Going way, way back. Suzanne's Hancock Park living room decked out in pattern over pattern over pattern, chintz, chintz, chintz, and color galore! Very 80's - but still high end. Then, she and her husband, also an avid collector of antiques, purchased the antique divan that we begin to see having a recurring center room role. In December of 1993, the room stole the cover of House Beautiful for their Christmas issue:
A little while later, however, the room got a much more serene and subdued color palate. No furniture changed, well, not much of it anyway - but the upholstery did. The internet was in place by now, and the room sorta spread like crazy. People loved it! And why wouldn't you?
The color went from persimmon to glacial green. The art moved to make way for a butler's desk, the antique Aubusson carpets made way for one, much larger seagrass rug, the Scalamandre taffeta curtains made way for these, much less fussy ones, and the room began to open itself up. The furniture was reupholstered, but for the most part, all of the pieces in the room stayed put, except for the addition of the French bergere chairs that are fireside.
Some gilded pieces came in, upholstered in a sumptuous velvet. A pair, actually.
And with those, a few other things came too. New winter carpets, the seagrass rolled away til' summer in favor of this oriental.
Back now, probably in the summer, the seagrass is down, and the velvet chairs have stayed. That divan still looking gorgeous in it's tailored stripes. Then, all of the furniture was fitted for slips, and wow, what a change!
First there was no seagrass. It was just about the wood and the fabric. Because this look was and is probably (well, until you see the new slips!) the most popular there are no limit to the number of photos you can find showing off this beautiful slipcovered space.
It seems that at different points Suzanne moved around the chairs in the room, maybe just for a little change here and there, but again, for the most part, slipcovers did all that she needed. No huge re-design, no spending additional thousands in new furniture, no regrets about selling the pieces she used to own. She bought what she loved, and she gave it new clothes to suit her taste in that moment. That, my friends, is the transformative power of a slipcover. It has nothing to do with helping cover ugly furniture, or a lower cost alternative to upholstery, or masking bad upholstery - even when you have amazing furniture, slips can be a less expensive way to change the entire face of the room - for a week, for a month, you choose.
And now, for the new slips!
Beautiful right? You're wondering what the fabric is, aren't you!? Well, maybe some of you know this already. But for those of you who do not, it's Lee Jofa's: Garden Roses, designed by Suzanne and part of her collection with the fabric powerhouse, sold at her store Hollyhock, for $196/yard.
This colorway, Beige/Aqua is one option, but there is a second, called Lime/Leaf, and a discontinued colorway: Buff/Sage. If you are a fan of Suzanne's work, or if you follow along with the once a year Greystone Mansion transformations, you've already seen this fabric in a room by Rheinstein, way back in March of 2009 when Veranda covered the Greystone Showhouse that year:
I'm really in love with the new slips at Suzanne's house, and I'm glad she's embraced chintz in her home again. What say ye?
