Late Night With George The Elegant Dining Room I am an old left over designer from the Dark Ages, I have lived long enough to see Avacado Kitchens and even the ever lovery Havest Gold refigerators. People also used to mix and match the colors and do let me say that it was a compelling experience to see Eternal Fall all year long in your house. Used along with the lovely pecan finsished dining room set, with a Autum Leaves china pattern, and a lovely carved wood nampkin ring, and of course, the ever lovely colored candles that were created to match your room, well, I guess I have been there, did not do that.... I was crusing the internet this afternoon and came upon this exquisite dining room designed by Carlton Varney of Palm Beach for Dorothy Draper and Company. Carlton is one of those classic designers who must have had a color wheel in his bedroom as a child, because he knows and understands the value of color contrast and how to make things pop. The picture I posted today is just a dining nook in the Grand Hotel in Michigan. But at its core, it is just old Palm Beach, and it oozes with class and charm and warmth and just sheer tropical opulence. I think it is like giong on vacation in the tropics, or feeling a sence of tamed nature in a glorious dining room experience. The Banana Leaf wall pannels are available from Dorothy Draper Collections. They are a bit pricy, but there are endless knockoffs or faux painters who can knock this look off easily. The English dining room to me, is the top of formality and has endured endless generations since the 17th Century. I guess it was Rome where one once embraced the diversity of balance of a classic black and white marble floor. I think furniture just seems to float on a floor like that, and when you add depth to the walls, hopefully in lacquer, the color will start breathng. Life forms, and all you want to do is gather around. The focus of the dining room is the food, but we just do not use them enough to justify the expense, as it is the most expensive room in your home to decorate. It is also the most beautiful. On to chandeliers. Back in the day, lighting was provided by a candlemaker down the street. I guess it was a one lume per stick kind of thing, and as beautiful as we all look in candlelight, it was just not quite enough. The French decided to facet hanging crystals because they trippled the light of the flame of the candle, and of course, it was just drop dead beautiful. They also added sconces in crystal to balance the medium of the room for the same reason. fyi, they also always paint their ceiling pale, pale, pink, because it reflects so beautifully upon our skin. Harder colors tend to age us. Heaven forfend... I see the kids struggling with decorating their dining rooms, and all I seem to hear is that I used, Oyster White, or Lama Cream, or Late something, and you know what, My dear friend Tana Carlton, ASID here in Raleigh once told me that you know George, There is just nothing wrong with a bucket of good ole white paint. She is so right, and paint companies have a staff that must come up with these confusing names to sell you something that looks like pale okra. Awful. Can We Talk, Thanks Joan, Has everyone forgotten elegance, and manners in decorating. Has your home become so heady that you want to convey your oh so intelligent mind, as opposed to your gracious hospitality? Have you gone out a bought a piece of that contemporay art? and does it convey your true inner self. Well, You are an idiot. Not about the art, but please, Just go get a canvass and a ruler, and paint two orange or red boxes off center, and sign it, and call it a day. I just saw one sell at Sothebys for 85 Million dollars, and trust me, I could have painted the same one with no effort, but mine would have had a better color contrast. Pleasse..... A free tip for all, go to Home Depot and get you one of those uplight bases that sit on top of the table and highlight your new fine art. Lighting is truly everything, and even on a white on whtie brand new mastepiece, at least the shadows will make you think you have something fine. We tend to forget that we need balance and order in our lives. We go to Yoga, and head doctors, and buy clothes that tend to express ourselves and how we want to appear to others. No, its true . I say that because we ask others if they like what we did. or wore, or said. Our blood flows red, and we are all in the same place, and you know what? We only want what the other people down the street have in their house. that is just wrong. Carlton Varney is a genius at color and taste, and his work is always important when he finishes a project. It has a life, and lives within our souls. He takes you on a journey, and gives you an experience, and warms your heart, and does not leave you in a oat colored room with a bowl of apples to give us the inspiraton for great design. He will feed your soul and leave room for the food at the same time. He will tell you to use candles, not colored candles, but either white or maybe black. He will tell you to go out in the yard and pull in the local flora for volume, and if you do not have that type of folliage, just head on over to see Erin Weston, at Weston Farms, and she will fix you right on up with magnolia that will take your breath away. Create your room with volume, and use less to do it. Please iron your nampkins and make sure they are not skimpy. , That is what you gew up with, and go ask your grandmother if she has an old set left over with her momogram beautifully done just so. Lastly, please download the latest copy of Emily Post. Then Share it with your daughters, and force them to abide to those rules. They are just manners, and even though they have been cultivated for thousands of years, we need them more today than ever. There is nothing new under the sun, and great design is always born out of the past. Keep one foot anchored in what you know that works, and let that little toe on the other foot have a lot of fun making your home your castle. Love You, Mean it, George
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 00:46:35 +0000
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