Guest Room Revamp For The Holidays

Our guest room had a very New Orleans flair. I used vintage teaching charts with life size skeletons (purchased in a Lisbon flea market) as a screen to hide a connecting door, and hung a huge cross collection as "wallpaper".
We're having very special guests arriving on Monday: Alberto's grandson who is two years old, along with his parents (Alberto's son and daughter-in-law).
Last year I posted these pictures on Rate My Space and got a pretty bad reaction. Funnily, every B & B guest we have had stay here, loves this room. But now with a two year old coming, I decided to take down the skeletons and crosses.
I rearranged the furniture so a baby crib can fit in the room. And I draped fabric on two walls to hide (and sound proof) the connecting doors of this typical shotgun house.

The dresser is a vintage fake French thing from the 1970's and I painted a faux bois finish on the top. I kept just a couple of crosses. The one on the bottom was made by our friend Gail's father, and it has little trinket drawers. The platter is by Philip Maberry. The TV is vintage too.
There is a third door that is used for the entrance to the room.
I put some of my favorite things in the room: The Cowhide rug, a little Lucite table, and the pair of Hollywood Regency tables (transformed into benches!) from the living room.
I also contributed my new Ikat pillows from Perch. The little vanity and mirror are from Ruby Beets, and the vanity doubles as a night table. The sunburst clock and Saarinen stool are vintage. The eggplant form lamps were purchased at Wal Mart.

The new bedding is very Jonathan Adler, but I got it at Target. I opted for softer shades of browns and greens even though it also comes with a brown and orange color way. I got coordinating bedding designed by Dwell Studio for the baby (which he can take home with him).
With the little accents of orange, via another fab Philip Maberry platter, the orange tassel given to me by my friend Jessica, and an Andy Warhol butterfly plate from Sabina, I was feeling like I needed some more orange.
I also wanted to add some holiday cheer. So I added the orange pillows from the living room, and an orange throw. The retro tinsel wreath is just the perfect touch.
You might be wondering what's left in the living room. Not to worry! It's been revamped for Christmas, which I'll be posting soon.
It's so nice to have family coming to stay with us!

Regency Redux

Regency Redux: High Style Interiors: Napoleonic, Classical Moderne, and Hollywood Regency by Emily Edermans is an impressive book. Regency Redux is a lavish volume published by Rizzoli. Pre ordered for months, it finally arrived the other day, and I have been pouring over it.
The text is akin to a dissertation on the subject of an overview of the Regency style formed by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and adopted in 18th, 19th, and 20th century France, England and The United States of America.
The text is chock full of historical facts, but written in a breezy style accessible to Recamier readers. Peppered with Regency era words like ‘the bon ton’ and ‘paste pot decor’ and 'beswagging’, it puts you in the milieu of decorators, upholsterers, drapers, furniture makers, and their clients of the era.
The illustrations and photographs are spectacular.

from Regency Redux
Rex Whistler's design
for The Painted Room at Sir Philip Sassoon's Port Lympne

from Regency Redux

The time line from the ancients to period styles of 1700’s, and up to modern interpretation in 20th century Hollywood to the present day Regency influences, is jaw dropping.

from Regency Redux

We basically owe our present style of decorating to the Regency period of the 1700’s and 1800’s: Free floating furniture placement; furniture that does double duty; sumptuous color; over painting old inexpensive pieces to make them current; decorating with "paste pot" wallpaper and using draperies; hand painted murals; mixing the old with the new - are all things initiated back then, and still very much the way we decorate today.
The term Hollywood Regency has been erroneously applied to anything 21st century. A movie Regency style look really took place from the 1920’s - 1930’s, based on the European tendencies of Moderne and Art Deco, which in turn referenced certain classical forms.
A glamorous Hollywood style evolved and developed from the 1930’s into the 40’s and 50’s, the first design for the people movement. If a home decorator saw it on the movie screen, vendors soon enough sold the look for home use.
An East Coast style referencing Hollywood also took hold in New York, something called Vogue Regency. The interplay of fashion and decor was linked by the original Regency crowd in France and England. Think empire waist dresses, The Empress Josephine...
...and Madam Recamier, whose furniture style is very much in use today.
Fashion and decor is certainly carried forward to the 21st century. The idea of changing your decor to keep as current as this year’s frock is something we've done since the 1930's.
Even The Great Depression in the USA, and The Slump in England couldn't stop us from constantly decorating. I think this is going on right now during the current financial fiasco. We feather our nests the best we can to hunker down and wait it out.
Kelly Wearstler does the forward for the book, and is mentioned as a guiding force to the current revival of modern Regency style. I find the omission of Jonathan Adler odd. Both of them share the same time line, the same look of things, one being East Coast, the other West Coast. Both revived Hollywood Regency and Vogue Regency in a major way.
Perhaps it’s Emily’s nod to the famous cadre of ‘lady decorators’ she documents from Elsie de Wolfe to Miss Wearstler.
The section on the Lady Decorators is absolutely fascinating.

Mrs. Draper, Lady Decorator

Emily describes the lady decorator: “It didn’t require training, just a vague attribute called ‘good taste’. Those who had an ‘eye’...
It kind of sounds like the current cadre of the blog writing blog-orators!
Dorothy Draper was among the most successful. A 1941 profile in Harper's Bazaar, included this observation: “Mrs. Draper calls herself ‘a professional stylist’ or ‘repackager.’ What she means by this is that as a decorator she has a purely merchandising viewpoint, like a packager of perfumes.”

Dorothy Draper interior

The historical documentation in Regency Redux is flawless.
I would have liked to see reference to period American Regency other than Hollywood. Colonial times certainly had its fair share of Regency influence which can be seen in Jackie Kennedy’s White House (the ultimate Lady Decorator!)...

A sitting area in Jackie's bedroom

The Yellow Room - the drapes are so Regency!

"His" Bedroom

"Hers" Bedroom

Another White House Sitting Room

The Green Room - Uber Regency

...and The Governor’s Palace at Williamsburg...
...and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.
Homes from that era such as Richard Jenrette’s Edgewater...

Dick Jenrette bought Edgewater from Gore Vidal in the 1970's for $125K. Vidal had purchased it some 30 years before for $35K. Mr. Jenrette was a client of mine, and I spent many lovely hours in this house.

The decorative arts of the period the house was built in, manifested the same fashion in classical Greek and Roman forms that had inspired it. The Duncan Phyfe, Lannuier and other antique furniture that Mr Jenrette acquired to go with the house represents the final flowering of hand-carved furniture in America.

... and Henry DuPont’s Winterthur also share profound Regency touchstones...
...the sweeping graceful stairway at Winterthur and the furniture below are Regency style.

Regency style was surely realized in the form of American Empire furniture and decoration.

Even New Orleans has it’s fair share of Napoleonic Regency inspired interiors and architecture.

The Pontalba buildings in New Orleans, the vision of The Baroness Pontalba, are designed based upon the Palais Royal and the Place des Vosges of Paris. Begun in the spring of 1849, they were finished in the winter of 1851. The Baroness had hired and fired the finest architects of the community, used their plans, then altered the product to her liking. The result was an amalgam of Creole, Parisian, and Greek Revival tastes and uses.

The Soniat House hotel (above and below) in New Orleans was created over twenty years ago by combining three historic Creole town-houses. Two of the houses were built in 1830 by Joseph Soniat, a plantation owner who needed a house in New Orleans when visiting with his large family. Just four years later his oldest son built an even larger house. The three have become one. Many of the rooms have Regency style decor.
The sweeping staircase in The Soniat House has a Regency style. Many houses in the French Quarter have these staircases.

This is The Pitot House in New Orleans (below). Located on historic Bayou St. John, the Pitot House is the only Creole colonial style house museum in New Orleans. It tells the story of life along Bayou St. John since the earliest days of settlement. The Pitot House has had a variety of owners from prominent lawyers to austere nuns. One of the most prominent was James Pitot, the first American mayor of New Orleans who lived here from 1810-1819. The scale of the house, and the delicate furnishings of the era are very Regency.

Settee in the Pitot House

...and of course The Napoleon House. Few places capture the essence of New Orleans like the Napoleon House: Nearly a 300 year old landmark that is as unique as its French Quarter surroundings. The building's first occupant, Nicholas Girod, was mayor of New Orleans from 1812 to 1815. He offered his residence to Napoleon in 1821 as a refuge during his exile. Napoleon never made it, but the name remains. The Napoleon House has become one of the most famous bars in America, a haunt for artists and writers throughout most of the 20th century. Owned and operated by the Impastato family since 1914, it's a place that suspends you in time, where you can hear Beethoven's Eroiqua, which he composed for Napoleon.

Napoleon House

While the French and English certainly “invented” the Regency vernacular, on this side of the pond, early 18th century Americans brought it with them, and ultimately made it their own in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.

The Hollywood era is beautifully explained and illustrated, and the photos obtained from the Mandelbaum collection are rare enough to really be appreciated gathered in one volume.

from Regency Redux

As I look around my own living room, I realize how much Regency style I have intuitively acquired in the form of furniture that is portable and light in the form of settees, chairs, and little tables.
I even have a paste pot detail in the form of a mural with a reference to ancient times!
Look around your own home, no matter what style you have adopted, and I’m sure you will see the effects of Regency on your lifestyle too.
I think anyone who loves decor and interior design, who loves the movies, who loves the history of decorating, whether it be for a movie fantasy, a middle class home, or a grand house of the wealthy, will certainly want to add the masterful Regency Redux to their collection.
Jennifer Dwyer from The Peak Of Chic is acknowledged and thanked, and if you go to her blog, you will find many fine postings on Regency Redux.

MariLynne Kane Decorates: Original Hollywood Regency In Upstate New York

VV - MariLynne, tell me where you got your decorating ideas. Did your Mother decorate like this? Did you go to art school or study interior design?

I went to an art school for a few years, but it was to study fashion illustration. No, my mother didn’t decorate like I do, except when I helped her choose the décor.

VV - Did any decor magazines or books inspire you?

I haven’t seen one in 40 years. I can’t blame my taste on outside influences.

VV - When did you get most of the things you furnished your house with? Like the desk in the entryway?

Many, including the entry-way desk, date from when we were first married and furnished our 2-room apartment. Each time we moved to a larger home, we added new stuff. Note: MariLynne's husband Walter remembers getting this desk in 1952, and he used it until 1972.

VV- Where did you get the idea for the black and white color scheme you use?

I always had a preference for black, white and red. As I matured, gold substituted for the red. The dining room has all the colors.
VV - I know you love your home and your things, but if you were given the opportunity and an open ended budget, how would you decorate today? Do you look at decor magazines? Watch HGTV?

The only room I’d change right now if I could is the kitchen. This one is 37 years old, yet we did white countertops when gold and avocado (yuk) were still popular kitchen colors. If we did it today, it would be granite countertops and slate floors. I’m too busy dancing to read décor magazines. What is HGTV?

VV - What decor style, other than your own, do you really love?

Sometimes pictures of palaces or luxury hotels impress me.

VV - Do you have any advice for the home decorator?

I would tell them to be sure you like what you put in your home, rather than follow trends or someone else’s taste.

VV - Thank you MariLynne, and thank you Walter for taking all the photos, sending them to me, and helping me get the interview to MariLynne.

The desk MariLynne got for Walter in 1952
Note the black and white floors -
she uses these throughout the house

The two desks above come from 1stdibs
The black one is 1940's Deco
the wood one from the 1950's
Both cost several thousand dollars

MariLynne's living room
Noguchi style driftwood base coffee table
Black carpet - very radical when she first did this
Classic Hollywood Regency couch
Over size lamp is an Oriental urn form

Cane high back chair with original upholstery
Note the black and white damask print drapes

Current living room today using
many of the same elements that
MariLynne used 40 years ago -
Damask print drapes, dark rug, etc.

Another modern room with the MariLynne touch:
Damask drapes, shag rug, black accents, tole chandelier

MariLynne's dining room
She chose to use a game table,
and purchased the high back chairs separately -
Note the Hollywood Regency gold tole chandelier

The bedroom using
Classic Hollywood Regency elements:
Gold leaf headboard, damask fabric,
caged hanging lamps

Designer Nate Berkus' current day
version of Hollywood Regency

Today's damask reinterpreted in
many color ways and prints
Drapes, bedding, pillows, accents of all kinds
done in this print continue to be wildly popular

Lamp from Anthropologie $998.
It's very much like the ones MariLynne uses
in her bedroom and family room

Yellow and gray color way
that is so very current and on trend today
MariLynne uses it in the family room,
which Walter calls the rec room
She knitted the throws
in the terrific wide chevron stripe
The coffee table was once their kitchen table -
it was purchased at the same time as Walter's desk
MariLynne chopped off the legs to make a coffee table
Note the black and white shag carpet

Pottery barn catalogue reprises
MariLynne's stripe throws in the rug,
and features driftwood lamps for Fall

Here's MariLynne's driftwood lamp
with a drum shade
I love the oversize proportion

Another view of the rec room
Note the Danish modern chair
very much like a Finn Juhl chair!
Finn Juhl chair below $3800.
from Ruby Beets