Barrymore Avignon Chair: A Love Story Oh, fateful town in France! While communing in your Sainte-Claire d’Avignon, I saw her. Laura. The name that would…
View More Barrymore Avignon Chair: A Love StoryCategory: Furniture Design
There are myriad angles to furniture design that makes it an entertaining subject to explore, especially when unleashing the imagination on the subject. I often pair furniture with historical figures that I think would have enjoyed living with it, such as a piece titled A Midcentury Cougar on the Prowl in which I explored the mid-century furnishings in the movie The Graduate, suggesting newer pieces Anne Bancroft’s character might have enjoyed!
In The Valentino Lair, I suggested a bedroom setting in the Bernhardt Showroom in High Point would have been the perfect hangout for Rudolph Valentino: did you know he published a book of poetry? In An Unsung Hero of Modern Design, I presented the favorite author of one of the mid-century’s iconic designers Edward Wormley; and in Timothy Oulton Design Adventurer, I channeled his adventurous designs through Mr. Biggles, Oulton’s favorite novel as a child.
For a riff on the Barrymore Avignon chair, I had one speaking to the other—the seating standing in for Petrarch and Laura, who met in a church in the French town of Avignon. I really adore imagining scenarios such as these, letting my imagination run free as I write!
The Valentino Lair
Before The Beatles turned teenaged girls into a screaming, weeping throng and George Clooney made even the most reserved woman a bit toasty under the…
View More The Valentino LairHarmony and Proportion
Love of beauty is taste…the creation of beauty is art. -Emerson I’ve been a fan of Alexandra Stoddard since I came across the designer’s book Living…
View More Harmony and ProportionAllegorical Accents from Barry Dixon
Certain aspects of being southern seem to seep into the skin through osmosis. It’s as if the summer heat wriggles into our DNA, the perspiration…
View More Allegorical Accents from Barry DixonBeatrix Farrand Gardens
Powerful things happen in a garden. Beyond the miracle of riotous color and the vibrancy of burgeoning life, momentous occurrences have transpired on the garden…
View More Beatrix Farrand GardensA Jet Set Fantasy
When the Bernhardt Jet Set buffet flowed through the raucous column of my Tweetdeck during the #HPMkt Twitter chat on the evening of March 12th, I chased…
View More A Jet Set FantasyOscar de la Renta
My impressionable years where fashion is concerned were the early to late 70s. I can imagine many of you saying, “Oh, that explains how she…
View More Oscar de la Renta