Priceless: A Piece of Porch with Peeling Paint

"I was embarrassed to stand in the check out line with what you wanted me to buy, Renee."

 My client was telling me that for her to fork over $65 for a piece of a porch with peeling paint made her feel a little confused.  I convinced her, though, that this piece would be the inspiration and driving force for the design of her new bedroom.  It would determine the color scheme and lend an authority of something unique, something with character, something with history.  It would drive a plethora of philosophical and aesthetic ideas. It would hang over her headboard and she would have sweet dreams.   That is quite a bit of value for $65!  Happily, my client trusted me, and we embarked on another adventurous design. 

Join me now for an autumn excursion to my favorite antiques shops in St. Louis!

 Quintessential Antiques

The little gem shown above, which I personally 'touched up' with a glaze to prevent flaking paint, was rescued from the landfill by Quintessential Antiques.  It is open the first 7 days of the month, for 7 days, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

A Tall Order

This larder that they found in an old farmhouse was a great find for yours truly.  It satisfied the storage needs for my small kitchen and more!  The piece is faux wood grained, but you'd never know it wasn't 'real'!

Rockin' n Rollin'

Above is another favorite find for the previously mentioned client.  This enigmatic rusty wheel filled with rubble was the perfect piece to put beneath her Hepplewhite console in the entrance hallway.

 R. Ege Antiques 

 R. Ege Antiques never fails to deliver.  Rick Ege fills containers from Belgium, France, Germany, and Holland to begin a new life in his charming shop.  I tell my clients they can never make a mistake with anything that has caught Rick's eye.

How much is that doggy in the window?  

It's not for sale; it's Rick's shop dog keeping watch.  But Rick always has a menagerie of dog paintings, sculptures, etc, and other animals in some form or another.  Always good for a smile or a  treat to take home.

Fruits in formaldehyde

Rick's creative mind draws buyers from all over the country.  Whimsical, wonderful, and wacky, are a few adjectives that come to mind.  

Light as a feather

 You can be assured of good taste, great style, and prices that can't be found in the bigger cities.

See through seafood

Here is an academic hanging that I'm dying to use in some kitchen project for a lucky client.

Suttonwood Antiques

Raincoat at the ready

Another favorite shop close to Rick's is found nearby at Suttonwood Antiques.  Peter Campbell, of Australia, tirelessly travels the far east in search of treasures such as this Chinese rain cape.  You are equally as likely to find the ideal commode, console or cabinet at cut-rate costs.

Seeing the sea coral is an open and shut case

A carload of recent pickings from Suttonwood that will grace a magnificent mansion.

Warson Woods Antique Gallery

Though I love the smaller shops and each individual proprietor, there are treasures to be found at a antiques malls, too.  It's a bit overwhelming, like being in a department store, to stomp by booth after booth in search of your favorite collector, but it's frequently worth the effort.  Here we visit one of my favorites,  Warson Woods Antique Gallery.

Rows of rusty nails for your rathskeller

 And what do we find right off the bat, but a couple of distillery doors that simply demand to be adopted by the most distinguishing connoisseur!

Treasure Aisles Antiques Mall

The word is mum. 

Another favorite trove to troll is at Treasure Aisles.  You do have to sift through a lot of trash, but then you may be struck dumb with amazement, and will find, as Howard Carter found when he peered into King Tut's tomb and was asked by Lord Carnovon, 'Can you see anything?'  Carter responded,

'Yes, wonderful things!' 

And that is what you will find when you venture forth into these neighborhood stores! 

 For those of you who don't have good antiquing options in your area, check out Invaluable, an online auction house that has tons of antiques and collectibles. They even put together a blog post about antiquing!

 Happy autumn antiquing!

Hang Up Hang Over

There is a disturbing trend that I have noticed in the last couple of years.  If I were writing a book about the virus, I might entitle it The Contagious Caper of the Hung Up and Hung Over. Specifically, I refer to the hanging up of art or mirrors over shelves of books. This fad has become increasingly pervasive and practiced by designers more times than I care to see every time I open a book, magazine, or catalogue. 

So what are we saying here? That we don't really look at our books? That we would rather look at an art piece or mirror?  Well, make up your mind!  It all seem stupid to me, and I call it dumb decorating.

Oh, how sophisticated, intellectual and cultivated is this!  A Recamier chaise longue, an architectural maquette, mastaba print, pricey antiques, and a heady assortment of cultural tomes. But was this a designer who bought arty books by the foot or were they a treasured client's collection? Why would a book lover agree to having to hide their books behind an art piece?  Not only would you have to remove it to get a book that you forgot was back there, but wouldn't it make dusting more difficult?  I don't think it's practical, and I regard it as an insult to both the books and the art.  Both are treated as so much decorative fluff.

It gets worse!  Really, what do we want?  Books, art, or floral display? Why not just design a frame composed of book spines? 

I would not be so presumptuous to insist that art supersedes literature.

Throughout my life, I have enjoyed a certain voyeurism in regards to book collections. You could gain all sorts of insights as to a person's interests and personality based on the titles.  But here, I would want to peek behind the painting. Maybe the shelves are empty?  Trashy books the homeowner might not wish to display; i.e.  self-help books, diet books, gothic novels, etc.?

Egads! Maybe the mirror and pictures just haven't been hung yet. Maybe the owls are varying their perches. I think this is supposed to be a statement about the wisdom of books and owls. Note the books put in backwards.  But that's for a whole other blog. Stay tuned.

Oh My!

I audibly articulated "Oh my!" when I received the April issue of Architectural Digest. Long an admirer of Robert Shapiro's work, this new masterpiece is what great design is all about. It was enough to make one weep, it was so beautiful.

                                       

Malibu beachfront home

Living Room

Robert Shapiro

Shapiro, an antiques dealer, artist, and founder of Studiolo furnishings,  is a beacon of light and hope in the field of interior design.  Like Axel Vervoordt, another antiques dealer and designer that I hold in the highest regard, there is no compromise with quality, artistry, comfort and design.

 Los Angeles home

Atelier

Robert Shapiro

The sensitivity to color and texture is eye candy to the extreme.  Examine and analyze these room ingredients:   Minoma chair, sofa by Studiolo, English captain's chair, Chinese drum serving as a cocktail table, diptych by Shapiro, antique gilt-wood mirror, and Turkish kilim on a stained concrete floor. Note the variance in scale; it's like a symphony orchestra with the bass violins and piccolos, backed up by a whole section of strings. Note the editing, the restraint in judicious color and texture as appropriate.  Note the authenticity of the objects and artwork.  The mirror is not resin and the paintings are not giclee on canvas. Note the masterful blending of art and artifacts, of centuries of civilization.  Note especially, how you could imagine yourself plunking down on one of these chairs or sofa and engaging in a great conversation or just reading a good book, knowingly surrounded by visual poetry.

And then we have the most recent issue of Architectural Digest. When I opened it, I audibly articulated "What the ----"?  After the Shapiro cover, I had hoped that the magazine was going to raise the bar for high design.  Since when does a magazine that now calls itself "The International Design Authority" (previously called The International Magazine of Design) showcase a project that only serves to confuse the public?  What do they mean by Design Authority, only that if you're rich, famous, and arrogant enough, that anything goes?  For me, it's plain ignorance and the public deserves better.

No, I don't think a white shag rug in a California ranch style home makes sense.  What's with the modern ceiling fixture, the dinky little Hepplewhite table, the upholstered furniture arranged so that you'd have to shout to be heard, and the clutter of masterpiece paintings strewn across the wall?  I'm sure Elizabeth Taylor (rest in peace) was a very nice woman and loved by family and friends, but there is nothing here that convinces me that her home should be showcased in a magazine of AD's caliber.  Sure, I might be interested in seeing her home, but perhaps a magazine like People or something like that would be a better format.  This is NOT high design!

Cheap Cheap Cheap!

Pecking for crumbs in this crummy economy,  we as designers are reduced to begging for one-size-fits-all, if we're lucky, of taupey linen-look swatches.   Yes, I am like a magpie,  flitting hither and yon, scouring the landscape for bits of flotsam and jetsam with which to feather my clients' nests.  That it has come to thumbing the various high style catalogues available to everyone and anyone has me stupefied.  I marvel at design that was formerly available only to a select few, now being offered at bargain basement prices.  As an elitist snob since birth, this is a new twist for me to adapt to.  But adapt I will, to survive, because at heart, democracy and equality has always been my clarion call.  

The deafening chorus of clients cry "Cheap, cheap, cheap!"  And they want it "Now, now, now!"  China, India, and Viet Nam are ever ready to heed the call.  Where did it all begin?  About 30 years ago, I wager. 

I could look to the democratizing of interior design with such pioneers as Philippe Starck.  And then Michael Graves started designing for Target, too,  and who else did  I see there recently but Marcel Wanders! Martha Stewart embraced K-Mart of all places. That doyenne of taste-making jump-started the do-it-yourself business that has culminated in such phenoms as HGTV.  These names of sophisticated, functional design are now on the tips of tongues of millions.  How could I complain about everyone finally singing in tune?  How could I complain about a chicken in every pot?

First IKEA store in Sweden, opened 1958

IKEA, has been at the forefront since 1943.  Today it is the largest furniture retailer!  This is a brand that oozes high design with unbelievably low price points.  The multitudes can have an extremely stylish interior for next to nothing. 

  

It's a brave new world.  And one of disturbing extremes when the great divide between the rich and the poor becomes greater and greater and the middle class erodes on both sides.  The bible of interior design I would say is Architectural Digest.  Though started in 1920, it was a stodgy quarterly publication that didn't garner much general interest until Paige Rense took over as editor in 1971.  I remember being completely converted to the field of interior design as a career choice when I first got hold of an issue, and no, it wasn't in a black plastic cover!  It is amazing that peons are permitted to enter into palatial homes where cost is not an issue.  Art and antiques alone shoot into the stratosphere.  These are interiors, furnishings,  and designers that the catalogues try to copy on the cheap.

Which came first:  the chicken or the egg?  And this barn sells a lot more than pottery!  Though started in 1950, it wasn't until GAP purchased it in 1986 that a lifestyle brand was created and a whole new game plan for interior design.  

 

And then there is RH. When the "new look" of the catalogue came out a few months ago, I was shocked.  The Dutch have invaded and conquered!

Restoration Hardware in St. Louis during remodeling

I felt taupe-i-fied when I walked into the new St. Louis store. Gone were the little gimcracks and knickknacks.  It looked very much like it was trying to be a designer showroom, but open to the masses. I was wanting to purchase some gray towels, but was thrown off by the taupe ricocheting around.  Taking them to a window for the natural light allowed me to see the real color.

Bottom line, all this stuff in the catalogues looks great in their fantasy stage-sets, but how do you put it together in your own home?  How do you coordinate a design concept appropriate to your home's architecture, evaluate scale, do a floor and lighting plan, harmonize textures and colors, put in the right art and accessories, and personalize it as well? How do you make it look like you didn't just order the Sears #5 Living Room?

At the end of the day, I say, you still need a good designer to put it all together.

London Bridge

So I'll be off to London tomorrow to visit my daughter, who is studying at UCL. We will have adventures together in this great city: visiting art museums, antique malls, and auctions. We'll enjoy the theatre, shopping, and try to do more than time permits. I'll be looking for new art and interior design inspirations in this great old city and bring it all back to share with you.

Winter: Christmas 2009

No introductions are needed with this fine fellow. I found him at an antiques mall and it was love at first sight! I like his benign expression; not a care or worry in the world. That, or he's already gotten into the tipple! He worked his magic, and we awoke to a nice dusting of snow to celebrate Christmas Day in St. Louis.