in one of my all-time favorite fabrics, Brunschwig & Fils Les Touches?  Sublime.  I also spy bamboo shades, a tortoise-finish drinks tray, blue and white porcelain, needlepoint, silver-leaf wallpaper, books, and mirrored walls and screens.  Those too are like a hit parade of my favorites.  I'm getting heart palpitations just writing about them!

The late Megarity was publicity director and one-time home furnishings division director for B. Altman, so presumably he had access to the best of the best.  But access alone didn't guarantee such a beautiful apartment.  It also took a trained eye to achieve such a tasteful balance.  Megarity, who hailed from Waco, Texas, credited his University of Texas education in fine arts and art history with informing both his career and his style of decorating.  Of his education, he said, "It's held me in marvelous stead.  Every step of the way it has been a continual boon, especially when I traveled.  I found my training let me function as an editor when I had to coordinate the efforts of a number of people. It gave me a sense of the past and also put the present into perspective."  Yet another argument for the importance of an art and design history education.

Oh, and by the way, these photographs were taken in 1975.  Thirty-eight years later, and I can't find a thing about this home that needs updating.  Too bad we can't all age as gracefully.

Photos from Architectural Digest, March/April 1975, Richard Champion photographer.

Night (and Day) at the Museum

By any chance, do you remember the December 2004 House & Garden article that featured this lovely table, seen above? The table was set with pieces purchased from the online gift shops of various museums, whose locales included Sweden, France, and Massachusetts.  It was such a memorable article, not to mention photo, because the table accessories were absolutely gorgeous.  (The pink cloth and flowers didn't hurt, either.)  If you didn't know better, you might think the china and crystal were purchased at auction or from an antiques shop.

I thought about trying to recreate the article's concept, but unfortunately, I don't have the time or budget to go on a freewheeling shopping expedition.  But, an online perusal of museum gift shops did yield some really interesting finds for the home, from furniture to tea towels to candlesticks.  Although a real-life trip to a museum is best, the next best thing might just be a virtual visit to their gift shops. 

2014 Versailles Calendar Tea Towel

A copy of Napoleon's folding stool

Reproduction of an 18th century Delftware candlestick- Rijksmuseum

Outdoor folding chairs from Musée de la Toile du Jouy

Reproduction Sandwich glass cobalt dolphin candlestick- Sandwich Glass Museum

Lion decanter from the Hermitage Museum.

Sèvres Gold and Turquoise Tin Plate from The Wallace Collection

Tiles from Museu Nacional do Azulejo, Portugal

Zodiac plates, based on illuminations from a 15th c. Italian Book of Hours, available at The Morgan Library and Museum.

Pillows based on the elaborately decorated Red Bedroom of the Herrenchiemsee Palace, the Bavarian palace that was modeled after Versailles.  Available from the Bavarian Palace Department shop.

Velvety Soft

Something tells me that velvet-covered furniture is an acquired taste. Or, put another way, you either love it or hate it. Personally, I think that velvet upholstered tables and bookcases can be quite sumptuous, but I will admit that velvet furniture can go from tasteful to trashy in the blink of an eye.

First, the velvet that is used can't look too shiny or, even worse, too crushed.  Also, its color needs to be sophisticated rather than garish, so certain shades of red, green, and blue seem to work best.  And finally, embellishment, if used, should be kept to a minimum.  I'm not crazy about most velvet covered tables from the late 19th century because they were usually finished in fringe. (I included an example below just for comparison's sake.)

Of course, the current king of velvet furniture is British designer Alidad, whose signature velvet console table, above, was a hit about six or seven years ago.  Alidad has branched out into velvet enrobed bookcases and occasional tables, too.  But the piece that got this whole blog post rolling is the green velvet bookcase below, which was designed by the great French decorator, Henri Samuel.  Is that a masterpiece or what?!

Green silk velvet covered bookcase, designed by Henri Samuel and sold at Christie's New York, 2001.

A pair of velvet occasional tables, 20th century, sold at Christie's Amsterdam, 2011.

A pair of crimson silk-velvet end tables, sold at Christie's London, 2008.

Gaius bookcase by Alidad

A Napoleon III table, 19th century, part of the Yves Saint Laurent- Pierre Berge collection, sold at Christie's Paris, 2009

Have You Noticed?

Have you noticed that geraniums seem to bloom profusely inside many a charming English country house? They certainly did at Daylesford, the John Fowler-decorated house of Lord Rothermere, seen above.

And at Deene Park, Northamptonshire.

Nancy Lancaster had some scraggly ones at the Coach House.

More lush were those at Bentley in Sussex.

There were some tucked away near the bookshelves at Wellingham House.

Nicky Haslam has a basket full of them at his Hunting Lodge...

...while Lady Caroline Somerset chose a terracotta pot for her fiery crimson specimen.

David Hicks supercharged his Britwell House dining room with bold crimson walls and curtains and bright pink geraniums placed directly on the floor.

But what has to be one of the most charming displays of geraniums is seen in this bedroom, which was decorated by David Mlinaric.  The chintz? Colefax & Fowler's " Climbing Geranium", sadly discontinued.

Revisiting a Buckhead Classic

I hope you'll get a chance to read this month's issue of Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles.  I had the opportunity to write the cover article, which features a Buckhead house decorated by Margaret Bosbyshell and Clary Bosbyshell Froeba of Margaux Interiors.  Think the house looks familiar?  That might be because it was featured once before in the magazine, when the house was occupied by the previous owners.  The twist to the story is that both sets of homeowners hired Margaux Interiors to decorate the home.

To see additional photos and to read the story, click here to visit the Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles website, or, if you're in Atlanta, visit your local newsstand.



Article photos are copyright of Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles, Erica George Dines photographer.

I Spy...

I really enjoy decorator and writer Annie Kelly's entire Rooms to Inspire series of books, but I have to say that my favorite is probably Rooms to Inspire in the City.  And some of my favorite photos in this book (shot, of course, by Kelly's photographer husband, Tim Street-Porter) have to be those of decorator Russell Bush's home/ office on Park Avenue. (See above.)

What I would do to spend one day in that room, peeking around the book shelves and stacks, searching for titles that I might need to add to my own library.  Of course, the room's other furnishings are quite attractive too, making them the icing on the cake.  Actually, now that I look at these photos, I think that my day in Russell Bush's apartment would need to begin late afternoon on a winter's day just as dark sets in, then lingering well into the evening.  I say this because it seems this room is an ideal nighttime room, all warm light and coziness.  Well, a girl can dream, can't she?

Because I have studied these photos at length, I can share with you a few titles that I spied...just in case you want to add some new titles to your book wish list.  I know that I did, and now my wish list is up to 555 titles.  (Seriously.)  How I'm ever going to whittle this list down, I haven't a clue, especially considering that anytime I see photos of rooms filled with books, I inevitably add quite a few new titles to the list.

The Great Houses of Paris by Claude Fregnac and Wayne Andrews. (Available via Amazon and Barnes & Noble)

Italian Splendor: Great Castles, Palaces, and Villas by Roberto Schezen. (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and IndieBooks)

English Interiors 1790-1848: The Quest for Comfort by John Cornforth. (Amazon)

Paul Poiret by Yvonne Deslandres. (Amazon and Barnes & Noble)

The Early Work of Aubrey Beardsley by Aubrey Beardsley (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and IndieBound)

A History of Valentines by Ruth Webb Lee (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and IndieBound)


Photos of Russell Bush's apartment featured in Rooms to Inspire in the City by Annie Kelly, Tim Street-Porter photographer.