Wallflower

Alabama home by Tracery Interiors

I found these pictures in one of my [numerous] folders and I just had to share. My younger sister makes fun of me for my addiction to chairs, but just look at all the possibilities for how to style even a simple side chair. Now, given, these incarnations illustrate a variety of exceedingly elegant styles. But still. You could use the most inexpensive piece purchased off Craigslist to make a similar statement.

Home of Ryan Korban via The Selby

See?

Foyer by Thomas Hamel

Okay, okay, so this look would be harder to just throw together, but you could still have a neat little moment in your own entryway using an unusual antique chair like this one, paired with a more modern piece like that concave sconce.

Todd Alexander Romano via Lonny

Adding an organized grouping of pictures is a perfect way to enhance a lonely corner of a room.

Home of Jim Aman and John Meeks via NYSD

Blarg. This is so perfect. The leather on the chairs, the sculpture, the pictures and they way they are hung. The bit of irreverence in the design. (See that skull?) Love, love, love.

Foyer by Victoria Hagan

And speaking of perfection... Victoria Hagan is a master. I love this serene, traditional look. Tapestry-covered chairs? Gorgeous!

I hope you all have a happy day!

There was a little girl who had a little burl

Hamptons home office by Carrier and Company

Hello, all! I hope everyone is having a good week so far! I got sidetracked recently, brainstorming room ideas after I saw the picture below. It is such an interesting color scheme and it made me think of the burl table I just marked down over on Chairish. That got me thinking about other ways to style it and here we are!

Living room by Barbara Barry

I like how there is not much color here, but the room has such depth. It manages a balance of warm and cool tones that makes for such an elegant room. I know y'all are going to get sick of me posting stuff about the items I have for sale but I chose them because I thought they were beautiful: in form, in color, in style. This table in particular:

Its smooth curves and combination of olive burl and macassar ebony woods caught my attention immediately. The colors on it are so lovely and it somehow manages to ride the line between modern and classic.

Pretty book matched burl tabletop

I could go on and on. Ha!

Michael Smith's Palm Springs home via Architectural Digest

I saw a similar table in the Architectural Digest article about the completely renovated Palm Springs home of Michael Smith and James Costos. (It's hiding there in the back of the picture above.)

You guys have got to check out that article. The house is so neat!

Vignette with burl wood console by Lilly Bunn

Palm Beach living room by Cullman & Kravis

I really think this table could fit in many different settings, but I kept coming back to the idea of it in a room with similar warm tones.

Phoebe Howard from her book Mrs Howard Room by Room

Then I started thinking how neat it would be contrasted against darker walls, but still in a more casual, comfortable color.

Room by CeCe Thompson Green (a Bunny Williams protege) via DiCorcia Design

And, coincidentally, an olive green room by Ms. Bunny Williams herself

So using these images and the nascent autumn as inspiration , I came up with a room of my own:

Foliage / Lamp / Table / Bird Prints / Sofa / Pillow / Pillow / Curtains / Chair / Chair Fabric / Paint Color

Unless you want a moody, enveloping room (which is fun too), it's good to keep the curtains and larger upholstery in the space light. I love these Anthropologie curtains; they really do make me think of falling leaves! I love hints of a theme in a space, so that's why I did birds on the pillows and the framed prints. You gotta have fun with it!

I hope this gives you some ideas for your own home! Have a great day!

Adams Style

Bedroom photo via Nuevo Estilo

Which is called "Federal style" in the States.

Parlor of Jagdgut Wachtelhof lodge in Austria via Lonny

Or some might just call it "symmetry". 

Vignette by Phoebe Howard

Adams style is something I first heard from my Mom when I was a kid. She was a decorator and the classic notes of this neoclassical genre were apparent in her work. It was actually started way back in the 1700s by three Scottish brothers, but it took on a life of its own as it was applied by different architects of the time. And certainly, when it crossed the pond, the Americans were bound to put their own spin on it. 

Living room by Victoria Hagan

 

Although one of the more common associations with this style is symmetry, most of the rooms here would not look like a true Adam brother space. There would be far more medallions, scrolls, and swags. 

Home decorated by Robert Adam in 1777

See what I mean? I love Federal style. Give me a good pilaster over a plain wall any day. My Mom even had arched pilasters installed in the doorways leading to our living and dining rooms. So pretty. 

Floral frenzy by Tom Scheerer

 

What is interesting to me is how these old decorating tenets can permeate through to today's style: in furniture arrangements, furniture design. 

Design by Jackye Lanham

Something as simple as the curve of a chair leg, for example, could have been brought to us by people who lived thousands of years ago. 

Another Adam brothers design

 

The chairs in the picture above hark back to the ancient Greek klismos chairs, with their swooping back legs and curved backs. An old style, even in the 1700s, made new by a different perspective.

Design by Suzanne Rheinstein

And isn't that what continues to be wonderful about design today? Things made new by a fresh approach? Innovation in the details?

Design by Westbrook Interiors

Too deep? Haha! Alright then. I hope you all have a great week!

 

The Gilded Age

A little hint at things to come....

Just a couple more....

Because they're so pretty....

Design by Isabel Lopez-Quesada

Design by Isabel Lopez-Quesada

In the Style of Saarinen

Nantucket beach house dining via Elle Decor

I love to see a mix of modern and traditional pieces in a home. That tension, as some decorators call it, helps give balance to a room the same way pairings like warm and cool tones, and smooth and rough textures do.

Living room by Jesse Carrier of Carrier and Company

The Saarinen, or Saarinen-style, chair was really one of the first mid-century modern items that I was interested in. The undulating lines of the chair are a perfect foil for the straight legs and sharp edges of dark metal bookcases (like those above) or wood tables (like the one below). The smooth lacquer finish contrasts perfectly with nubby linen or wool boucle.

Via Nuevo Estilo

I could see that the chair was a piece that could not only fit in myriad settings, but give that setting a twist, a fresh slant to the design.

Via Apartment Therapy

Kitchen design by Ashley Putman via Lonny

The pictures above and below touch upon how I would style these chairs in a room. I love the sleekness of the chairs mixed with the rough-hewn wood of oak tables.

Via Fashionably Living

This is a gorgeous version of an oak table I saw in a local Birmingham, Alabama shop called At Home (not the junky big-box one).

Zurich dining room by Steven Gambrel

This combination of pale wood with black tile is fantastic! And adding some greenery and plants is always a good idea. It brings life to a room.

Via Elle Decoration UK

I am not a minimalist by any stretch of the imagination, so I would have to go a bit further with furnishings: adding things like paintings and candlesticks, pretty cushions and rugs.

Chairs / Dinnerware / Artwork / Curtain Fabric / Foyer / Table / Succulent Arrangement/ Rug / Flooring

The Saarinen-style chairs shown above are part of my collection for Chairish. The cushions that come with them are actually the original red-orange corduroy, so I would update them in an interesting new fabric like this faux shagreen:

Faux Stingray Vinyl in Quartz

From all white minimalism to French flair, there are so many decorating approaches you can use to combine pieces of different styles and eras. How do you all handle mid-century in your mix?

I hope you enjoyed the post and will visit back soon!

Ingram Style

I only recently came across this article in Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles about the wonderful Bill Ingram's pied-à-terre in Midtown Atlanta. And, goodness, it is perfection.

Isn't it such a masterful collection of old and new, shiny and textured? There is so much to look at but in no way is it busy. What else could be expected from Mr. Ingram. So talented!

Photo via Mark D. Sikes

His Birmingham office in Mountain Brook Village is so pretty, yet unassuming. The trellis work on the door is such a neat touch!

View from inside the office - via Mark D. Sikes

That handsome young blur outside the window is Jimmy Laughlin, who works with Mr. Ingram. He and his equally handsome other half Jacob bought this (now) beauty in Forest Park, which was featured in Southern Living:

This was just down the street from where I used to live, so my dog and I would walk by there all the time. When the work started and the whitewashing began, I knew something good was happening. But, when they added that light fixture by the door, I knew there was an expert at work.

Pottery Barn Porthole Sconce

I wish you could see it better in the picture. It looks sort of like this one but bigger and cooler. Ha!

I always say that Birmingham is a small town disguised as a city. Everyone knows everyone just about or, at the very least, there's that whole six degrees of separation thing going on. I met Jimmy and Jacob once in Avondale nearby and they were so nice. We talked about their house and I remember them commenting then on the size of project they had taken on with it. I remember them talking about how if they could just get the kitchen finished, it would be smooth sailing. Jacob added that then, maybe, they could finally get a dog.

I'd say it looks like it all worked out in the end.    :)

I hope you all are having a great week!