Fabulous Dressing Rooms and Closets

Barbara Barry

A lot of my posts revolve around whatever I am working on and researching at any given time.  I am working on a bedroom/dressing room area for a young client and have been looking at images pertaining to this subject.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Hollywood glamour can be over the top in some rooms, but in a dressing room it is perfect.

Jackie Kennedy's dressing room in the Kennedy White House; still fabulous today.

Mariah Carey's dressing room, designed by Mario Buatta.  Pure diva, but still not in bad taste.  I love the floor.

This is my absolute dream closet!  Just beautiful!

  Elton John's closet containing his collection of glasses.

A masculine dressing room designed by Mario Buatta.  Very Napoleon with the tented ceiling.

A closet in a newly redesigned historic home in Savannah. 

 

Ralph Lauren's personal dressing room.

This closet is so my style.  I might be more of a morning person if this was the first thing I saw every day!

Aerin Lauder's dressing room.

You could catch the morning news in this well-outfitted closet.

Dressing room in a Kip's Bay Showhouse.

No post would be complete without a photo from the Something's Gotta Give house.  What a beautiful closet/dressing room.

After all this great inspiration, I'm ready to get back to work!

Will Design Blogs Make Us Get Too Homogenized?

I was thinking today.  (A dangerous thing I know.)  I was thinking about the blog phenomenon and the effect it is having on design in this country.  It is a very different effect than magazines have.  Magazine design was always lofty, somewhere "out there" in an otherworldly, often unobtainable place.  Now, with the explosion of design blogs, we have access to each other every day, minute by minute.  We are in each others' kitchens and bedrooms whenever we want to be.  We can watch the real-world evolution of so many bloggers' design ideas come to fruition, backstage photos and all.  We share our sources and tips.  We educate each other on color theory and decorative arts history.  And we certainly opine freely on what is trendy and what should never, ever be seen.
Which brings me to the big question.  Is this a good thing, or will it eventually make interior design in America so blended that a uniqueness that was there before will forever be gone?  You know how back in the day you could travel to a new city and it was so completely different from your hometown?  But now you exit the interstate and the first thing you see are stretches of strip malls full of the same Pottery Barns and Targets that you see back home. As a result, we all now wear the same clothes with same accessories in the same colors.  It depresses me sometimes.
So now when we are designing a room, will we hop on the web and travel around to make sure we are aren't making a huge design faux pas too uncool for blogland?  Will we freeze in our tracks with the thought,  WWJD?  (What Would Joni Do?)
The big challenge for us all is to reap the benefits of the camaraderie of Facebook and blogging while retaining our own unique viewpoints and styles.  Sort of like art class when we walked around and viewed and appreciated each other's work, and sometimes felt even a little intimidated.  But we ultimately walked back to our canvas and put our own brushstrokes down.  We have to challenge ourselves to be true to our own style while appreciating others' work.  Not easy, but if we support each other, it is possible.

The Glamourous Dog

Pink and feathers

Purple and Metallics

Leather for the Ralph Lauren look

Masculine Murphy bed

Satin and leopard print

Pink velvet and rhinestones

I found these pictures the other day and had to do a quick post on them.  These are all so adorable and I couln't help but notice how their design follows current trends.


(Murphy bed from Solutions, Leather bed from Uttermost, all others from the Glamour Dog Store)

A Saturday Recipe

Here is a nice Saturday recipe for cucumber tea sandwiches from Southern Lady magazine.  I'm thinking of spring and Easter and showers.

Southern Lady Magazine Featured Recipe

Real Talk: DIY is not Duplicate It Yourself!

Check out this great discussion over at Decor8.

Real Talk: DIY is not Duplicate It Yourself!

Richard Frinier and his Fabulous Outdoor Collections

With Spring just around the corner, my thoughts turn to outdoor living and the furnishing of outdoor spaces.  Some clients of ours, for whom we are just finishing up a complete whole-house remodel and decorating project, have also asked us to oversee the addition of a new swimming pool and pool house area adjacent to their home.  Furnishing and decorating this area will be a fun project, especially coming in the spring like it is.
How fortuitous it was that I met the preeminent outdoor furniture designer, Richard Frinier, through mutual contacts, on Facebook.  I went and viewed his site and found a large body of design work, starting with his first collection for Dedon in 2001.  In an article written by William Kissel, I learned that Richard's first piece for Dedon, the Daydream bed, was to become one of the most copied pieces of outdoor furniture ever designed.

It was said that Richard imagined Alladin floating on a magic carpet, loose and free, not taut like an umbrella.

This is part of the Hemisphere collection, also for Dedon.  I think I have seen this design knocked-off many times as well.

Richard's newest collection is for Century Furniture and it definitely does not disappoint.  Classic and clean, simple lines yet so elegant.  This photo highlights part of the Andalusia Collection.

Also for Century,  the Archipelago Collection reminds me of a plantation; dark woods and shutters.

I love the Kyoto collection.  So modern and classic at the same time.

Here we see part of the Gulfstream Collection.  The polished finish is so current and works with so many design styles.

This may be my favorite of Richard's collections for Century.  The Orient Collection; I love the bamboo motif and the design is also reminiscent of Chippendale to me.

The Plenair Collection is extremely versatile in style.  It could go from rustic to modern.

Richard Frinier also designs outdoor lighting.  This floor lantern is from his  Andon Collection for Currey & Co.

A table lamp from the Nusa Collection for Currey.

The Shinto floor lamp

The Todai table lamp.

Here we see part of the outdoor fabric collection Richard designed for Sunbrella.  He is such a versatile designer and designs for the whole outdoor cohesive look.

The talented Mr. Frinier.  Go check out his designs at http://www.richardfrinier.com/ and at http://www.centuryfurniture.com/.

White Hot Bathrooms

I really love the clean look of a white bathroom.  Mirrors and polished fixtures shine in these rooms.  Here black-framed art and black-and-white fabrics bring a graphic look to the room.

This is a very pretty bath with the palladian window being the focal point.  White marble floors and counters bring a cool continuity with the only color coming from the rug.  I like the little french chair holding towels.

This is a spa bath with all white and dark marble floors, which really shows off the pedestal tub.  I like the open shelving with baskets holding towels.  They give texture to all the smooth surfaces

.

This bath combines white and cream tones very effectively.  The built-in cabinets bring a lot of function to a small bath.  I like the mirrored accent doors here.

This is my favorite bath in this collection of images.  I love the black-and-white marble floor and the vintage tub.  Again, a fabulous little chair holds towels and offers a place to sit if needed.  This room is classic and would never seem dated.

I see a pattern developing here!  White marble and french furniture.  My favorite architectural element here is the mirrored window over the tub, which visually expands the room and brings the outdoors in.

I really like this arched niche for the tub.  The simple window treatment adds just enough softness.

Architectural elements offer the only color here, which makes them really stand out and shine.  A great example of how classic pieces used with restraint are ageless.