Golden Lady

From the latest issue of US Elle Decor: 

“Gold is the new silver,” says New York designer Robert Couturier “In the West, silver and grays, blacks, and dark colors have long influenced design. That’s changing.”

I particularly like the work of Nancy Lorenz for William Sofield at this Gucci Cafe in Ginza, Japan, it has something of the Ruhlmann about it, a superb example of great talent brought together to produce, to my mind, exquisite and lasting quality of design.  This image from Elle Decor

More sublime Nancy Lorenz images below, from her website

Commission the Ambani Residence, Mumbai, gold leaf, silver leaf,mother of pearl inlay on panel, 15' x 19', 2009

Reclining Buddha gold leaf, copper, pigment on panel, 8" x 10", 2010

New York Studio shot, no title but possibly my favourite

How not to decorate

I am not one to criticise the way people like to live or their decorating, unless that is, they clearly have a poor idea of taste but are quite sure they have produced something worthy of Architectural Digest and yet do not know the difference between a tread and a riser or an architrave and a cornice.  But oh boy do they know about a bright cheap crushed velvet cushion making the difference to a room. 

Below are some gems off a popular expat forum, some of the user names say it all, I should have known.  Bianca 72, clearly not Jagger, makes the mind boggle and could induce a migraine. Eclectic fusion Europe meets Asia is for people who buy anything and everything at cheap tourist shops. KCQ is a wannabe lighting engeneer and eveyone knows feature walls are for those who are art-less. Get a canvas, start painting, fill your empty walls and stop giving people crap advice.

Abby n Christina

In my old house i went for a very warm colour scheme... so the whole place was done up in shades of chocolate, caramel & cream... so lots of beige, sand colour, rich browns, dark browns... and while that was lovely (very warm and cozy) after four years of it i soon got fed up...

soooo... in my new place I've changed the theme to something much more modern and have a very city chic look about it... so all the furniture is leather (black), metal (silver) and glass (mirrors, reflective surfaces, etc.)... and since i didn't want it to look too cold and uninviting I threw in one bold colour (blood red) into the framework... so now i have two feature walls (one is black & silver baroque wallpaper and the other is red with just three baroque designs in black on it)... plus red cushions, red rug and a few funky eclectic mirrors... all the furniture )dining table, tv unit base, shoe cabinets, etc are all black... and whatever old stuff I had like wall units, crockery shelves, sofa cum bed all i either got upholstered in black or then just painted from brown to black (easily done cheap in sharjah markets)... love what i'm left with now... and DH's hoping i don't get bored of it for another three years at least

KCQ

I have an eclectic mix of Europe meets Asia,
simple effective not cluttered (in my opinion ),
best of all not sterile, welcoming and all functional !

Decided to have accent walls vs. all of them painted,
it works for me and highlights certain pieces I'm fond
of. I have blinds vs. curtains...no pelmets nor any decorative
valances etc., not my thing. If your apartment is not very spacious, may I recommend you keep
colours light and flowing through. Lighting is of utmost importance, if
anything, invest is some free standing lamps first and give the living
areas a boost of lighting.

Have a fun time doing it up.

Bianca 72

We just moved and that was a great opportunity to change our interior drastically. We went from natural (dark wood, whites, oranges) to a vintage dark purple/dirty pink/turquoise/wine red color scheme. I bought 8 dining chairs in these 4 colors (2 each), had my sofa/chair refurbished to dark purple, painted one wall pink, bought a dark red rug and added some decorative stuff in all 4 colors. Love it!

Stateside Decorating

Sadly in Europe we do not concern ourselves much with American decorators, at least not enough and not with the more contemporary ones.  Of course we all salute the likes of Albert Hadley, Billy Baldwin, Mark Hampton, Mario Buatta, to name but a very few, for their eminence in decorating history and legacy they have or will leave behind.

There are in the US today some young designers creating very exciting interiors.  As a foreigner I have probably only come across a few - my American readers, who of course top the list of Tents and Camels viewers, can correct and add to if they so wish! 

We have much to learn from the US in the way the decorating trade is regarded and defended.  I have always found that, in Europe at least, our profession is often not viewed as the professional occupation that it is over there.  Here are favourite images of a selection of US decorators of the moment. 

 

Thom Filica courtesy of Elle Decor

Jonathan Adler courtesy of Elle Decor

Matthew Patrick Smyth courtesy of Elle Decor

Carrier and Co

I am not a fan of anything-prylene outdoors furniture, in fact I passionately dislike it.  Just like most things that seem like a good idea in the beginning they are sometimes overdone and badly reproduced to lose all of the appeal of their beginning.  Instead there is such fabulous outdoors furniture, often from America, that it seems a shame for everyone to want a) dark brown b) cheap basket type furniture that often looks overcrowded on small balconies, like a stuffed can of sardines.

Mc Kinnon Harris Chaise

Mc Kinnon Harris Pharr bench

McKinnon Duval chair and Wyatt table

Instead I am a huge fan of Mc Kinnon Harris who's aluminum furniture is beautifully crafted an will withstand pretty much anything as they are produced for both garden and yacht.  Their sumptuous colour palette also banishes boring dark brown, a lethal combination with sand to begin with.

On the antiques front Talisman  have a series of American 1960's spun aluminium pieces pictured below, I have been drooling over for some time, I find them utterly charming and love them together with one of my favourite Galbraith and Paul prints.

 And for ultra modern furniture with staying power I love Brown Jordan's Cloud 9 lounger below

And Gaze Burwill below here

Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn

Large luxury hotels, as opposed to small and quaint boutique or country house hotels, are pretty hard to pull off in the style stakes.  They somehow always seem to age badly and end up being a slightly better version of a Holiday Inn within just a few years.  They can fall into the over glitzy category, over beige, over coloured and over everything.  I recently watched a fascinating French documentary about the Park Hyatt in Shanghai.  The film was not so much about the decoration but more about the unique service and attention to detail and 'l'art de recevoir', loosely translated as the art of  receiving guests.  It is something most of us take for granted when in fact it is a very subtle and skilled art requiring many years of experience often if not always starting at the bottom.  I have enormous respect for those in hospitality who perform with finesse, largesse, without effort as if it is second nature to enhance someone elses journey.  There is so much bad service today we make do with what should be cast as unacceptable.

Back to design and decoration and in my opinion the Park Hyatt pulls it off, it is very beautiful indeed

Park Hyatt Shanghai Lobby

The Spa pool

Park Hyatt Shanghai bathroom

Park Hyatt Bedroom

Imperial Suite Park Hyatt Vendome

I understand the Park Hyatt Shanghai was designed by New York based Tony Chi whereas the Imperial suite in Paris was designed, along with the rest of the hotel a few years ago, by US architect and interior designer Edward Tuttle.

Basket Case

Time of year for picnics and baskets, well perhaps not here as the heat works its way to 50 C but perhaps inspiration for summer retreats and dreamy places to nap away a sunny afternoon

Cabane Derives, Domaines des Ormes, near the coast of St Malo in France with breakfast brought to you at 9am, see more at www.lacabaneenlair.com

 Houseboats of Kerala, see more here

Patrick Dougherty's whimsical installations,see more at www.stickwork.net

And finally, the Basket House, home to the offices of the Longaberger firm of basketmakers in Newark Ohio.  You probably can't stay there, let alone nap, except maybe on the lawn, but it is a dream, an American dream, and a proper basket to carry the picnic.