Grand picture walls offer maximum impact and color in any space from a hallway to a gabled room. Grand picture walls present themselves in a variety of ways. A wall can be considered grand due to the size of the pictures. The amount of wall space covered by pictures — or the sheer number of pictures — can create a grand scale, even in a small room. How pictures are arranged on … [Read more...]
Five Colorful Striped Décor Ideas
Five striped décor ideas create colorful originality and eccentric chic in a Long Island country house. Striped decor can be a no-brainer or a tough sell. That’s because stripes are always bold as we’ve shown in various posts on striped décor over the years. Usually, the focus is walls -- from tent-stripe garden rooms by Miles Redd to a classic green striped bedroom by Celeri … [Read more...]
Attic Reading Room
What luxury to have the benefit of a large space at the top of the house dedicated to quiet pursuits. The concept of an attic reading room is novel today -- no pun intended. It also seems ideal for chess enthusiasts or avid card or backgammon players. My next door neighbor converted his attic into an enormous master suite and over the years we’ve shown attic spaces … [Read more...]
Ombre Illusion Bed
Nothing throws shade on this ombré illusion bed as a chic bedroom design concept. Ombré — color shading — is a sophisticated effect that’s not so easy to pull off in home décor. In a way, ombré is a rainbow done with light to dark variations of the same color — like the drawers on the Gradient Color Painted Dressers post. It also can be a progression of shades through two … [Read more...]
Toile Bedrooms
Traditional Toile de jouy prints preserve the French look of 18th century single pattern bedrooms. Firmly traditional in its origin and motif, toile is the first printed cotton manufactured in France. Nearly 250 years ago, in a factory founded by Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf at Jouy-in-Josas ten miles southwest of Paris, copper plates were used to print print elaborately … [Read more...]
Million Dollar Decorator Bedrooms
Bedrooms by Martin Lawrence Bullard are tailored to each client -- at least on the surface. That’s certainly true of four bedrooms by Million Dollar Decorator star Martin Lawrence Bullard whose work I first saw on the Bravo TV show. The series I caught showed Mr. Bullard decorating the New York home of Jimmy Choo shoe queen Tamara Mellon. One highlight was the episode where a … [Read more...]
Draped Canopy Beds
Before homes had central heating, draped canopy beds kept out the cold and provided privacy. Modern draped canopy beds rarely have a specific function. Their primary purpose is to use textiles on a bed that sets the style for a room. Purely decorative, canopy beds can create specific a mood -- after all, it’s like having a tent pitched in the bedroom. I tend to favor … [Read more...]
Diva de Provence Range Kitchen
A kitchen where a custom Diva de Provence gas range offers traditional old-world style. Diva de Provence ranges are a rarity because the Diva brand is no longer available in the U.S. and Canada except through commercial kitchen suppliers. Previously known for pioneering induction ranges, the Diva withdrew from the U.S. and Canadian markets about five years ago. However, Diva … [Read more...]
Cast Iron Stove Island Kitchen
A 19th-century cast iron stove found new life as the base of an island in a London mansion kitchen. Square, and not extremely large, this unique cast iron stove island has amazing green cred plus extraordinary character and presence — from the contrasting brass inserts in the doors to the beefy handle on the former front of the range. It’s one thing to repurpose a wooden … [Read more...]
Pullman Beds
Most of us know about Pullman beds from old movies where trains had sleeper cars for overnight travel. One year, I took an overnight train trip from Paris to Nice. That was my first experience with Pullman cars, the famous French wagons lits -- sleeping compartments outfitted with curtained beds. Since traveling companions were often strangers, curtains added privacy and … [Read more...]
Strategies for Hanging Draperies
I’m always interested in methods for hanging draperies which may not be as obvious as they look. By strategies, I mean how hanging draperies relates to the windows and ceiling in any room. Additionally, I take an interest in the choice of rods used for hanging draperies because rods are the supporting actors. One thing most people don’t realize is that draperies are … [Read more...]
Lifestyle Rooms
On Ellen DeGeneres' California ranch, there is no main house -- just a complex of lifestyle rooms in cabins and barns. I finally found something in common with TV host Ellen DeGeneres. We both love building and decorating houses. I don’t know Ellen so I can’t say if it stops there. From my reading of an Elle Décor article about the 26-acre ranch in Hidden Valley, California, … [Read more...]
Luxurious Wet Room
Spa inspired master bath where a wet room delivers space and luxury with ease. Floor to ceiling glass panels create a boxed in wet room oasis, complete with a cast concrete soaking tub and two shower areas. The back-to-back spaces are divided by a wall sheathed in etched stone tiles. On one side is a floor-mounted Pipe shower fitting from Boffi and, on the opposite side a … [Read more...]
The Chic of Peaked Headboards
Treatments for headboards range from painted to upholstered, but the silhouette always shapes up. Headboards have come a long way from the days of default dark-wood 4-posters, sleigh beds and frames. Architectural motifs, color, a variety of covering styles are making bed-heads into furniture statements rather than neutral go-along pieces. Many are taller and more imposing … [Read more...]
