Perfecting the Modern Traditional Blend

If you haven't noticed already, I've been hugely inspired by designers like Mark D. Sikes, Bruce Budd, Darryl Carter, and William Rankin McLure. Each of them has an aesthete that has really appealed to me over the last few months, and when I started thinking of how I'd create spaces in the new place, I took cues from each of them when I needed inspiration.

Part of the struggle in any home is to have a curated look. That thoughtful, and expert collection of things that have both a meaning and a symbiotic beauty. Perfecting the modern and traditional blend is not as easy as those four men make it look.

Design by Bruce Budd 

Take this room, designed by Bruce Budd. I was HUGELY inspired by this space. The French antiques, mixed with the modern glass table. Abstract and modern art hung side by side with antique sculpture and maps. The palette is calm, and soothing. The collections are lovely, and the clutter is contained. It's a stunning room in every way.

Nothing seems out of place, even though all of it comes from different themes, generations, and styles. It's a clever and difficult balance, that Budd does with great ease.

More of the space, looking into the other side of the room now. Potted olive tree and French chair next to modern laminate and glass tables, and antiqued mirror.

More of that room. You can see now, this is actually a bedroom. This is actually an incredible space. Bruce was the designer for the late Bunny Mellon who put him up in this tony carriage house while he was working on her family home. Bunny Mellon was a philanthropist, horticulturalist (who designed for The White House rose garden for Jackie Kennedy) and heiress to the Listerine fortune. FORTUNE!

Pretty snazzy digs, huh? The carriage house was featured in World of Interiors before Bruce moved on after finishing the Mellon residence. This space was my largest impetus in making a decision toward an all glass table. Mark D. Sikes further pushed me in that direction with this amazing space from his new book, Beautiful. Which I reviewed here. 

 

This space is, without a doubt, my idea of a dream room. It has all of the things that I find most beautiful, and it has really helped me pull together this version of my new space. It's a lovely room with amazing architectural details (which I don't have) but there are so many decorative details that I love here. The tailored, upholstered sofa. (CHECK!) The antique Oushak over jute. (CHECK! ish I have a sunwashed Anatolian over seagrass, a much less expensive alternative.) Blue and White porcelains (CHECK!) Modern Art (CHECK!) Books (CHECK!) Boxes (CHECK!) Leather (CHECK!) And that glass table ... (CHECK!)

Mark's personal design aesthetic has really been an inspiring one since I saw his home published in House Beautiful. But when he redecorated, and it was featured in Veranda - well, I committed myself to being an avid follower. So, if you're seeing a lot of his influence coming into the new space - it's with good reason. 

Mark has seen wild success in the last few years, with amazing projects published in House Beautiful and his amazing New York Times BestSeller, Beautiful. His fabric line with Schumacher just launched, his rugs with Merida, as well as his furniture and accessories line with Henredon furniture. I'm sure that we will see another book from Mark in 6-8 months. He's on fire right now!

Here's a sample of Mark's furniture line. I love this Presidio Settee, and those Queens Road Coromandel Screens! 

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I also love this Bel Air Stripe fabric in the Neutral colorway from his Schumacher fabric line. I just need a little of this in my life. 

Darryl Carter's spaces have always been an inspiration. He has been a master of blending modern and traditional for years, especially within very neutral spaces: 

And finally, young, beautiful, talented, rising star William Rankin McLure. We oddly enough moved the same weekend, and at the end of day one he was posting pictures of his beautifully finished space. Sigh. 

I mean REALLY!? R.E.A.L.L.Y!? How does he have FRESH FLOWERS already!? Surely someone sent these to him as a house warming gift. Where are mine!? All of his own original art hangs along the gallery wall in his new dining room, with a table from Holland and Company, in Atlanta.

I've blogged about William a few times. I think that he's a master at what he does, and I couldn't think of anyone more deserving of the success that he's seen these past few months. There are a few pics though that I really get so much inspiration from. This one from his first apartment: 

And this one from the apartment he just moved from, which will actually be featured on One Kings Lane soon. 

I'm also a HUGE fan of his paintings: 

If you're interested in seeing more of his paintings, or contacting him about them, you can find more about that here. 

Each of these designers is unique in their own way, but they do all have a few things in common. They appreciate the layering necessary to create a good interior. They all have a flair for modern art, neutral colors, and antiques. After years of helping clients successfully find their own style, I finally took the time to understand the evolution of my own. I spent the majority of my twenties in someone else's house, with someone else's restrictions and rules, trying to blend what I thought was my design identity with theirs. I don't regret that time, but I firmly believe that our tastes change as we age, explore, travel, and are exposed to more and more beauty, but eventually, with freedom and unrestricted space, you find out what your core foundation is. Mine may have taken a bit longer than I hoped, but these four designers have helped me to find this version of it thus far. 

I'd be silly not to also mention Joni from Cote de Texas, who has been inspiring me for 7+ years, and has challenged me to do things I wouldn't have thought of doing otherwise; Joan from for the love of a house, who has always encouraged me to buy and keep what I love; Deserae from Peeking Thru the Sunflowers who has so much talent in vignettes, and layering, and is constantly there to save me from melt downs; ALL of my blog readers who applaud and encourage and question my work making me better and better, especially artist Dianne Ballard, designer Dean Farris, my Canadian friend from RMS and long time reader, mrsben, and Houston based artist and author Leslie Sinclair.

I'll be back soon with updates, just as soon as I get the coffee table, console table and cover, leather chair, and a few other details. I'll need to finish painting the baseboards, putting down the floor, and touching up. But progress pics are coming! 

Inspired by Nate

Nate Berkus for Curated Kravet

 

 

Kravet, the mid-range to the trade textile company recently let loose of a new series of collections compiled by designers. These include curated visions by Nick Olsen, Barclay Butera, Nate and more. I fell in love with the vision that Nate created for Kravet. A masterpiece that has inspired the newest move in my apartment. Let's take a look:

Gorgeous, right? So, inspired by this, there are a few changes in the works at The Apartment. Not too many - but enough that I think there'll be a noticeable change for the good, and that will work better overall with the way that I need to use that space.

1. Bye Bye ottoman/daybed/settee. That'll go into the bedroom that WAS to be a dining room.
2. Hello rectangular table, part dining room table part library table.
3. Hello benches. I have two, vintage sewing stools. They're slightly different, but much more likely to play well as dining room seating. I'll find two more, reupholster the seats, and voila.
4. Bye Bye French chairs with the slips. I have no idea what I'll do with these. Probably sell them, maybe repurpose the slips and donate the chairs? I'm up in the air on this!
5. Grab 2 Lanterns from storage (thankfully, I have something SUPER similar to these already!)
6. Enter different chairs. Possibly the bamboo pavilion chairs, maybe something mismatched and upholstered.

Now, how long will it take me to get this all finished and pulled together? We'll see!

Remember This Guy?

A while back, I did a post on a designer that was as attractive as his work, John Jacob Zwiegelaar. His South African design company, John Jacob Interiors, has an impressive portfolio of work, most of which has been shared all over the internet, on blogs and pinterest.

 

I mean - really? REALLY! His designs are just as gorgeous, with a body of work that spans several years you can see how John grew into the designer that he is today. The press seemed to be a little quiet state side about John the last couple of years, but he recently uploaded a new project that is absolutely stunning, and I wanted to share that with you here.

 

 

The house was featured in Conde Nast's House & Garden South Africa, in May of 2015, and is situated in the Cape Town, South Africa suburb of Constantia. Famed for its wine, Constantia sits in a valley at the foot of the Constantiaberg mountain. Enjoy!

 





Inspired by Vicente Wolf

As you know, well - you may know, Arlo and I are moving to a new apartment. It's more dog-friendly, in a more walkable neighborhood. It's not as nice as this apartment, the rooms are less formal and the floors are carpeted with a moderately neutral wall-to-wall (giving up these hardwood floors is going to be tough). But when you're renting ... how's the song go? You can't always get what you want, but sometimes, you get what you need?

Anyway - last night, I worked on upholstering some chairs I bought in Lancaster, PA this summer, and found myself in a bit of a pickle. The fabric I chose, a wool suiting fabric in the most gorgeous of mushroom/gray/brown, did not work at all with the finish on the chair, a French bergere chair with a Louis XVI rounded back, and beautiful carved detail. I was in the car, on my way back to the fabric store to pick something else, when Vicente Wolf rescued me (metaphorically) and I headed to Home Depot instead!

Vicente Wolf's Manhattan Apartment

 

 

There are times when a room will stick with me. I'm sure it happens to all of you, too. A room that you can recall the fabric, the layout, the art, the floor, the windows - even more minute details, like the orchids, or the art on chairs, the gilt wood furniture with that gorgeous mushroom upholstery. You see where I'm going with this?

 

So, yes - instead of changing the upholstery, I changed the finish of the chair. Up all night, starting the gilding process. Here's where I left it:

 

 

Sorta looks like a scene from Dexter in my dining room right now, but the chair is dry and I think all that's left to do is a little waxing, and the upholstery can start. Now, back to Vicente. The apartment is amazing, and has been done and redone a lot - so, because I'm totally inspired by it again, and I was going to research all of this for myself anyway - here's a mass of photos of the apartment in its various design stages, all very beautiful, very neutral, very layered, very Wolf. Enjoy!

 

I believe (and I could totally be wrong, feel free to correct me) that the infatuation with Vicente Wolf and his Garment District loft in NYC came after an Elle Décor feature in 2008. Vicente has been creating rooms since 1988, and has published three books, one in 2002, one in 2006, and another in 2010, but the Elle Décor article is where I seem to be able to start the initial photography:

 

 

I think these may be some of the most circulated pictures on the net. But in 2009, things had already started to change. The Wall Street Journal did a feature on Twin Lofts, and we start to see things move from room to room, and upholstery changing colors:

 

 

Veranda magazine came in shortly after and did a feature as well:

 

 

Not too much had changed. But in 2010, Vicente shared this pic of his apartment on his blog, and we see the daybed is no longer in the living room:

 

 

New York Social Diary did an interview here, and got these photos of his apartment in 2011:

 

 

In 2013, Rue Mag, an online publication did a tour and interview with Wolf, and in just those 2 years, you already see the apartment start to change a bit:

 

 



 

In 2014, Vicente had his home featured in NYC's NBC4, and their Open House feature:

 





These professional photos of the Loft were taken by One Kings Lane in April of 2015, during a tour they did as part of a sale of similar furnishings curated by Vicente:

 

 



But perhaps the most current photos of the loft, were from July of 2015, taken by Paloma of La Dolce Vita blog fame. She only shared photos of the bedroom, but they were beautiful: