Recently I met a woman who, like many of our clients, knew exactly the 'feel' she wanted for her home but did not quite know how to accomplish this goal. She had the basics in place but was experiencing a challenge in " pulling it all together".Like many homeowners past the half century mark, she had first learned how to furnish and decorate her homes before "open concept" floor plans were the norm. She knew how to establish a rooms statement back when Foyer, Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen, Breakfast Room and Porch were not all openly visible standing 3 feet inside the front door. There was a color flow punctuated with individuality by room.
This charming lady, "Lilli" explained her pleasure in her beautiful Lake Keowee home was marred by her frustration with "getting the right feel". She actually did have great "bones" in place but beyond that there were issues. Her decor was sterile, impersonal and incomplete. The opposite of this gregarious, accomplished, interesting woman. Like many new construction homes, all the paint in the house core was a single color. Her built-in casework flanking her Great Room fireplace were the same as the Kitchen cabinetry, Island and Bar. Hardwood floor throughout and lighting from a single "collection". All excellent quality and, very boring. What I sometimes think of as
" high end generic".
This conversation, following the discovery of the copper, became the inspiration for her interior design. In the kitchen wall cabinets with glass doors we painted the interior back walls a deep terra cotta color as the perfect background for displaying her French creamware collection. We had an artisan blacksmith in Greenville fabricate a wall mounted pot rack for showcasing her copper cookware which we installed between Kitchen and Breakfast areas. Her Kitchen Island was upgraded with a marble top for pastry preparations and we bought a fabulous vintage french chandelier from a restorer, also in nearby Greenville. We recovered bar stool seats with aged seed bags, lettered in French, which Lilli had bought from a road side vendor in Provence. We sent these out to be teflon coated for durability. We displayed many of her cookbooks and most of her smallish collection of vintage marble rolling pins.
In her Great Room we revised the below counter level cabinet doors to glass fronted, added interior cabinet lighting, and used this space to showcase her husband's collection of decoys. To the upper, open shelving, sections of these fireplace flanking built-ins we added "aged" mirror to the backs to bring light and life to this side of the room. We incorporated copper planters, sculptures, French collectibles and some family photos into the mix of books, cd's and dvd's so each shelf made an eye appealing "still life".
We painted the Dining Room ceiling a dramatic color and softened the room by adding drapery side panels on a heavy wrought iron rod with rings. We took the upper section of her china cabinet off the base creating a wonderful sideboard. Above this we hung a huge, but inexpensive , painting of village life in France. On the "new" sideboard we displayed her heritage collection of pewter candlesticks, some more copper pieces and her collection of live orchids because the Dining Room light was perfect for this botanical.
Lilli went through old carousels of slides taken during family vacations in France. From these we extracted a few, took them to be enlarged as closeups of architectural elements of column capitals, frescoes, gargoyles and window boxes. Those elements which, to Lilli, are the essence of French architecture. We had these framed with common matting then selected framing choices of similar finishes, but with a variety of profiles, to make the photo collage more substantial in scale. As is true with many open floor plans, this Foyer wall is the "focal" view for half the guests seated at the Dining table. This personal story collage works well as a uniting element of both spaces. And, I am told, often the genesis of great conversations. I notice, with each successive visit to Lilli's home, more and more of her family interests are making their way into the decor. This is exactly what design is meant to be: a catalyst for personal expression through decor.
If I am doing set design then I expect there to be few, if any, changes. If we are designing a model home we strive to make it look anything but staged. We expect little change to the design we install as no actual person lives there. The purpose of a model design is to showcase the possibilities of life herein. The purpose for a home design is to showcase the residents life within.
When design professionals are contracted for residential design it is vitally important the finish product reflect the residents not the designer. I do not live in Lilli's house! It should reflect her family, her interests, her life. Not mine. I actually tell my clients the name for my profession is " interior designer" not "interior dictator". Lilli tells me she is entertaining more, cooking more, enjoying her home more. She tells me because of the new French interests and collections on display her gatherings often are infused with great sharing of travels, cultures, cuisines, and wines. She even called recently to say her book club was meeting regularly at her house and were currently passing around one of her books because she had mentioned, " one of the best things I ever read was this cookbook". She laughingly said, " I didn't know you were creating an interactive design!" I told her if she gets around to organizing a cooking class to sign me up!
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