Beige-on-Beige Fantasy

While perusing the February Architectural Digest I was stopped in my tracks by the amazing thoughtful and deliberate penthouse designed by Rafael de Cardenas. The skillful use of beige combined with other elements to keep it from looking like a sepia photograph. The limestone and brass mantel, the beige Malachite finish on the ceilings, light herringbone wood floors all combined with really bold moments make this penthouse a masterful expression. 

I took this shot with my phone...sorry for the quality.

The entire home was designed around the above pair of armchairs, created in 1958 by Joseph-Andre Motte. They're upholstered in soft leather the color of sand. "I totally fell in love with them, and I never fall in love with beige things," says De Cardenas, acknowledging his reputation for dramatic color. "Then I got into this whole beige-on-beige fantasy, like Armani in the 1980s, and she (the client) started teasing me that I was going through a beige phase."

Can we talk about that ceiling? I've honestly been obsessing over this very pattern of outsize slices of malachite (if malachite was anything but green) for years. I first imagined it in a gray toned concept, I love it in beige though. I'm currently having it done in a radically different colorway of nearly fuchsia in a client's dining room. 

How incredible are those kitchen cabinets? Wonderfully imaginative. The bespoke hardware was done by E.R. Butler and Co. 

Again I took this with my phone...

I had to include an image, even a poor one, of the breakfast banquet area. The chicest banquet I've seen. Very classy. I love how the photo based framed grouping by Walead Beshty add color to the space.

Here's the bold color that Rafael is known for! I can't get this space out of my mind. The reason it works is because everything else is simple and traditional. When going with a bold element in a space the rest of the room must be more restrained to keep it from being a funhouse type look. Check out Rafael's firm Architecture at Large. 

Designer Spotlight: Angie Hranowsky

You guys I've got a major design crush on Angie Hranowsky. I am loving her colorful interiors! A close friend of mine is moving into a new place and we're going to do it fun and spunky while still being livable and classy, no PeeWee's Funhouse here, so I've been perusing Angie's portfolio for inspiration. Her interiors are so colorful and fun without being over the top. Honestly, as a designer I get really bored with the neutral interiors. Yes they can be pretty, but I've been doing them since my very first big design job 10 years ago and now I'm kind of bored of it y'all. When Angie does neutrals they're always fresh and modern with pops of color and tons of texture.

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love contact me to learn more about Jamie House Design interior design services.

Entertaining with Hutton Wilkinson.

It's no secret that I obsessively follow the goings ons of Hutton Wilkinson. I saw him speak at an ASID event in Houston a few years ago and simply haven't gotten enough since. Hutton is the longtime business partner of Tony Duquettes and continues to keep Duquettes style and designs alive. He oozes taste and fun and accessibility and the love of all things fabulous and over the top. 

Recently Veranda featured Hutton at Duquette's former residence, Dawnridge in Beverly Hills, showing us how to add some style and zhush to our dinner parties. My attraction to Hutton is primarily based on him having such a strong personal style. He was open and friendly, willing to share any personal story, advice etc without an ounce of pretension. I mean check out his style and that table, nevermind the setting. I'm swooning.

“Tony had such a highly personal and individual style, and people are starving for individuality these days.”
— Hutton Wilkinson

Hutton purchased Dawnridge to keep it from meeting the wrecking ball. Tony Duquette handmade the garden pagodas and 28 foot Phoenix sculpture.

"Duquette was well known for his ability to put on a dazzling show with nontraditional materials salvaged from unlikely sources, such as the jade- colored Chinese fretwork screen made out of plastic building materials. He famously mixed high and low, the costly and the found, the rare and the common."
 

“Tony was a visionary, nothing was too precious to him. He always said, ‘Beauty, not luxury, is what I value.’”
— Hutton Wilkinson

 "In the Wilkinson/Duquette universe, there are certain rules for entertaining. Foremost, no white napkins allowed. Using a vast collection of china, flatware and figurines inherited from the Duquettes, Wilkinson adds his own newer pieces to create fantastically colored landscapes for the table. Coral red mixes happily with jade green, cerulean blue and, of course, gold—lots and lots of gold."

“I live on old movies, they teach us how to sit and act at the table, and they do so in those beautifully decorated rooms! People don’t entertain like they used to, but everyone should remember that it doesn’t have to be complicated. Just order wonderful takeout, dress up a little and set a marvelous table, and no one will know the difference.”
— Hutton Wilkinson

Read the full article from Veranda here. 

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love contact me to learn more about Jamie House Design interior design services.