As an interior designer, I live for things with a story. If
it’s old, got a crack in it, or a scuff, I love it. Gravity pulls me to it.
Being in a furniture store with all new stuff isn’t really my thing. Don’t get
me wrong, I love a new piece, but take me to an antique mall, and gosh, it
feels like home. What’s that old adage….
“What’s old is new again,” right?
This pretty much applies to everything in the design world.
I mean, what’s an idea without the influence behind it?
For this designer, I love giving old pieces new life. A
fresh coat of paint, a bit of trim, a new fabric….or all three! Comfort is key,
but style needn’t be sacrificed either! Your home can be both. Since I began my business, I’ve had the pleasure of working
with lots of different types of clients – different styles, different tastes,
and very different personalities. (Guess that double major in Psychology and
Furnishings & Interiors really paid off! Ha!) These little differences have
been great for me though. I love all styles of furniture, interiors,
exteriors…you name it. Traditional, modern, classic, and contemporary.
Chinoiserie, rustic, mod, and eclectic. Love it all. And this is truly
reflected in my own home. I remember Nate Berkus saying one time “Nothing looks
better than a contemporary art piece over a traditional chest.” Yep, that about
sums me up, Nate. Having a fabulous resource like One Kings Lane is a dream….a place to
not only learn about what’s in our
home but to shop for incredible
pieces too! The OKL resource
center is invaluable!
I change my house All.The.Time. My girlfriends say that’s
the fun part about coming over….it’s always different. I’ve curbed that a bit
since having a baby. What with all this free time on my hands {insert sarcasm}.
J What I am consistently
drawn to though is modern fabrics (think lattices, crisp ikats, and tribal
prints), accessories with patina (think wrinkles in books, cracks in painting
frames, and chips on china), accent furniture with a story (grandma’s end
table, a coffee table from an antique store, or a re-upholstered stool), and larger
neutral upholstered pieces (linen slip-covered dining chairs, chenille covered
club chairs, or a leather recliner). The combination makes it our home.
Through the years, I’ve been lucky enough to have quite a
few hand-me-downs, and when your mama and grandmothers have excellent taste,
this is a maja plus! Grateful for these special gifts, I’ve figured out how to incorporate
a few of these as statement pieces in our home.
One of my favorites is a particular camel back sofa that sat
in my grandparents’ living room for most of my life. My grandmother
re-decorated her formal living room in the early’90’s with the fashionable colors-of-the-moment.
When I inherited the sofa, the mauve, deep teal, and dark gray tapestry that
covered it, well, wasn’t exactly my style. But the beautifully curved back, the
singular seat cushion, and the memories were, in fact, just my style. I had big
plans for this piece. My husband and I
were in the process of moving, and I had a dream of having this sofa covered in
a fabulously indulgent raspberry pink velvet for my home office. Ta-da! Now,
it’s where I sit and design mood boards for clients, flip through fabric
samples, and spin through my paint chart. It’s preppy and glam and super-girly
and nostalgic all at once.
My upholsterer is wonderfully talented. He recovered the
piece for me with a laugh - perhaps this color was an unusual choice to say the
least. But, the after product is simply gorgeous, and the shiny silver nail
heads that accentuate the back add just the right amount of glam. The sofa
floats in the middle of my long office/guest room, so the silver nail heads
were a fantastic addition. If she could speak, she’d say “dahhhh-ling” in her
best Southern drawl.
Before I was married, I found a super-deal on an old
pine-trimmed wingback chair from the ‘60’s at an antique mall. Tucked into a
back corner, the original fabric still covered it – a not-so-lovely thick woven
in blue, green, and chartreuse floral – I am sure this color combo was a
“statement” fabric itself back in the day! I loaded that guy into the back of
my SUV so fast! I loved the high, straight back, and low arm, but it needed
some maja TLC. The first fabric I had on it was a blue, orange, and green ikat,
and quickly became our beagle’s favorite chair. One move later, and a new
location for the chair, it’s now got a crisp white on the front and a textured
basket weave along the back and sides. The look ended up being very “custom”,
and I love all sides of this little chair. It’s handsome, linear, and best of
all, has a little bit of a past.
There’s just something about a bench at the foot of a bed.
Our king size bed yearned for something at it’s looooong foot. Since we have an
upholstered headboard, this space at the end really needed the right piece. My
monthly trek to Scott’s Antique Market in Atlanta produced a little caned bench
from the 1970’s. It was poking out of an end booth…kind of front and center for
me to see. I made a low offer, and the dealer said “Sold!” Alright, load it up!
When I got home, I grabbed a can of grey spray paint and went to town. I mean,
I guess I could’ve kept the flaking peach paint with more mauve underneath and
the green, peach, and lavender calico on the cushion….nah, who am I kidding.
It. Had. To. Go. I kinda splurged on the wild leopard woven ….it’s super unexpected
but ultra-cool too. Grey with chartreuse and blue = pretty chic!
Now, I’ve got a place to pile all the gorgeous pillows from our bed at night. Hehe.
Anyone read Mary Kay Andrews’ Hissy Fit? I love her words “plates need chips, chests need a scratch
or two, and floors need a dent – stories to tell your story!” And old chairs
need a bit of a past. Amen! I love those words, and think of them often when
perusing my route of flea markets, antique malls, and second-hand shops. Maybe
next time you run across a neat old chair, you too, will think of her words.
Happy Hunting!
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