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!

Thrill of the Hunt

Living room design by Miles Redd and Gil Schafer

I'm sure many of you out there have experienced this: you see a picture of a beautiful room in which you find that perfect fabric that you've been searching for. But only then does the adventure begin. Who makes the fabric? What is it called? Where can I find it? You will search for hours on the computer, hunting determinedly to find that gorgeous material.

Both my mother and I are experiencing just such a labor of love, hunting for a Cowtan & Tout cotton (upholstering the tufted chair shown in both pictures above) and a Kravet silk, respectively.

My mother's living room is not unlike this one so cleverly assembled by the spirited Mr. Redd. It is grounded with a similar, massive oriental rug, punctuated and structured with warm antiques, and doused in natural light from a broad wall of windows. The chair fabric, enigmatically called "Rupert Cord Cotton" (where they find these names I do not know), would be a natural fit in such a room.

Design by Alex Papachristidis featured in Elle Decor

This is where I first saw my elusive fabric: in the latest Elle Decor. (Please excuse the terrible quality of the photo above.) The interiors Papachristidis created for this space are intriguing, glamorous, and even a bit sensual. My own bedroom may only aspire to be these things, but I cannot help but feel that this fabric would bring my room far closer to that ideal than any other could.

This photo shows one side of my little bedroom. Would the warm browns and exotic ikat on that Kravet silk not be a perfect complement to my happy little collections? (By the way, the walls are painted with quarter formula Cliffside Gray by Benjamin Moore, the lamp is antique, the tiny painting is by my father, and the bust was a recent hand-me-down from my mother. You may recognize the other objects from a previous post of mine....)


Kravet "Passage" silk/wool in Stone 


I believe this is the color Papachristidis used in the London apartment above, although his version is admittedly more extravagant due to the hand-beading and embroidery he added in order to make them "sing".

Bedroom by Garrow Kedigian

Another designer with similar style (who is also a favorite of mine), Garrow Kedigian, used this same fabric in a different colorway to frame the huge iron casement windows in a Manhattan bedroom, which was featured in the latest House Beautiful.


Kravet "Passage"silk/wool in Bluestone 

I love how this fabric provides the only cool tones in this warm and rather neutral room. The combinations of patterns and textures, however, are anything but boring: the furry blanket, the lattice-like print on the rug, the striae composition on the armchairs, the gilded paper panels on the wall. Ahh, to wake up in such a place!

Many discoveries-cum-searches like this are, inevitably, in my future, but isn't the hunt all part of the fun!