Photograph of Miles Redd, Courtesy of Ballard Designs
A few adjectives come to mind when thinking about the design work of Miles Redd: daring, whimsical, cultivated, and of course, chic. Redd founded his eponymous design firm in New York City in 1998 after learning the business under designer Bunny Williams and antiques dealer John Rosselli and has been a regular on the lists of top designers in national design publications ever since. In 2019 he partnered with David Kaihoi and renamed the firm REDD KAIHOI. His tome, THE BIG BOOK OF CHIC (Assouline 2012) is, in his words, “about dreams coming true” with mesmerizing images on oversized pages that speak to his vision.
Redd spoke at the 2017 Fall Show Lecture Series on the ‘Inspiration and Influence in Interior Design’ examining many of the 18th- 20th century tastemakers who have influenced him, and how he has reinterpreted ideas to make them current and exciting for today’s modern needs. He believes that all ideas are a just a juxtaposition of another idea, and that if you borrow from many, it is merely research.
View of Redd’s living room featuring a ionic column pedestal topped with a white porcelain vase. Photo credit: Paul Costello/OTTO
Now a year into this pandemic, I asked Redd a few questions about the past year.
Ariane Trimuschat: Where have you been spending the last several months of isolation? Miles Redd: NYC Baby!
AT: What has NYC been like during the pandemic? Is it strange to see it with no tourists? MR: It has been quiet, but with quiet comes a kind of peace, but she is back. The sun and vaccine has the city buzzing again.
AT: Have you been experiencing the city in a new way? MR: It is beautiful to see New York rest a bit. I don’t want to say I have enjoyed the pandemic, but I try to look for the positives and the still city was comforting once you got used to it.
AT: What is your favorite piece in your home? MR: A drawing of panther done by an old friend which hangs in my living room.
View of the living room featuring a William Kent console and panther illustration above. Artist is a friend of the designer. Photo credit: Paul Costello/OTTO
AT: Aside from people and pets, what makes a house a home? MR: Life really, but I always say the second you bring plant material in, and it could be a leaf in a vase, life sparks.
View from the kitchen. Bust of Diana. Planters by Accents of France. Photo credit: Paul Costello/OTTO
AT: What brings you joy about spending more time at home? MR: I am a bit of a homebody, I just love being around things I have collected that bring me joy, but having friends over to enjoy the ambiance and atmosphere gives me the most joy.
The den features a plaster table and custom, red velvet sectional and painted floors. Photo credit: Paul Costello/OTTO
AT: What is your favorite room or area in your home? Where do you go for a moment of quiet and calm? MR: My bedroom, I like to stretch out and meditate, because it is cool and peaceful.
Master bedroom with canopy bed by Larrea Studio. Photo credit: Paul Costello/OTTO
Master bedroom – view of Tuxe- do chest and side chair. Faux fur throw. Photo credit: Paul Costello/OTTO
AT: As we are all mostly working from home, what do you do to create a space, to separate work from your personal life? MR: I have small office at home, that I keep isolated for work.
AT: How has the last few months of isolation changed your design sense, your perspective on interior design and how people live at home? MR: I think it has really emphasized how important a nest is where you are comfortable and soothed and can take refuge from the world.
Master bathroom-purchased from a David Adler house and reassembled in Miles’ New York townhouse. Photo credit: Paul Costello/OTTO
AT: How has the pandemic changed the design attitudes of your clients? The things they are asking for or wanting in their homes? MR: I think clients realize they may be spending more time at home, so they are more focused and detailed, and going for it a bit more.
AT: What are you missing most these days? MR: Human connection is suffering – it is just hard to reach out and make new friends at the moment, but good to focus on old friendships and family.
AT: You spoke in the 2017 Fall Show Lecture Series about the people who have influenced you and what inspires you in design. What do you love about the Fall Show/a favorite memory? MR: I am really impressed with the booth designs, I feel like the dealers make such an effort on design and it is very inspiring.
Miles Redd speaking in the San Francisco Fall Show Lecture Series
AT: With no social engagements or traveling/commuting, do you have more free time on your hands? What are you doing with this time? MR: Taking a breath, relaxing, enjoying the peace.
Looking onto the back terrace from the master bedroom. Faux horn windows painted by Agustin Hurtado. Photo credit: Paul Costello/OTTO
AT: What rule are you breaking during isolation that you normally don’t allow yourself? MR: I don’t believe in rules.
AT: What is the first thing you’ll do when all restrictions are lifted? MR: Kiss a handsome stranger! HA!
By Ariane Maclean Trimuschat
Ariane served as Show Director for the San Francisco Fall Show for 7 years through 2019. She is now the show’s international liaison as Director at Large, living in London with her family. Follow Ariane on her blog, SOJOURNEST, where she focuses on all things home and travel and on Instagram at @arianetrim.
David Netto doesn’t have a signature style. “I come at every project with respect for the architecture,” he says “I try to make a portrait of the client, the person, it’s not about me.” Netto grew up in New York City and escaped to Los Angeles, where he settled with his family and business. He is a multi-talented creative: his interior design firm, David Netto Design was founded in 2000, followed by his line of modern children’s furniture, NettoCollection which he sold in 2009, and his lighting collaboration with the artist, Jennifer Nocon, Netto Nocon Lamps. He is a writer for publications including The New York Times, Town & Country and The Wall Street Journal, along with a monograph on the work of Francois Catroux, published by Rizzoli in 2016.
Photography by Katrina Dickson
Netto spoke in the Fall Show Lecture Series in 2016 upon the release of the book. He is enamored with San Francisco “It is such a great town for antiques and design and has a legacy of great style; it is a town that really celebrates the Fall Show,” he shared. “There is a passion for the home in a very sophisticated way in San Francisco, the same way there is a great opera there. San Francisco is interested in the best so you always know you’ll experience something special.”
Living room of a modern beach house for a newlywed couple with Calder tapestry. Photography by Gieves Anderson
I recently spoke with Netto about coming out of the pandemic and how it has changed his design sensibility. “It’s made me a lot more efficient because I used to wait to go somewhere to see something and everything would take weeks between meetings and you had the impression, out of habit, that in-person was the only way to conduct design meetings. I just made a very complex presentation with someone who wants very complex patterns and textiles. The idea of explaining without being able to put the samples in her hand was weird. We just did it in zoom and it worked. In this reality I’m busier than I’ve ever been.”
View of Living Room of Southampton country house. A pair of Jean Michel Frank armchairs sit near a Motherwell tapestry in a room overlooking the ocean. Photography by Paul Costello
Could it be that the new virtual world has made things more efficient? “The hardest thing for me is that you can’t just go shopping,” he says. “I love to go to showrooms, it’s a contact sport.” The lockdowns have had a dramatic effect on the way showrooms and galleries are able to operate – “the thing I fear the most,” says Netto, “is the loss of the shops and businesses; so many are going out of business. That’s going to start affecting antiques dealers and the network of small businesses. That’s the industry change I dread the most. I do much more at auction now. If there is one thing I am doing-I am buying much more inventory and holding onto it; I have much more of a commitment to holding special furniture in inventory.”
Mirrored chimney breast in Upper East Side Apartment with antique mantel and Pierre Paulin Tongue Chairs. Photography by Francesco Lagnese
As far as what clients are asking for in these new times, Netto says their needs haven’t changed wildly, except for one thing, “People want Zoom backdrops in their house.” But Netto sees one room in particular coming to the forefront: “2020 has been the comeback of the formal dining room. “The meals are more old-fashioned and structured, and people look forward to that. I think that will continue,” he forecasts. Let’s hope.
View from living room to entrance gallery of Upper East Side Apartment showing walls replaced by half height bookcases. Photography by Francesco Lagnese
Netto sees every room as needing the same amount of attention when it comes to design, but not necessarily the same financial investment. “Every room should get equal amounts of thought, but I don’t think there is any need to spend consistently in every room; some rooms can be accomplished without any contents put into them; beautiful plasterwork can make a room -the most important space can be the least expensive” he says. He also believes that we should celebrate stairs and passages with considerable thought as these areas of a house are as important as the rooms.
Lower 5th Avenue Apartment of photography collectors, entry hall. Floor contains reclaimed heart pine boards framed by borders of white oak. Photography by Don Hamerman
When it comes to mixing styles and periods, it’s nothing new for Netto : “I don’t ever not do that, it brings young energy,” he says. “One mixing secret is to use the same period, with different cultures.” What to avoid, he says, is not using contents of high quality. “If you are mixing high quality pieces, you’ll have success.”
Color is the scariest thing for him. “I am an architect by training. I always have to draw and I am always jealous of peoples use of color, the really flamboyant designers like David Hicks. There is something optimistic about the colors I’m drawn to. One of the nicest compliments I ever received was from my friend Miles Redd. He said-‘I love your style, it’s so optimistic.’ Stephen Sills is a master of color and juxtaposition; he says ‘there are no ugly colors, it’s all what you put them next to.’” For Netto, color is a history lesson, and he is inspired by the French 1960s design where they were not afraid to try every possible use of color—designers such as Georges Geffroy – Christian Dior’s designer. “I try to challenge myself,” he shares.
Netto’s Kips Bay Showhouse room is an eclectic composition featuring Art Deco club chairs and a Lalanne bird table. The lamp in foreground is from his lighting collection with contemporary ceramics artist Jennifer Nocon
But nothing matters without the right lighting. “It doesn’t matter what you do if you don’t know how to light a room,” he says. And it’s not so easy—not everyone knows how to properly light a room. “Recessed lighting can work – a little technology -I love recessed lighting when it is artfully deployed; two over a window to illuminate the curtains gives a nice effect,” he says. “Every switch has to have a dimmer, no bulb should be more than 40 watts. That’s a thing for me, I like very low lighting, lower than you think you want,” he stresses, and when I pushed back, imagining putting on makeup or reading a book with a 40-watt bulb, Netto stood his ground, which I admire.
Entry Hall of Southampton country house with secret door concealed in bookcase to guest room. Photography by Paul Costello
When working with new clients, Netto says he first needs to get to know them, and then create options for how they will love their house. “It comes out in dialogue– It’s my job to tease it out of them – I want to give them something they never knew they wanted,” he says. “Every room should have three good reasons to enter, and there should be two good reasons for making a design decision. I will have completely failed if my clients rarely use a room.” Clients who collect make it easy. “The nicest thing is when someone is a collector, one of my earliest projects was with a photography collector–you can’t make it look bad. And everyone needs books; I don’t do many houses that aren’t filled with books,” he admits.
Living room of Lower 5th Avenue Apartment. The mantel is exaggerated in width to disguise awkward proportions of firebox. Photography by Don Hamerman
For all that goes into transforming a house through design, Netto’s key to creating timeless décor is simple. “It’s all about quality,” he says. “If you choose great things and have really good furniture, it’s the best way to make a room look timeless. The thing is if you’re a good decorator you just don’t think about it being timeless; in my own work I don’t think about that and my work has aged pretty well.
Living Room of Connecticut House; Louis XV ebonized desk with a pair of Isamu Kenmochi wicker chairs, an African clay bowl sits on the brass table by the fireplace. Photography by Francesco Lagnese
One style I like right now that is agreeable is the re-emergence of wicker that is everywhere. But a good decorator shouldn’t follow trends, they should set the trends. If you’re not setting trends you’re not doing the highest level of work.”
By Ariane Maclean Trimuschat
Ariane served as Show Director for the San Francisco Fall Show for 7 years through 2019. She is now the show’s international liaison as Director at Large, living in London with her family. Follow Ariane on her blog, SOJOURNEST, where she focuses on all things home and travel and on Instagram at @arianetrim.
A Room is Like a Cocktail Party, and all the Pieces Merely Guests
2020 has made designer Brian McCarthy grateful. “I’m one of the lucky ones,” he admits. “We have loved being in New York City during this past year, it has reconnected us with the city in a new way; when the gyms closed, I have had to adopt a new practice: walking. I go up to Riverside Park and use the parallel bars, it keeps me fit. I live in midtown Manhattan, opposite Carnegie Hall and it’s been dead. While most of my employees had the din of sirens, we had silence.”
Photography by Francesco Lagnese
One of the country’s top interior designers, McCarthy’s clients span the globe. A former partner at Parish-Hadley, he founded his eponymous design firm in 1992. McCarthy is a regular on the major design publications’ lists of the best designers, is the author of two books on design, Luminous Interiors and Parish-Hadley Tree of Life, which he co-authored with Bunny Williams, and has won numerous awards for his work, so he is not used to sitting still. “If I didn’t have my office I wouldn’t be able to do my job,” he says. “Everyone in my office was working from home. And like everyone, we were doing Zoom meetings, which take a lot out of you.”
Library of home in Southampton – Photography by Thomas Loof
But with all the adjustments of last year, McCarthy has not seen a dramatic change in his design sensibility. “The idea of a home being comfortable and practical has become more important for people, because they have been nesting, and they are looking at things in ways they didn’t before. We didn’t look at our homes endlessly before. For me it was great fun, but it raised questions for clients because they were looking at the same things so much.”
Living room of home in Palm Beach – Photography by Fritz von der Schulenburg
Looking forward to 2021 and beyond, It will be curious to see what habits we retain from this pandemic and how industries will change the way they work. “For decorators, thinking about our offices, we can do a lot more online,” says McCarthy. But, he explains, with interior design, it is tricky as it is such a visual and tactile industry. “During lockdown you couldn’t go to the D&D building. Seeing is believing; unless you really know furniture, it’s easy to make a mistake; seeing something online is not the same as holding it, touching it. Interviewing young designers, they are so used to looking at a computer screen, it is troubling.”
Dining room of home in Palm Beach – Photography by Fritz von der Schulenburg
For clients, McCarthy sees a subtle shift. “Most of my clients have big enough houses, but some could function better. A line of questioning that would occur today is what would make your life function better? If it’s a scenario where someone may work at home, they may need a change in the day to day. I think it’s been interesting to see families who were empty nesters now have a full house with kids home from college. There is a new stress on the use of house,” he says. And for most homes, there are some rooms that get the most traffic. “Not in terms of distribution of time, but for sure we focus on where the majority of time will be spent—which is usually the family room. It all depends on how they live, whether they have help. Incorporating smart thinking that will affect their quality of life, bathrooms, good closets, he says.”
Living room of home in Southampton – Photography by Thomas Loof
Setting the Stage
The most important element in the room is not always the same for McCarthy. “I talk about what the key pieces should be. You have your leading man/woman, then the co-stars, and the supporting cast. The lead doesn’t have to be the most expensive piece. To throw art into the mix–if art is a component of how you see your lives moving forward–if there is a wall that may get a big painting, that will contribute. Art becomes this very important part of a room. We think about the foreground: what are the silhouettes of the furniture? What is landscape in the mid-ground as it relates to the art on the wall? It is all connected.”
Living room of home in Palm Beach – Photography by Fritz von der Schulenburg
On Timeless Decor
“You live long enough, you live through all these different swings and styles,” says McCarthy. “I was incredibly blessed to start at Parish-Hadley. I had a start in the classics and traditional. That has shifted–it is now a new classical–we are always referencing it. Twenty years from now there will always be some aspects of design that will look tired. But I don’t follow trends, I create what inspires me; it’s about being true to yourself and true to your clients.
Dining room of home in Los Angeles – Photography by Fritz von der Schulenburg
The benefit of getting older is the experience, but my team is always looking at new artists, new designers. All the galleries we work with are constantly showing us new work. I need the young energy—they see things differently. I definitely find inspiration from other people’s work, but I’m not so much looking for that when I’m looking at what people do.
Media room of home in Palm Beach – Photography by Fritz von der Schulenburg
The Times They Are Changing
The design world has changed dramatically in the last few decades in terms of the technology available. For McCarthy, the most profound change is the use of 3D modeling. “we can now draw a house and have the whole thing modelled—we do this with all our projects. Our clients can walk in the front door and though the house; it takes all the questions out of the equation. In the past you would be looking at renderings, and 2D. At this point in time, the most important technology for me is 3D. For clients who need a visual aid, it is incredibly helpful, and the beauty of it is, that we can go into the 3D and update things as we make change.
Main Lounge final installation – Photography by Thomas Loof
The Process
Every project has a starting point, and for McCarthy, it is gaining an understanding of his clients’ needs and desires. “One of my first questions for any client is if they keep an image book. Do they save images of things they love? If not, I ask them to gather together as much as they can: what they love, and what they don’t like—all of that starts to sharpen the point. Start with magazines and tear out pictures. Some people are great at keeping digital images; Pinterest is great for that. Rugs, patterns, colors, no detail too small; it’s all incredible food for thought. A lot of people can’t verbalize what it is that moves them; a picture can do that. And that can help me ask questions. If someone can show me their current home—and the things they want to take to the next home, that helps paint the picture. I love a collaborative client with a strong point of view,” he admits.
Inspiration to Design
Inspiration to Design
What’s Next
Looking forward, McCarthy has several projects on the horizon, including a 9,300 square foot duplex in Manhattan with 15’ ceilings and unbelievable views and a 510’ tri-hull boat, “the main deck is 80’ wide–enormous,” he says. “It will be super modern, an entirely different direction for me.” Also in the works is a project in Monaco. “We’ve worked on this apartment in the past, we just finished last year redoing the owner’s suite, and he is now is ready to gut the whole apartment, but we know it very well so in that regard, the current travel restrictions don’t prevent us from moving forward.
Grand Salon in Chalet in Switzerland
On Rooms and Cocktail Parties
McCarthy has a charming tendency to turn design into a living breathing thing: a room is the stage and the pieces in it merely players. Or, put another way, he says: “I draw the analogy between decorating and a good cocktail party—who’s on the guest list? You want to make it animated, lively, smart. Each client has their own taste. The one component I bring is introducing them to the guests—the ideas—that may relate to what they know they like but bringing something new to the conversation. It’s like everything, it’s part of building the relationship; you establish a dialogue when you discuss different ideas. You don’t have to play it safe, you want to find something that’s really great. It’s all about presenting things in a way that helps them decide—it has to be their decision. Nothing is too good to be true, there’s always something else, frankly you might find something better. It’s all about discovery, particularly if you’re curious.”
By Ariane Maclean Trimuschat
Ariane served as Show Director for the San Francisco Fall Show for 7 years through 2019. She is now the show’s international liaison as Director at Large, living in London with her family. Follow Ariane on her blog,SOJOURNEST, where she focuses on all things home, design and travel and on Instagram @arianetrim.
The living room of Cullman’s country home displays some of her extensive collection of Americana Photograph by Eric Piasecki
A longtime supporter of the arts, Cullman has chaired several antiques shows and is a frequent lecturer and panelist on the subjects of design, art and antiques. In 2017, she spoke at the San Francisco Fall Show’s Lecture Series on the Mix Masters Panel. “The San Francisco Show is the perfect sized show for me”, she says. “excellent quality with a large variety of dealers.” She loves shopping the show and named a few of her favorite finds over the years; a Chinese export porcelain tureen from Earle D. Vandekar of Knightsbridge, a beautiful English Regency chair from Clinton Howell Antiques and a nineteenth century garden sun dial from Finnegan Gallery.
The sun room in Cullman’s Connecticut country home is her favorite room in the house. Photograph by Eric Piasecki
Working Through a Pandemic
While 2020 has kept us all fairly homebound, Cullman has been lucky in that she lives close to her office and the Manhattan showrooms and her weekends are spent at her country house in Connecticut. “spending the weekends in the country with my children and grandchildren has been the silver lining of COVID.” She says. Fortunately, my office (in the city) is a few blocks from home and since we reopened at the end of June, the staff rotates hours and days to create a safe office environment. When home in my apartment from March to June, I was lucky enough to work in my study at a Regency desk (that had actually previously belonged to Bunny Williams), surrounded by my extensive design library, which I finally had a chance to read.”
A view of Ellie’s office in her New York City apartment. Photograph by Nick Johnson
On Collecting
Collecting is a passion of Cullman’s. To her, a house becomes a home through the stories told in the pieces collected over the years, “personal collections-fine or fun, which express the owner’s interests and passions,” she explains. She adds, “of course bowls of candy are important as well!” Cullman’s favorite piece in her collection has a very personal story, “The first piece we ever purchased is still my favorite. We were living in Japan and found an 18th century screen depicting all the monuments of Kyoto, a magical place that we visited often. We loved it but called our parents for “permission” to make the purchase. They told us we would never find a 9-foot wall in a New York City apartment but actually it has held pride of place in all the apartments we have lived in over the years.” She admits her favorite room is her country house sunroom “it is filled with light,” she says “and it’s my favorite place to read and relax.”
The 18th century Japanese screen sits proudly above her living room sofa in Cullman’s New York City apartment. Photograph by Eric Piasecki
Shifts in the Design Industry
Cullman has seen a shift in the design industry in 2020, both from her own viewpoint and that of her clients. “I have a greater appreciation for how spaces work rather than having aesthetics dominate design, although I still love being surrounded by beauty!” she says.
Cullman’s bedroom in her country home has walls upholstered in hand-embroidered fabric. Photograph by Eric Piasecki
For her clients, this year has shifted attitudes and priorities. “The pandemic has made our clients focus on how their homes must multitask for their families – accommodating office space, school space, play space, even sick bay. It’s a tall order but we have been able to help clients figure these scenarios out. On the flip side, because everyone has been spending more time at home, clients are really focusing on the design side as well – choosing to freshen up upholstery, add finer furniture pieces or purchase some art.”
The library in Cullman’s New York City apartment. Photograph by Eric Piasecki
Missing Out
We are all looking forward to the light at the end of this long pandemic tunnel and we are starting to see it with new vaccines on their way. For Cullman, 2020 has meant missing out on some of her favorite activities. “I’m missing so much” she admits. “First, the theater. Getting personal, my son, Trip is a theater director, and COVID delayed the opening of his next show. Second, movie theaters, a longtime passion of mine. Third, the incredible restaurant scene in New York. Fourth, the art shows and fairs which New York City is famous for. Thank goodness the art museums have reopened – albeit on a limited basis! And the bigger picture – travel. Nothing is more intellectually stimulating than visiting foreign countries. There is always something to “take home.”
The dining room in Ellie Cullman’s country home in Connecticut, Photograph by Eric Piasecki
The Silver Lining
But for all the things she is missing, 2020 has brought her something even better and more valuable, “spending more time watching my grandchildren discover the world!” she exclaims. And, I never miss a nightly cocktail hour!”
By Ariane Maclean Trimuschat
Ariane served as Show Director for the San Francisco Fall Show for 7 years through 2019. She is now the show’s international liaison as Director at Large, living in London with her family. Follow Ariane on her blog, SOJOURNEST where she focuses on all things home and travel.
Gary Hutton’s 40-year career in design has earned him the moniker “the Dean of West Coast design”. A born and bred Californian, Hutton studied under Wayne Thiebaud, Manuel Neri and Robert Arneson, three 20th century iconic artists, who shaped his vision of art and design. Known for his innovative methods for integrating advanced technology into homes as well as an expertise in sustainability standards and design for off-the-grid living, Hutton, principal and owner of Gary Hutton Design, the San Francisco based interior design firm, lectures around the world, and his furniture collection launched in 1986 has produced iconic designs.
Living Room in Hutton’s San Francisco home: Sectional in Loro Piana fabric, leather-and-oak Havana chair, and A5 polish stainless steel table, three by Gary Hutton Designs, complement a Knoll 1972 Cini Boeri Lunario table. Elsa Peretti candlesticks from Tiffany & Co., Photograph on wall by Jonna Arnold, Lighting by Gary Hutton. Photograph by John Merkl
Making a Home
I spoke with Hutton via FaceTime from his home in San Francisco where he has been spending 2020. Hutton has a contagious enthusiasm for what he does and an easygoing, authentic quality about him that makes you feel like you are talking to an old friend. “I moved in here as a temporary measure 19 years ago,” he said of his flat in Cathedral Hill. “I signed a one-year lease and thought that was it, the location is great, it’s so central. It has become so comfortable. Every time I walk in the door it’s wonderful, there’s a familiarity. There is a nice small entry hall and each one of the rooms is at a different angle from the other, so the floor, the vinyl tiles that I had custom made, are at a different angle and that allows each room to have a different feel. It’s allowed me to experiment,” he shared. “What makes this my home is that it’s wonderful and anonymous. I just started reading a book, The Making of Home by Judith Flanders (Atlantic Books 2015). I am completely fascinated by this. The amount of research is amazing. 500 years ago there was no such thing as privacy.”
Hutton’s entry, looking into the bedroom, Dancers painting by Harley. Photograph by John Merkl
Nurturing Creativity
Hutton has used the last 9 months of this year wisely. “It’s been a double-edged sword,” he admitted of isolation. “It’s given me a little time to be creative. I bought a block of clay on Amazon and I’ve been sculpting with it, I was a sculpture major and was always experiencing with it. I’ve come up with a new table design that I’m taking to the foundry to have it made in bronze; it will go into my furniture line at Hewn (showroom at the SF Design Center) as an end table.”
Clay form, untitled, photograph and form by Gary Hutton Design
Creating things brings joy to Hutton’s life, “working with the clay, and cooking-which I can do more of, and trying to get inventive with it. I’ve always been a recipe follower, but I am trying to be more creative in my cooking,” he admitted. “Cooking is my hobby, I’ve always enjoyed it. I miss dinner parties at home. I usually keep them small-four people, that’s a good size. More than six and it breaks down to a couple different conversations at the same time and doesn’t feel inclusive.” Of course, I had to ask him to share some of his favourite dishes, “The Grand Duke Ferdinand’s Soup, a perfectly clarified broth, you crack an egg into the soup, from Giuliano Bugialli’s Foods of Italy” (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, Inc. 1984), he replied. Which sounds amazing.
Hutton’s Kitchen, tailored in dark gray with a backsplash of Brazilian quartzite; a custom pot rack from Metal Art Concepts holds Hutton’s collection of copper pots and pans. Photograph by John Merkl
Design Perspectives
Hutton believes the pandemic and time at home has changed his perspective on design and how he lives at home. “I’ve made sure I’m surrounded by the things that bring me joy,” he said. “When I did my remodel there was a lot of purging, so I made the point from that time on that I’m not going to buy anything that I don’t absolutely love. I’ve been working at it. Everything in this apartment is something that brings me joy,” he shared.
Hutton’s Study, collection of war objects. Photograph by John Merkl
On Modernism
He is, at heart is a Modernist. “Philosophically everything is modern when it’s made,” he says. We’re living in this time and I feel like we should capitalize on what we have here and go about things in that modern way. It’s not to the exclusion of any period; I approach design from a modern point of view and a cleanliness in what I do. I like to go about things in a modern way, using modern materials.”
Dining Room, Knollstudio Brno Chair by Miles van der Rohe in 1930, Gary Hutton Design Pier table, painting by Don Rizzo. Photograph by John Merkl
With such a strong interest in Modernism, I was surprised when I asked Hutton to tell me his favourite piece in his home. “I have so many,” he shared, “but my absolute favorite piece is a two-drawer Biedemeyer chest from 1820 left to me by a dear friend who died early in the AIDS epidemic. Biedemeyer was the first modern furniture,” he explained, “It came about because the technology–saws that could cut veneers–allowed more people to have the furniture. It sits just outside my kitchen and is filled with plates and pots and pans.”
Living room, Pierre et Gilles’ Les Cosmonautes is prominently displayed on an 1820 Biedermeier chest. Hutton’s collection of vintage glassware lines the shelves above. Photograph by John Merkl
Remote Working
Running a business during isolation is a whole new ballgame, especially when your business is so visual and tactile. “The remote working thing takes longer,” Hutton explained. Even with social engagements, travel and commuting out of the equation, “it has required me to get new skills; the time that might have been saved has gotten devoured by the extra logistics that we have to do. If I need to go to the upholstery shop, I have to make an appointment, I can’t just show up. The pandemic precautions, rightfully so, that everyone is taking, all take more time. You can’t just go to one of your people that is working on a project and stand behind them; you have to set up a Zoom meeting. Thursdays I go into the office because that’s the day the cleaning lady comes to my home and she wants me out of here. At the office, everyone picks a day. At the (San Francisco) Design Center, you come in, you have to sign in, hand sanitize, put on gloves, masks, sign out.”
Study, 1950 mid century Paul Frankl desk, Gary Hutton design rug, Kartell Louis Ghost Chair, Gary Hutton’s personal art collection Photograph by John Merkl
With the projects Hutton is working on now, how to meet and communicate with clients via computer is always front of mind. Some of his clients are very used to conference calls, but, he says, computers can’t always do the job. “We’ve had some in-person social distance meetings with clients; but as great as all the online capabilities are, you can’t talk about color or fabrics, you need to see and feel them.”
Study, Toshiyuki Kita for Cassina Wink Adjustable Lounge Chair, Italy, circa 1980, opposing chair 1960 Italian Chair. Photograph by John Merkl
On The Fall Show
Hutton has been a supporter of The San Francisco Fall Show for years, and has been featured in the Lecture Series, most recently in 2016, for a conversation with his client, the art collector Chara Schreyer. The two discussed various projects he worked on for her, covering five residences designed to house 600 works of art which were chronicled in the book, Art House (Assouline Publishing, 2016), by Alisa Carroll.
“I think my favourite thing about the show is that it is a total visual education,” he shared. “One doorway and you’ve got admission to the entire world of furniture, art and antiques history. You could walk from Roman artifacts into mid-century into 18th century. It is this incredible visual feast. I see it as a real educational experience for me. I’ve become a nut about this sort of thing.”
Which brought the idea of Modernism full circle for us. Walking through the show, everything you see was modern in its time. A bit of a mind-bending concept when looking at an ancient artifact, but in 2020, time has become almost a state of mind; as we live through this period that will surely be written up in the history books of the future.
By Ariane Maclean Trimuschat Ariane served as Show Director for the San Francisco Fall Show for 7 years through 2019. She is now the show’s international liaison as Director at Large, living in London with her family. Follow Ariane on her blog,Sojournest, where she focuses on all things home and travel.
Alexa Hampton’s down to earth, relaxed disposition belies her impressive resumé. As owner and president of her father, Mark Hampton’s celebrated design firm for over twenty years, she has advanced its legacy and expanded the firm, winning industry awards, honorary degrees and repeated inclusion on the AD100, Elle Décor A-List and House Beautiful’s Top Designer lists. The author of two books on design, The Language of Interior Design (Clarkson Potter, 2010) and Decorating in Detail(Potter Style, 2013), Hampton is a force in the interior design industry.
Photograph by Victoria Stevens
Hampton was honored by the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art (ICAA NoCal) at the 2016 San Francisco Fall Show, and spoke in the Lecture Series that year, and my first impression of her was her hilarious sense of humor and her authenticity.
Garden Room: Bridgehampton, NY – Private Residence. Photograph by Steve Freihon
Hampton Escapes to the Hamptons
I spoke with Hampton by phone months into isolation due to the pandemic. “I have been squatting at my mother’s house in the Hamptons,” she told me. As the pandemic started last spring, “my husband came home (to New York City) from Greece, and I was in San Francisco. He got a call a week later from the Greek Ministry of Health that there were 50 confirmed cases on his flight. I had to call my children’s schools and they shut down. We were caught off guard and decamped for South Hampton”
But being with family ended up being the silver lining of 2020. “I travel so much in my normal life,” she admits, “I had 20 flights in January! In my whole adult life, I’ve never spent this much time in one place.” Hampton has taken the time and opportunity to spend time with her family and re-decorate her mother’s pool house.
Den: Upper East Side, NY – Private Residence. Photograph by Steve Freihon
She worked there for most of the lockdown, and turned to tech. “I have done intricate FaceTimes,” she said. “I had images on my iPad Pro, and on my iPhone I was FaceTiming and then a pad next to me so I could show what I was drawing. If I wanted a perfect scenario, I would have a tiny video camera pointing at my hand. There are ways to do it,” she said.
Nothing compares to being on site with a client, though, as Hampton sees past the room she is in when visualizing a space. “If you are always looking at a floorplan you tend to look at it room by room and that leads you to forget hallways; sometimes you don’t get the global view. I’ll be sitting at my desk looking at the one room on a floorplan, it’s different than standing in that space that’s essential to how things connect and must be addressed,” she explained. “I look at so many floorplans, and I see the flow from one room to the next. There can’t be a completely jarring transition.”
Living Room: New Orleans, LA – Private Residence. Photograph by Scott Frances
Favourite Rooms
Hampton has two favourite rooms, the first at her mother’s house, “the beautiful living room my father did when I was 13. It’s one of those rooms that has aged really well,” she shared. “He designed it in 1984! There is lots of seating, lots of light. That’s where we all live.”
In her Manhattan home it’s her bedroom. “I am a very recumbent person,” she admitted. “I work in bed, and I do very good work in the shower; people have good ideas in water. I began this bedroom in white and grey. It was too cool, not sexy, no vim or vigor. It didn’t bring it. We ended with a very rich custom color, we busted through apartments, and put a TV behind the painting on an easel, (you have to have a Samsung screen for that to work),” she advised. The result is an inviting, warm space.
Alexa Hampton’s NYC Master Bedroom. Photograph by Steve Freihon
On Collecting Art & Antiques
Choosing a favorite piece in her home was easy. “In my entry hall I have a beautiful Neo-Egyptian cabinet. It’s a dramatic opening statement – everything in my entry hall is from an antiques shop. Because a lot of rooms shoot off from the entry, it has to be the center of the wheel.” She said.
Alexa Hampton’s NYC Entry. Photograph by Steve Freihon
But when it comes to making a house a home, books and art are a must. “Art makes my heart sing” she said, and added: “I like checking my kids book spines to see where they have read up to.” Hampton has no qualms about living amongst beautiful antiques in a house with children. “We have had accidents, “she admitted. “I once found my daughter grasping an alabaster carving of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and all the arches were broken off, she was a tiny baby. I suppose it’s how I was brought up. I want for myself to live in the way I live and for them to have that experience. I want them to have had this experience at this time with me. I don’t have rooms where they are not allowed.”
Alexa Hampton’s NYC Dining Room. Photograph by Steve Freihon
As a collector of art and antiques, the San Francisco Fall Show holds a special place for Hampton. “It’s a beautiful show, it feels very mystical,” she shared. “The great antiques shows are very ambitious; the buying is as important as the seeing. (Art dealer) Charles Plante has everything, if I won the lottery, I would clean him out. It’s a farmers’ market for amazingness.”
Charles Plante Fine Arts booth at the 2019 Fall Show. Photograph by Gustavo Perez
Hampton also shops for antiques online. “I always call and ask for non-beauty shots, and ask them to show the piece in proximity to something else,” she said. “If it’s domestic, they allow me to take it on approval. I always confirm the measurements as sometimes there’s a typo. If it is an antiques store, I ask them to take a picture of where it is right now in their shop-you can see it differently that way. Rugs are impossible to tell from a photo; for rugs you have to go in person. I always go first to the people who I admire and know,” she advised.
Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse NYC. Photograph by Jean Bourbon
Dining Room: Upper East Side, NY – Private Residence. Photograph by Steve Freihon
Design Predictions
Hampton believes the pandemic has changed people’s design sensibilities and the way they live. “A lot of people who fled the city and went to vacation areas find they love it are not coming back,” she predicts. “I assume in the next 6-8 months there is going to be a huge decorating boom. A lot of people left London, left New York, and now they are worried about selling houses, their kids finishing school, what will the year look like. Once January/February rolls around they might have a better sense of financial wellness, and that program will begin anew. They will need to create areas where kids can learn and we (adults) can work; space and quiet and storage.
Living Room: Upper West Side, NY – Private Residence. Photograph by Scott Frances
Dining Room: Bridgehampton, NY – Private Residence. Photograph by Steve Freihon
I think we will see urban design in country houses, things will sneak in. There will be an interesting birth of a new design style: “Adaptive Urban Country”. The consignment world is going to blow up, which will make room for a huge wave of antiques buying. There is a great Welsh word that means nostalgia for a place or time you have never been. ‘Hiraeth’ – it’s an earnest longing or desire or sense of regret. I’m a New York City girl. I spent my life looking at Neo-Classical houses, I am ambitious for that.
Living Room: Upper East Side, NY – Private Residence. Photograph by Steve Freihon
With most social engagements and travel cancelled this year, Hampton is doing just fine, “I’m a homebody,” she admits, but she seems to keep busy enough working from home. In addition to running her design firm, she has several projects in the works. “I’ve been working on a bedding collection with Eastern Accents, 13 new bed programs and each bed has a European square of one fabric, I already have 5 on my website. We’ve been able to work quickly. I also have some new pieces in collaboration with Theodore Alexander furniture.”
Balfour Bedding by Alexa Hampton for Eastern Accents
Bedding by Alexa Hampton at Theodore Alexander Showroom in High Point. Photograph by Steve Freihon
But for Hampton, the hardest thing right now is not knowing what’s going to happen next. “I’m not used to having to be this nimble,” she admits. I am just trying to keep my kids under my thumb. My husband is a good cook. In times of trouble you find out what kind of person someone is–he’s amazing. She works hard but doesn’t find the need to break rules, “I’m pretty self-indulgent,” she admits, “so I don’t really have rules to break.”
By Ariane Maclean Trimuschat Ariane Trimuschat served as Show Director for the San Francisco Fall Show for 7 years through 2019. She is now the show’s international liaison as Director at Large, living in London with her family. Follow Ariane on her blog, Sojournest, where she focuses on all things home and travel.
Madeline Stuart’s inspiration board is filled with quotes from designers, architects and writers of the past, along with images of nature, travel and art. The detail of a pile of butter beans, a bird’s eye view of the Rockies, a close-up image of a cobblestone street, all combine to create and inspire her unique vision. Stuart is a leading American interior designer, based in Los Angeles who appears regularly on both the AD100 list and the Elle Décor A-List, but both her personality and design aesthetic lack pretense. She is approachable, friendly, and open, and this mindset translates to her work. Form and function are a crucial marriage for her, and she achieves this with an attention to detail that creates a timeless design. Stuart’s design firm, Madeline Stuart Associates is known for both interior design as well as architectural restoration and remodelling, with a focus on reversing years of neglect and damage to properties. I spoke with Stuart by phone from her home in L.A. about working through a pandemic and her design vision.
Photograph by Trevor Tondro
A Book Tour Diverted
Stuart was in the middle of her book tour when the lockdown happened. Her book, ‘No Place Like Home, Interiors by Madeline Stuart (Rizzoli, 2019) was published the previous September and her last talk on the East Coast was March 12th “half the people didn’t come,” she recalled. “It hit home in a profoundly clear way that this was now happening. It had taken hold, everyone was fearful, I couldn’t wait to get home. The next day we closed our office for three months; L.A. was on such a strict lockdown. There was something oddly, eerily blissful about L.A. with no people; something kind of captivating about it. It was not something anyone had every witnessed, it was serene,” she shared.
Living Room Details from Stuart’s Santa Barbara home. Photograph by Trevor Tondro
Designing in the Midst of a Pandemic
Working in isolation took some adjustments. “Ours is a tactile business,” said Stuart, “it’s such a collaborative effort. You can’t look at fabric, samples or trims online.” I have a project in Seaside, Florida that we pushed to September, and I finished it remotely. I have a great friend there and she and I Facetimed for 2 or 3 days. She did the styling while I directed her, and it worked! I worked with the art installer this way too; he was responsive and I was fully present and accounted for. Most of the work was already done before the pandemic hit. I re-designed all the interiors; the project had been ongoing for a couple of years. The installation and unveiling is my glory moment; so much of what you’re doing is in your head and when all the instruments in the orchestra reach the final crescendo—the installation is akin to that, so not being onsite is not my preference. We’re all willing to take certain chances, but how much of a chance? How far are we willing to go? I don’t want to test those waters,” she admitted.
Italianate Living Room by Madeline Stuart. Photograph by Trevor Tondro
A New Attitude
The lockdown changed Stuart’s view of her own home, a 1930s Spanish Revival house in the Hollywood Hills. “If I’m to be perfectly honest,” she said, “my house isn’t a collection of exquisitely curated furniture and objects–I’d say it’s more like an accumulation of stuff and things. There are antiques and vintage pieces, custom furniture that I designed, and a Dunbar sofa that was my parents when they were first married and lived in Manhattan in the mid-50s (needless to say, it’s been recovered many times since then.) There are flea market finds, some contemporary things, and a few pieces I regret buying,” she admitted.
“The one thing lockdown has done is make me want to change every single thing in my house,” she said, “the more time I spent in L.A., the more I wanted a new look, I wanted to experience something different, I wanted to SAY something different. So, I think I’m committed to making incremental changes that will refresh and revive my house. We all bring things in and take things out–I want to start over. I’m a shopper by birth–and profession–and have found some beautiful things that are exceptionally meaningful to me: I placed an Arne Bang ceramic vessel next to an Edo period bronze turtle, which sidles up to a Jean Dunand vase, that sits on a monograph of Hiroshi Sugimoto’s work. I have artwork that was given to me by my father and three 16th century Iznik tiles that came from the collection of Lockwood de Forest. Without some of these highly personal objects, my house would lack its center and its soul. These are the pieces I see when I curl up on the sofa in my living room, which is like a tufted island in the storm. It’s always been a place of peace for me, but even more so now, during this challenging time. Ideally there’s a pile of magazines and newspapers on the floor at my side, a cup of Earl Grey tea on the table, and my dogs at my feet. The worries of the world are held at arm’s length, at least for a short while.”
Hacienda Living Room by Madeline Stuart. Photograph by Trevor Tondro
Stuart’s Approach to Clients
Stuart takes a very different approach when creating a home for her clients, “designing for yourself and for clients is such a different approach,” she explains, “I don’t design for myself, It’s a process of accretion, accumulating things over times that might have struck my fancy at one time and now not so much. When I am designing for clients I am trying to design for a level of permanence; everyone changes their mind, their taste. My approach is to find, buy and install things that are timeless, and worthy. You can’t help but design in your own time and of the moment. I am always designing for them, their needs, level of comfort, how they want to live and present themselves to the world. It’s a very different process.”
La Jolla Living Room by Madeline Stuart. Photograph by Trevor Tondro
A Second Home
Stuart and her husband bought a second home in Santa Barbara, which gave her a new project. “Some designers design their homes to represent a specific style of how they want to present themselves to the world,” she said, “I’ve never been able to design my home that way. But in my Santa Barbara home, I was able to start from scratch. I was almost paralyzed because I knew it was going to represent me and my style and every decision I made would be analyzed. ‘Why did she choose that lamp? Why put that painting there?’ she pondered.
My former assistant forced me into a direction that I am glad I took. As designers, we are judged and the decisions we make are up for consideration by others, it’s interesting. I design because I have firm beliefs about approach. For a client you are designing for them and are also aware of others experiencing the home you have created for these people. There are judgments being made,” she explained.
Stuart believes a certain degree of insecurity is a good thing. “When designers get too cocky, they lose the ability to step back and see their work in a realistic way. I don’t think of myself as a decorator in the truest sense of the word. There are those who decorate at such a profound level (i.e. Mario Buatta), and while I admire that kind of work, that’s not my process. I maintain enough insecurity that it causes me to think carefully about my decisions–I just don’t throw everything out and see what sticks. I think my approach towards designing a home is more restrained, more reductionist. I never want my interiors to appear overly decorated. For me it’s about acquiring beautiful things and putting them in a setting that feels cohesive and comfortable for the people who live there,” she shared.
Interior of Madeline Stuart’s house in Santa Barbara for C Magazine. Photograph by Trevor Tondro
On Collecting Antiques
Stuart is a collector and enthusiast of antiques and always tries to weave pieces from different eras into her projects. “I can’t imagine creating a room without furniture and objects from the past,” she shared. “Even when I design interiors that might be considered contemporary or modern, I always include something old alongside something new. Without that juxtaposition, I think a room lacks interest, depth, and soul. I’m not snobbish about antiques, I can find a marvelous piece at a brocante, an established dealer, or a prestigious show. The item doesn’t have to be expensive to be worthy–some of my greatest finds are things I bought for a song,” she admitted. “For me, it’s not always about provenance or price–it’s about introducing an element or an object that brings with it a bit of history,” she explained.
Stuart has long been an avid shopper and is a past lecturer at the San Francisco Fall show and was invited to create a Designer Vignette for the Grand Entry of the 2018 show with the show theme “The Sun, the Moon and the Stars”. The result, ‘Moon’, with custom designed de Gournay wallpaper and panels inspired by the work of Japanese artist, Matazo Kayama, was magical and illuminating.
‘Moon’, Designer Vignette by Madeline Stuart at the 2018 San Francisco Fall Show. Custom wallpaper by de Gournay. Photograph by Drew Altizer
Stuart is a champion of the show, “The level of satisfaction I have when walking through the show with a client, when we would see something and then see that thing in their home that we created together, it becomes not just an object but a thing of meaning,” she shared. “There is no show like the Fall Show. There is a level of excitement and energy at that show that I’ve never felt anywhere. Conviviality, people not jaded, not walking the show with a jaundiced eye. There is an enthusiasm and joy that I’ve never experienced elsewhere. It’s about the dealers, the history, years of tradition. It’s the level of connoisseurship that is on display. What you’re seeing is of such a high level and exquisite beauty and it shines and makes you excited. There is such a welcoming atmosphere. People dive in and want to have fun. I’ve spoken to so many dealers in the past few months about how much I’ll miss seeing them this year,” she reminisced.
This image features pieces that represent myriad eras, cultures, and styles: The chairs are 18th c. Italian, and the gilt bronze lantern in the doorway is by Caldwell, an American lighting company founded in the 19th century. The screens are 19th c. Chinese, and the tables are fashioned from eggshell lacquer trays made in France in the 1930s. The carpet is an antique Oushak, the brass palm tree lamps are mid-century, and they sit on a pair of Italian 19th c. bronze and marble tables. The oldest piece in the room is the white porcelain vessel in the foreground. It’s Chinese, from the Southern Song dynasty, which dates from 1127-1279, and was purchased from the Lotus Collection at the San Francisco Fall Show a few years ago. Photograph by Trevor Tondro
Stuart developed her taste and eye for antiques over years of exploration, education, and relentless curiosity. “I relish the hunt, what I call the ‘seek and ye shall find’ approach,” she shared. “I learned most of what I know about antique or vintage furniture and accessories by seeing things in person, chatting with dealers, and appreciating the patina that develops only with time. Besides, I’m an inveterate shopper, so even when I’m not shopping for work, I’m shopping for pleasure,” she said.
She admits her work isn’t tied to any particular period, “although there are some I favor and a few I eschew,” she admitted. “For me it’s all about how a particular piece can find its way into my life, or into a client’s home; whether those items or objects date to the 1970s, the 17th century, or 700 BC, these things are part of our collective history and shared memory, and as a designer, I treasure being able to incorporate something truly unique into a space,” she shared.
“I think the most beautiful homes are those that reflect the personality and lives of the people who live there. An exquisitely decorated house may contain a collection of nice things, but I find it a bit sad when those things have no connection to their owner. Find stuff you love–whether it’s of great significance or sentimental value–and surround yourself with pieces that remind you of who you are, what you care about, and where you’ve been,” she advises.
Jackson Living Room. Photograph by Trevor Tondro
With the pandemic closing out the year, Stuart is missing the energy of the design industry, “I love traveling and meeting people all over the country, being a part of an industry that is social and engaged,” she says. “I love hosting dinner parties, I miss having people over, I miss living!” She exclaimed. “You have to feel creative, and this current atmosphere is not conducive to feeling creative, I think there is a lot of unrest, discomfort, unease, so you have to work harder to be creative. I work and go home, and I am grateful and lucky to have a place in Santa Barbara to go. It’s a little house but I love every corner and it brings me peace and joy and that’s all we can ask for – a little spot where we can find joy at the end of the day. I still find wonderful moments in a day-I love pulling fabrics and collaborating with my staff, I’m still completely immersed and invested in that,” she shared.
Photograph by Trevor Tondro
“We’re all doing our best and making it up as we go along. Hoping we arrive on the other side with our sanity, humour, creativity and good will towards others still evident.”
By Ariane Maclean Trimuschat Ariane served as Show Director for the San Francisco Fall Show for 7 years through 2019. She is now the show’s international liaison as Director at Large, living in London with her family. Follow Ariane on her blog,Sojournest, where she focuses on all things home and travel.
A master at combining modern and traditional design elements and creating interiors that are thoughtful, well designed and, most importantly, liveable, David Phoenix is one of America’s most influential interior designers. His firm, David Phoenix Interior Design has won numerous awards, and his interiors have appeared in, and on the cover of, the major national design magazines and industry publications. In addition to his full-service design firm, he has created a line of furniture, lighting and decorative accessories for Hickory Chair and a collection of fabrics and trims for Kravet.
I chatted by phone with Phoenix, who has attended the San Francisco Fall Show almost every year since 1994 and has been featured in the Lecture Series. He is a devotee of the show, “it’s the best of it’s kind” he shared. “The quality of the dealers–the Show has trusted dealers–which is nice; everyone puts their best foot forward. It is incredibly well run and has the best speakers. If you want great antiques, it’s where you go.”
Photograph by Jean Rendazzo
A Cross Country Move
2020 has been anything but boring for Phoenix who moved in the midst of the pandemic. “I wanted a new chapter,” he said. “I was in Los Angeles for the beginning of the lock down but I moved to Palm Beach in June. It’s a different vibe here, the light is different. It was something I had been wanting to do, and the pandemic brought the opportunity for looking at things differently. I’ve never been happier; it was time. I had been in L.A. since I was a teenager, for 35 years. The reasons I moved there were different than the reality of today, but this whole thing forced me into it. I felt like once I made the decision to do it, everything fell right into place. I was able to use the quarantine time to go through storage and lighten my load,” he shared. “There is something very freeing about letting go of things; being a designer I always want to redo rooms. When you start becoming controlled by your things, it becomes cumbersome. It’s cathartic to get rid of stuff, you learn what’s important to you. When you have things in storage-it’s impossible to remember what you have. I encourage people to purge,” he advises.
Turning a House into a Home
Phoenix believes the definition of home is different for everyone. “It’s about making it comfortable for you,” he says. “Some people are big into bedrooms, the right linens, pillows, etc. For me, I have a big collection of books: I read real paper books, and I like paper magazines and newspapers. I just like holding them, it’s easier. Once you look at a story online it’s hard to find again.” Phoenix finds his bedroom to be a place of quiet and calm. “I like to read in bed,” he admits. “I like to linger in the morning and ease into the day.” Home is also about food and Phoenix is an avid cook. “I spend a lot of time baking, I find it relaxing,” he says. “Then I bring it to someone.”
Photograph courtesy of David Phoenix
Running a Design Firm During Lockdown
Having just moved in the midst of a pandemic, Phoenix gave up his brick and mortar office in L.A. and has yet to open a new one in Palm Beach. “I like going someplace,” he admits. “I feel like as a designer, it’s nice to go to an office. I like the discipline of it and having a library of samples. Designers accumulate a lot of stuff,” he admitted. But business has not slowed. If anything, given how life has changed this year, for most people spending a great deal of time at home, says Phoenix, “I think everyone is in the redoing mood. When people are on the treadmill of life and have kids and work and life at high speed, they aren’t noticing things that were looking tired. Now that everyone is at home all day for school and work, people are looking at their homes differently, and they say, let’s redo this room now because its tired looking, or now that I’m cooking at home more I don’t have enough space. People are revisiting those rooms.”
Photograph courtesy of David Phoenix
An Active Dining Room
Phoenix is a great believer in dining rooms. “When I grew up you had dinner at home every night; going out was a special treat,” he says. “There is something to be said for eating at home: people gathering, coming together, whether you are single or in a family. (Pre-pandemic) many people were eating out seven days a week. Dining rooms are coming back in; people need a place to eat. We’re going to see a resurgence of dining rooms,” he predicts. “I have a library table/dining table in Palm Beach. It’s nice to get out of the kitchen, to set the table, making dinner special with flowers and music.”
Photograph courtesy of David Phoenix
On Shopping for Art and Antiques Online
The 2020 Fall Show, like many others is online this year, due to the pandemic. We chatted about buying art and antiques online versus at a show or gallery. Phoenix loves meeting dealers, developing relationships which then gives him peace of mind when buying from them online. “People need to touch and feel,” he admits. When buying online he offers some sage advice: “Ask a lot of questions” A few smart questions and requests he advises people to make before purchasing online:
• Ask for a photo of someone standing next to the piece, to get a sense of its true size • Ask them to tip it over to see the bottom • Ask them to hold a tape measure to it • Double check how it is being shipped—who is paying for shipping? Is it being white gloved delivered? Is it going to a receiver? Will the delivery person bring it in to the house or leave it on the curb? • Is it insured on the trip? • Is it blanket wrapped? Crated?
These questions are very important because you don’t want to get into a situation where you are finger pointing” he says. Sage advice.
A passion for Baking: Cake by David Phoenix
Life in the Era of a Pandemic
Now deep into 2020, we’ve all been through the ringer this year. “the first three weeks I did not leave the house,” Phoenix admits, “I would watch a movie in the middle of the day—if not now, when?” he laughed. “My diet went out the window with all the baking, I was definitely off my food game, it was hard. It got a little depressing from an isolation standpoint. I bought a bike and started bike riding, which I love and do everyday. It’s great to get outside and explore.”
“I’ve been very diligent about washing hands and wearing a mask–it’s not about taking a stance, it’s about being thoughtful—you wouldn’t sneeze on someone’s face or cough on them, it’s the same thing. I feel, especially now with everything going on, I have a new sense of gratitude: to be grateful that you are healthy. When you’re grateful, it’s hard to be angry or sad—when you switch your mindset from focusing on what you don’t have to the little things—I am grateful for my desk, good coffee, my Zoom meetings—it’s easy to add to that list.”
Such a simple and profound point of view.
By Ariane Maclean Trimuschat Ariane served as Show Director for the San Francisco Fall Show for 7 years through 2019. She is now the show’s international liaison as Director at Large, living in London with her family. Follow Ariane on her blog, Sojournest, where she focuses on all things home, design and travel.
On Virtual Designing, the Importance of Comfort, and Cooking Everyday
Beth Webb
Texture, tension and light are the three tenets that distinguish Beth Webb’s design sensibility. The Atlanta based interior designer is known for her sophisticated interiors that marry elegance with ease and simplicity–the result is a breadth of work that conveys a sense of well being–a combination of beauty and comfort. Her ability to layer and contrast textures and light creates an inviting warmth in the rooms she designs. Webb is recognised internationally for her interiors, and has been featured in magazines including Veranda, Elle Décor, House Beautiful, Milieu, and Luxe. She serves as a board member of the prestigious interior design and architecture organization, the Design Leadership Network (DLN).
In 2017, her book An Eye for Beauty (Rizzoli 2017) was published and that year she spoke on the ‘Mix Masters’ panel at the Fall Show Lecture Series, which focused on combining different styles, finishes and periods to create a room with multiple personalities. She has found the Fall Show to be invaluable in her search for pieces for clients, both while she is there and afterwards. When she buys online, she says, she buys from dealers she has met in person. “I’ve developed relationships with dealers at shows,” she explained. “when you are buying online, it’s good to know the dealer; dealers I have met usually follow up with me. If you are buying from a dealer you know and have a history with, have a conversation with the dealer first.”
Beth Webb (second from left) on the Mix Masters Panel at the 2017 Fall Show, along with designers Ellie Cullman, David Phoenix and Suzanne Tucker.
I spoke by phone with Webb about work and life in an increasingly virtual world. Although her business is based in Atlanta, she has spent most of 2020 (and lockdown) in the weekend home on Brays Island in South Carolina that she shares with her husband. “It’s a sporting collective,” she shared “my husband built the house in 2006 in the Lowcountry, inland on the river. We were set up to go remote 3 weeks before the lockdown. My staff has been stellar, I have a principal who is in Atlanta and everyone is staggered coming in and out of the office,” she said. “At first it felt like slogging through quicksand, but we’ve really pivoted in a miraculous way. I’m finding our clients are doing well with Zoom. We’ve done installations remotely—hired local stylists, and I was on Facetime the whole time—we’ve had 2 or 3 installations during lockdown. As we’ve gotten further into it, we’ve learned safer ways to do things. We have stringent PPE rules and always call ahead to make sure everyone is safe and well”.
View from kitchen door on Brays Island, Photograph by Beth Webb
With so much of design being textures and colors, at some point people need to see and touch things first-hand. Webb has that covered, “when we have a virtual presentation, we send a box of “goodies”; physical assets to the clients in advance so they can feel everything. They are very much a part of it. We send renderings of the rooms, physical boards, a tactile presentation. It’s more thoughtful design,” she explained. “(Pre-pandemic) we were on planes 3-4 days a week. We had industry events constantly. We loved doing all those things but it takes time, and all of a sudden I have that time back, and I’m able to do more design work than I have in years. I have become much more circumspect and I’m more engaged with my clients and staff.”
Living Room in Brays Island Home, Photograph courtesy of Beth Webb
Silver Linings
Once the events of 2020 are a thing of the past, there has been much speculation about the lasting effects—what habits will remain? Webb hopes this new concept of time is one, “I hope it lasts,” she confesses. “I’ve been reminded of my early days in the business where I had one job and I had time to work on it. I’d stay up all hours of the night scheming and dreaming. I think we have found that we don’t need to travel so much; there was a lot of thinking that you couldn’t do without it, but you can! I am excited to be able to be on a job site again and do the work. On the other hand, I’ve learned that I don’t need to be there for five days–I can hire a stylist–we’re learning new tricks; that’s the silver lining. We’ve always had a lot of remote work–we’re all used to working all over the place, remote has always been in the equation–but we’ve gotten even more adept.”
A Tale of Two Homes
Webb’s two homes couldn’t be more different. “Atlanta is the more intimate, formal space,” she says, while Brays Island is ‘not decorated’. “My husband built the house-it’s a super modern glass house; when I met him, he had two sofas and a lamp!” she joked. “For the past five years we’ve been focusing on the yard.”
Atlanta House Dining Room, Photo courtesy of Beth Webb
Choosing a favorite piece in her homes was easy. “I do love art,” she admitted. “I was on the board of the Florence Academy of Art. If I have to pick one piece, it would be a drawing by Charles Weed, a head study-a portrait in the dining room in Atlanta. I love to collect. We buy antiques when we travel,” she shared. I shop a lot in London. I love Pimlico Road. We are always shopping the globe.”
Charles Weed drawing in the Atlanta dining room, Photo courtesy of Beth Webb
The one thing the two homes have in common is comfort. “I’m such a comfort person,” Webb admits. “Your house can be beautiful but if it’s not comfortable, no one wants to be there. You need to infuse your home with soul, create intimacy; the ergonomics of design are important to me,” she shares. Webb also focuses on the usability of rooms, “I like every room in a house to be used,” she said, “I don’t want a useless living room. If you engineer those rooms correctly, they will have all the parts and pieces that make it work–tuck a TV into a bookshelf in the dining room, for example, get custom cabinetry and comfortable upholstery,-relax the room, humanize it and make it less intimidating,” she advises. “I’m in the study all day long, then at night we’re in the main living area. The table is set for dinner every night and we have club chairs in the bedroom and go in there in the evening to have a cocktail.”
Living Room in Brays Island
Design Perspectives in a Time of Isolation
Webb has noticed an increase in the discussion around how the months of isolation have changed people’s perspectives on their homes and design. She typically gets two types of calls as a prospective designer for a client: “first, Zen,” she says, meaning a peaceful, relaxed design. The second is “traditional—comfort and familiarity. People are gravitating toward warmth,” she explains. “Hard edged metal surfaces, super modern, cold—that’s a hard sell. I’m always going to make it warm in some way whether it’s contemporary or not. I’m not a trendy designer; I listen to my clients and do what they want. You can make anything interesting–it’s tactile–you want to feel cocooned. Now more than ever, our home is our haven.”
Webb does miss travel though, “I love to travel,” she admits. “We were so lucky. Just before all this happened, we went to London, Paris, St. Barts. Back in the day, you used to get dressed up to get on a plane, one of the civilities that use to be a part of travel. I do hope that comes back—the thoughtfulness of travel.”
Japanese bronze Lobster from Cliff Leonard in Atlanta Living Room
Cooking is Like Design
With no travel, and no social engagements, Webb has never been busier. “we had a collection launched with Arteriors in March-accessories, furniture, and lighting. I am the guest designer for spring of 2020 and I’ll have a presence at Highpoint in October. And I’ve been busy thinking about my next book…” she shared.
The Beth Webb Collection for Arteriors
But there is time for relaxing and fun. “My husband has lost 15 pounds and I’ve lost 10! We walk more-we’re in a place where we can, and we ride bikes. We have a 5-acre community garden, and we had a glorious spring; we go to the garden every day and get fresh vegetables: squash, okra, melons. I love to cook, I cook everyday and my husband has learned to cook.” she shared.
Produce from the Brays Island Garden
“Cooking is like design: you have to plan for it. We also order food online—we’ve found all these great places that ship-pizzas from Italy, homemade chicken pot pie…” Sounds delightful.
By Ariane Maclean Trimuschat Ariane served as Show Director for the San Francisco Fall Show for 7 years through 2019. She is now the show’s international liaison as Director at Large, living in London with her family. Follow Ariane on her blog, Sojournest, where she focuses on all things home and travel.
On French Châteaus, The Comforts of Home and Being Grounded in 2020
For someone who travels around the world on a monthly basis, is renovating (not his first) 18th century French château, Château de la Chevallerie, and has been named to most of the design world’s ‘Best Designer’ lists, Timothy Corrigan is refreshingly down to earth. We chatted by FaceTime and our conversation went in several directions as we talked about our mutual passion for travel and tabletop settings among other things.
Timothy Corrigan | Photograph by Nathan Kirkman
I first met Corrigan in 2013 in my first year as Show Director of the San Francisco Fall Show, when he gave a fabulous lecture about his renovation of the 45,000 square foot Château du Grand-Lucé in France’s Loire Valley (he has since sold it and it is now a luxury hotel) and again in my final year as Director in 2019 when he spoke about living with stylish and comfortable rooms. He names the Lecture Series one of his favorite elements of the show. “I love the lectures and the programs.” he admits. I still remember several lectures I saw over the years, a wonderful talk with Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill, and the one with Nina Campbell, Charlotte Moss and Suzanne Tucker,” “The Divas of Design!” I reminded him. “To me,” he said, “the quality of your lecture speakers is second to none in terms of shows. And the support of the design community is amazing. It’s palpable.”
Timothy Corrigan, at his post-lecture book signing for “The New Elegance” at the 2019 Fall Show | Photograph by Hernan Santander
Corrigan opened his design firm, Timothy Corrigan, Inc. in 1997 after a career in advertising, heading up Saatchi & Saatchi Bates Worldwide’s international operations. Today it is one of the leading design firms in the world, with offices in Paris and Los Angeles. He is a master at combining “European elegance with California comfort”. Corrigan has won numerous awards and is the author of two bestselling books, An Invitation to Château Grand- Lucé (Rizzoli, 2013), which chronicles his acquisition, restoration and decoration of a great French country house, and The New Elegance: Stylish, Comfortable Rooms for Today (Rizzoli, 2019).
With clients on four continents Corrigan is not used to sitting still, so the pandemic has been especially jarring. “I have not travelled this little in 30 years,” he admits. “I currently have projects in China, Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East and in six different states in America.” Despite this, he has spent most of 2020, during lockdown at his home in L.A., however, he was able to go to his office. “I’m very lucky, because our office has many windows and everyone has a private office. It helped me maintain structure and routine,” he shared.
Chateau de la Chevallerie in the Loire Valley
An Interesting Time for a Move
While most of us were getting used to the new normal as lockdown went into effect, Corrigan was moving. “The day L.A. was shut down was the first day of a 3-day move,” he shared. I was between two houses and spent the first three months unpacking. I had sold my last house unexpectedly and took a rental which I realised I hated; I did not like being home, he said. “I always tell clients their home should be a sanctuary, but this was not, so I moved and it was the most wonderful thing. I really do love this new house—the scale of the rooms—bigger rooms and fewer of them; I’m 6’4” and I need bigger spaces! And, it is much lighter and brighter—I need light.”
As moving usually does, unpacking gave Corrigan the opportunity to take stock of his art and furniture in a new way and he gained a new appreciation for one work in particular, “my Carolus-Duran painting—he was a portrait artist—a master of shadow and light,” he explained. “In the other house the walls were white, white, white. The color of walls really impact light; with paintings the background color really affects how you see the painting. I painted the walls in the new house a warm, golden, honey color—not a color that was in the painting—I just really knew that the painting needed the warm tones.”
Carolus-Duran painting | Photograph by Massimo Listri
Home Comforts
For Corrigan, home is about comfort. “We’ve all walked into a room and you can tell that no one uses it—the formal room—those are deadly rooms,” he says. “It’s partially that the furniture is not really comfortable. It’s also a mindset where you are decorating with fabric that is too fine, too delicate.” Corrigan favors comfortable furniture where you can put your feet up. “We often put marine varnish on furniture and antiques so that you can put a hot coffee mug or a wet glass down. We use performance fabrics so you don’t have to worry about spilling wine and you can comfortably use the room, all these elements are practical.”
Jardin Tibetan Knot rug designed by Timothy Corrigan for Perrenials Photograph by Nathan Kirkman
Corrigan feels rooms should be used. “Every room has a purpose,” he explains, “a reason for going there. In my own living room, I wasn’t using it, so I put a desk in there. You don’t have to use a room for its intended purpose; the dining room can also be a library. Rooms can have dual or multiple uses, just make sure every room is working hard for you.” For Corrigan, his favorite room in his house is anywhere he can curl up and read in a comfortable chair. “I have really enjoyed doing a lot of reading these last months. I purposely don’t read the paper in the morning, instead, I save it and come home and read The New York Times at night. It creates these special occasions for me within my home. The world is so heavy and dark right now, I don’t want to start my day with the news.”
Photograph by Amy Barnard
The New Normal
The pandemic has not changed Corrigan’s design sense, but it has changed how he works. “With so many international clients, we always did Zoom meetings, even pre-pandemic,” he said, “but we didn’t do it as much with domestic clients. I’ve learned we can be just as productive and even once the pandemic is in the past, we’ll probably do more meetings this way. I believe that just as WWI changed so many people’s habits and patterns, so will this. Nothing is like connecting in person, that will always be important, but we can be very efficient these days with technology.” Corrigan has also noticed that his clients are looking at their houses in a new way, “we’ve received phone calls from clients who say they never really appreciated their home until now,” he shares. “For a lot of my clients, their homes are showplaces, as they have several and they haven’t really experienced them until now; they are gaining a new appreciation.”
Photograph by Lee Manning
The thing Corrigan is missing most at the moment is France. “I have a new apartment in Paris, and the château I am renovating. I have been trying to do it from L.A. but there is nothing like being there.” He is now working on a new book about Château de la Chevallerie called Town & Country which is scheduled to be published in 2022.
Room at Château de la Chevallerie | Photograph by Eric Piasecki
The lockdown has not slowed Corrigan down. “We’ve gotten four new projects during this process—new construction. That part has been busy. I’ve also used the time to develop a collection of new tiles for New Ravenna, the ‘Rolls Royce’ of tiles. I do the drawings myself. And I have a new collection of fabrics and rugs which I launched a year ago with Perrenials. I am also doing a third collection of china patterns for Royal Limoges. I have 14 sets of china at the chateau,” he admitted, which got us once again talking about tabletop.
Jardin Français Collection by Timothy Corrigan for Royal Limoges
With no social engagements or travel, he has found a bit of time for relaxing, “I have never been a television person, but I’ve started watching a new Australian series called ‘A Place to Call Home’, and time for reflection, he shared his perspective on this time we are living in: “I think it is so important for people to try to find the positive thing in all this; more time with family, not traveling so much. I am trying to consider what the gift is in this. To me that is the biggest lesson.” Wise words.
By Ariane Maclean Trimuschat Ariane served as Show Director for the San Francisco Fall Show for seven years through 2019. She is now the show’s international liaison as Director-at-Large, living in London with her family. Follow Ariane on her blog,Sojournest, where she focuses on all things home and travel.
Anyone who knows interior design knows the name Bunny Williams. She has made an indelible mark and is one of the most recognizable names in the industry. Her half-century career started with an apprenticeship at the legendary design firm Parish-Hadley Associates. Then, in 1988 she started her own firm and the rest is history. Bunny and her team work their magic for commissions across the globe, many for repeat, longtime clients.
Bunny has authored seven books on design and gardening, her latest Love Affairs with Houses (Abrams, 2019), presents new work from 15 houses she has decorated and fallen in love with. She has won numerous awards, has devoted her time to several philanthropic organisations and is a coveted speaker on the topics of design, gardening, and entertaining. The San Francisco Fall Show has featured her in its Lecture Series several times over the years.
Bunny and her husband, the antiques dealer John Rosselli, have their primary residence and offices in Manhattan, but for the last six months of 2020, they have been hunkering down in their home in Connecticut, which is where she was when we chatted by phone. “Do I ever want to go back to New York City?” she mused, “many people in the city have moved out.” But her Connecticut home sounds dreamy. “I have a studio that is my office–it’s a house up on a hill in the clouds—a separate building next to our house, and I have built up an incredible library of samples and textiles there. I can’t tell you how much this studio means to me,” she shared. “If you can do your work in another place, you can reduce the time you spend in the city.”
Bunny created this spacious, bright studio space as a place to work, paint, study and be absorbed in her many projects. She wanted the space to feel modern in contrast to her more traditional house and barn. Photograph by Carter Berg
Bunny’s homes have provided inspiration for many of her books, and with a collection of so many beautiful pieces, she had trouble picking a favourite. “It’s usually the newest thing I bought,” she confessed. But if I have to choose, I have a Danish Neo-Classical secretary desk in Connecticut; my house is Federal and it fits with the house, it has personality and I never get tired of it. I like things that are unique, that have a soul.”
Bunny purchased this Swedish secretary desk from Danish antiques dealer Arne Schlesch at auction when he was closing his New York shop to return to Denmark. The height of the piece helps balance the elevation of the door on the other side of the fireplace. Photograph courtesy of Bunny Williams
The secretary desktop: Bunny likes to surround herself with small objects that bring back special memories when she sits down at her desk. Photograph by Timothy Street-Porter
Not wanting to leave out her New York residence, she shared: “John found a four-poster canopy bed at a Sotheby’s auction 30 years ago. It was designed by the Parisian designer, Serge Roche. It is covered with antique mirrors and I just love it.”
In Bunny’s New York City apartment, a mirrored bed by Serge Roche takes center stage in her bedroom. It is from the 1940s and previously belonged to socialite Dorothy Hart Hirshon. Bunny’s husband, John Rosselli, spotted it dismantled at a Sotheby’s auction years ago. Photograph by Reid Rolls
It was also not easy to nail Bunny down on a favourite room. “I move around a lot,” she admitted. “I use the whole house; I think people should use their whole house. We use every room. Sometimes people need to force themselves to use a room. For instance, if you have a formal living room that you find you rarely use, put a square game table in there for puzzles and chess and checkers, or put a TV in there, somewhere that you can hide it away,” she suggested.
“In the summer, we’re out on the screened-in porch a lot, but I suppose my favourite space is my huge studio. It’s a dream. I have a drafting table and I work here, the dogs are outside playing, then I go down to the house and have dinner with John,” she shared. “You have to live in your house. You have to decorate it, of course, but it’s the newspapers on the bench, the books on the shelf, the flowers and plants that make it a home,” she explained. “I love ‘playing house’.” I do flower arrangements every weekend and the house comes alive. Flowers keep a home from becoming stale.”
Screened-in Porch, Photograph by Tony Vu
Wicker chaises with botanical pillows make for the perfect reading spot.
A metal mesh table with four chairs is a common summer lunch spot. Photograph by Tony Vu
An antique plant stand is covered with ivies, ferns, and other plants. A wicker dog carrier and a few birdhouses (which Bunny collects) are tucked underneath.
These pieces were collected over time with little emphasis on matching – though there is a pair of matching tole tables and rush-bottomed Irish chairs.
The lockdown–and being at home for such an extended period of time–has not changed Bunny’s design sense, “but it has slowed me down” she admitted. “For the first time I have had no speaking engagements, and no travel for six months! It has given me more time to focus on design and to think about things. I work on so many projects, it has given me time to do research.”
But even with no events or travel on the calendar, Bunny keeps busy. “I have a huge garden and I have been trying to learn the plant names and do a herbarium on all my plants. Pre-pandemic, I took a course at the New York Botanical Gardens, but the irony is that once the pandemic struck, I had to devote most of my extra time to the computer—there was such a learning curve for me–to work remotely, and so I haven’t had much time for the herbarium!”
But the downtime has allowed Bunny to focus on herself, “one thing I decided was to take the time to exercise more. I have a little gym, and I have a trainer who comes three days a week. I’ve allowed myself to take better care of myself.”
The 11-foot-long library table in the middle of Bunny’s studio is from RT Facts in Kent, Connecticut. Floors are polished concrete and the walls have a natural, hand-troweled finish. Photograph by Carter Berg
Bunny built bookcases along the North wall to house her collection of design, architecture, art and gardening books. Photograph by Carter Berg
As the Fall Show will be online, (on InCollect) this year, I asked Bunny what she will miss and what she loves about attending the annual San Francisco fair. To her, it is all about the dealers: “I love the variety of the dealers the show brings: French, English, Asian, Modern Art and Fine Art, decorative objects and furniture…” she said. “And the price points vary wonderfully. I have always bought something. You have to really walk around the show, you have to look at every booth, there is such great variety, and it is all so beautiful.”
Bunny speaking to a packed house at the 2019 San Francisco Fall Show Lecture Series
And what does she look forward to when the world goes ‘back to normal’? “I’m very happy right now,” she confessed. “I’ll be missing the city when the Fall comes; the openings, the theatre, opera and the culture, but being in my house in Connecticut, I have been able to enjoy something I haven’t really had the time to enjoy for the last 30 years. The plus is that I’m married to someone I want to be married to.”
I’d call that a big plus.
By Ariane Maclean Trimuschat Ariane served as Show Director for the San Francisco Fall Show for 7 years through 2019. She is now the show’s international liaison as Director at Large, living in London with her family. Follow Ariane on her blog, Sojournest, where she focuses on all things home and travel.
When Nina Campbell opened her eponymous firm in 1972, one of her first commissions was a castle in Scotland; she has not looked back since. Her unmistakably rich and elegant colour palette has made her one of the most influential designers in the world and her design firm is internationally known and respected.
Blue Arles Tray, Blue Monkey Napkin, Blue Gien Nets Plate from Nina Campbell shop
The business has grown to include a successful line of fabrics, wallpaper and trimmings distributed by Osborne and Little, as well as her retail shop, (a favorite of mine) for home accessories and gifts in London’s Knightsbridge neighbourhood and a showroom at the Design Center Chelsea Harbour. She has also authored several books on design.
Interior of Nina Campbell shop at 9 Walton Street, London
Campbell most recently spoke in the Fall Show’s Lecture Series in 2018. The panel discussion, “Divas of Design” featured Nina Campbell and Charlotte Moss, moderated by Show Chair, Suzanne Tucker. The design divas spoke to a packed house (who knew those words would become so taboo!?) “The Fall Show is always so glamourous and beautiful” she muses “I have found wonderful things there. I think there is a comradship amongst all the dealers. It is lovely to just connect and meet and talk with them. You might change your view on a style, or a period that you start to understand better. It’s like going to a museum.”
Nina Campbell speaking at the Divas of Design Panel at the 2018 Fall Show Lecture Series Photography by Hernan Santander
I chatted with Campbell by phone from our respective London homes about design in the era of a pandemic. Luckily, isolation was not so isolating for Campbell, as she spent the beginning of the lockdown with her daughter and granddaughter on a farm in the country. “I did come back to my own home in London in June and promptly started cleaning out my cupboards.” She says being home has made her appreciate it more “everyone is always in a rush, coming in and out of the house, spending more time there, you can be amongst your possessions and appreciate them more. I think your possessions—the things you have bought on travels, that hold memories, that mean something to you, make a home.” She says. “I have lots of people in my home, and two pets. I also have my paintings, most of which are done by friends, and it’s all very cosy with people and memories.” When asked to name a favourite piece, she thought it over and replied “a Kate Malone ceramic pumpkin, inspired by the gardens at Waddeston (the 19th Century Waddeston Manor built by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild in Buckinghampshire).
Blue Sprig China, Blue Arles Tray from Nina Campbell shop
With more time spent at home, I asked what her favourite room is, where she goes for a moment of quiet and calm. “I love my bedroom because it looks out on the gardens” she shared. “It is peaceful. If I’m home alone I have the whole house, but with others there it’s wonderful to retreat to my bedroom.” But work needs a table “I work on my dining room table which is practically half in the garden.”
Tiffany Dining Table and Jennifer Chairs from Nina Campbell shop
She admits that the thing that has changed her perspective most is people’s attitudes. “Everything has become more casual” she says, “people coming by unannounced – the formality is gone.” But the isolation has not altered her design sense. “I haven’t really isolated as I was with family. Now I go into shops, talk with neighbours. It hasn’t really affected me. I talk endlessly to friends, especially in my neighbourhood. I have enjoyed the more casual social engagements. I haven’t been commuting. I am not travelling so my dogs are thrilled.”
A selection of Miami and Kendall desk accessories from Nina Campbell shop
Campbell says her clients attitudes have not changed much with one exception: “I think everyone has carried on, but in the shop I have seen people wanting new things. Tabletop has become much more in demand – people are growing tired of their place settings as they are now eating at home for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They want some variety, something new.”
Green Gallina Linen, Green Nets Gien Plate, detail, Nina Campbell shop
Blue Gallina Matte Linen, Blue Gien Nets Plate, Bistrot Cutlery, Nina Campbell shop
These days, spontaneity is what Campbell misses most, and the theatre, the opera, the ballet, and travel. Everything is just so much more complicated- “It stops you from being spontaneous.” She shares. “But there are people suffering so much more so I just feel incredibly lucky actually. In a way there have been many silver linings, but I feel uncomfortable enjoying it. I am very aware of it all.”
By Ariane Maclean Trimuschat Ariane served as Show Director for the San Francisco Fall Show for 7 years through 2019. She is now the show’s international liaison as Director at Large, living in London with her family. Follow Ariane on her blog, Sojournest, where she focuses on all things home and travel.
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