High Point Market Highlights April 2014

After five straight days of hoofing it through market, I hopped a bus to Lexington, Kentucky with the High Point Garden Club and the Bienenstock Furniture Library. We visited beautiful historic houses not to mention Keeneland. More about that later... meanwhile let me send you a round-up on High Point highlights from the April 2014 market. Below we have the ever gracious and talented Mariette Himes Gomez of Hickory Chair showing her classic, clean and completely elegant line of furniture.  We just cannot help leading with one of our favorite furniture companies in the world!!

Mariette's luxurious Syrie Maugham sofa recalls the elegance of the '30's and 40's with a silk satin fabric articulating the luxurious glamor of the era.

You need to wear this on the sofa! 

Mariette's Porter Divan dons a creamy leather with impressive trapunto detailing on the back illustrating the virtuoso workmanship executed by the artisans of Hickory Chair.

Alexa Hampton uses her showroom as a design laboratory. Absolutely no designer at market shows such range in style, but the extra push creates great anticipation from High Point devotees. It trains our eye to visualize the elasticity of her line in a seemingly unlimited parade of genres.

We were all in awe of the fact that Alexa created all of the collages and paintings in her showrooms. This year her inspiration came from a book that she read as a young girl in her father's library: La Réussité de la Decoration Française, vols. I & II.  Channeling the unmistakeably chic Gallic aesthetic, these rooms speak of old world luxury layered and collected from past generations through the present.

Suzanne Kasler revived these fabulous DeGournay panels from years ago. Known for her serene and feminine spaces, Suzanne adds exquisite dressmaker tapes, nail heads creating rooms that are livable, finished and fresh.

French inspired twin beds kick into the millennium with a slightly elongated headboard. A bold Phillip Jeffries painted graphic wall covering, hung on a single surface, energizes the space without dominating the scene. Bright tribal patterns with a casual striped area rug balance elegance with a low-key interesting collected sophisticated vibe. Suzanne's interiors are like meeting a famous person and discovering that they are highly companionable!

We love Chelsea House as their line ticks all our requirements for our online store and residential clientele. Great Prices--check...Great Workmanship--check....Great style--check.....Multi-tasking transitional pieces--check. Lisa Kahn is the guiding light of design in this atelier and we hit it for several days at market. If you don't go, its like going to New York and eating fast food--you'd be missing the boat!

There's a small new crop of 19th century reproduction casino chairs popping up in various showrooms. C.R. Laine's version has the best leather, scale and price of the few I'm grooving on lately. I start to think that I am crazy, but Shay Geyer did Style Spot it, so another set of eyes share my quirks. May I add that it is wonderfully comfortable as a dining, desk or occasional chair.

All of design and media land came out for the Mary McDonald launch at Chaddock. It was fabulous, and I hadn't been in Chaddock since they showed their fare up on Hamilton. Things have changed... I can only identify Newell Turner of Hearst and Mary McDonald in this image, but it was slammed with "The Talent." We loved seeing our old friend Jay Reardon, previously of Hickory Chair and current chairman of the executive committee at Chaddock also sitting on their board. Margaret Russel and her stable of editors was there as well as the Traditional Home girls. 

I was excited to meet David Easton and view his collection. He's a charmer that one, but in my humble opinion his work is in The Great Tradition, confirmed by the fact that he knelt down and kissed my hand. I was blushing.....

More Later!! 

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Inside Info: House Beautiful's 101 Designer Secrets May 2012 Issue-

You won't go to "Club Fed" for reading the House Beautiful  May 2012 round-up of 101 Designer Secrets, by Lisa Cregan. Inside information is what Dovecote Decor's clients are looking for, and I selected some interesting solutions for our demographic--younger families that educate themselves through design media and know how to search for product and ideas online. Here are the Cliff Notes directed towards our clientele with some super stylish design concepts, on a budget.

image and instructions via Lansdowne Life

Marshall Watson said: "To give rooms architectural detail when they don't have any, paint a 1/2" to 2"lining stripe around the ceiling and up the walls in the corners. It's a rich touch, a way to get a lot of look with just paint." This conveys brilliant style and detail on a dime. Paint and mirrors are a budget friendly way to add interest, architectural detail and light.

via apartment therapy

Barry Dixon recommends: "Slather a reflective, glossy glaze on any lower ceiling to create the illusion of height. Conversely, if a ceiling seems too high in a space us a matte-finish paint, preferably in a cola or darker tone, or cover the ceiling with raffia or a paper." Often times a high gloss paint shows imperfections in the ceiling or plaster. The ceiling above from the Kipps Bay Designer Showhouse in 2008 uses a vinyl stretchy product called Extenzo.

I love this look, and James Dolenc's simple solution to a common quandary will send you running to the nearest hardware store: "3M Command Strips are fantastic to use when hanging art over mirrors, millwork panels or vintage wallcovering."

Christopher Spitzmiller's House via NYSD

I have always lived in bright colorful spaces, so I agree wholeheartedly with Richard Keith Langham's dictum: "I get bored without color in a room. Interesting, strong, clear colors are easier to live with in the long run than pale colors. People always think it's the opposite, but in actuality soft colors get boring much quicker." Again a big mirror brightens and expands the room and makes the sofa look like it is floating in front of another space. 

I love my living room fabric so much, this photograph became my logo. Orange is my favorite color and it wanders throughout my house, so I loved Stan Topol's quote about how to use color to create flow in a house: "....I recently did an orange foyer. I chose a particular shade of orange because my client has brown hair, and brunettes look great in orange. Then I took that exact same orange--not just any orange, that exact shade--and ran it through the house. It keeps popping up in different ways. A color has got to move--it can't look like it's landed." 

Alexandra Angle suggests: "If a great art collection isn't in your budget, hang a framed cutting of a beautiful fabric or wall paper." 

via better decorating bible blog

Framed panels of vintage papers are less expensive than doing a whole room, and adds major bang for the buck. I enjoyed the video with designers Alexa Hampton, Miles Redd, Jeffrey Bilhuber, Mary McDonald, Nick Olsen and Lindsey Coral Harper. Click HERE for the link

More Later! 

Liz Morten

Visit Our Online Store or call us for items you liked at market. 

More La Cienega Design District stops

Yes, we are still covering the California trip. It was so beautiful and there was so much to see. The girls and I decided to tuck into Harbinger, brain child of by Joe Lucas and Parrish Chilcoat. The design bloggers were arriving at a reception later, but we wanted to photograph the experience before the room filled up. Below is Bunny's Williams' BeeLine Homes display. 

Bunny gives us a lesson in getting plenty of design bang out of a small space. Floating a pair of neutral well scaled sofas around a focal point creates a functional and welcoming conversation area. You really can pack it in. The ethnic print on the walls will never go out of style for me, and a large scale print actually can make a small area feel larger.  Try painting an old coffee table in a bright high gloss color and adding some hardware. Space expanding large mirrors opposite windows or doorways, cleverly bring the outside in. 

A narrow console along the back of each sofa provides light and height balancing this small space. Note that the wood finishes do not have to match. Client's call me all the time about this and I have trouble persuading them that it is desirable. If Bunny can do it, you can do it! 

The traffic moves along the perimeter. Chic, eclectic little drinks tables add interest and sophistication to a scheme, and I am a big fan of hanging lanterns over the center of a seating area. If you have worn tired upholstery, it can easily be repaired and altered for a new look. Tuck a diminutive bench under your sofa table, and it does double duty as a desk. 

Okay, this is possibly the most glorious bed of all time, decked out in sumptuous Holland and Sherry fabrics and richly embroidered trims. Let the pinning begin. Attention to detail is paramount in this studio.  We lingered over this framed image of the House Beautiful American Design Heritage, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal. Its great fun.  I used a better online image, and you can download it and frame it for yourself and hang it in your office.

We had to slip into Peter Dunham's Hollywood at Home. He had some wonderful vignettes to inspire even the thriftiest shopper.

The blown up geometric floor makes the room. I have always encouraged young girls to use outdoor furniture in their first apartments, because they move all the time and they are light. We often use outdoor dining chairs in the kitchen, because they can be taken outdoors and hosed off.

These teak chairs and casual upholstery pieces give this living room an outdoorsy, porch feel. I love the idea. Using maps over the sofa is an inexpensive way to cover a large space. They can be cut up into smaller pieces and framed as a collection, as well. I favor the antique reproductions of urban cities over the school room maps, but they're fun. We sauntered over to Mecox Gardens, who have always done a terrific job showing us how to use garden elements in the home.

My hands down favorite lamp du jour is this Mary McDonald lamp for Robert Abbey.

We are all remembering and honoring the great Gentleman of decorating Albert Hadley. 

Bruce Weber gave a perfect account of Hadley's life 

in the New York Times.

May your heaven be as beautiful as the world you created and

shared with so many people. 

"Life is all about manners. Nothing else matters."

Albert Hadley, House Beautiful

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Dovecote Decor

  

High Point Page Six!

We all love to have a chance to meet our favorite designers, and High Point was loaded with the top talent. Rizzoli, clustered the luminaries of the millenium for their book signing event. It was a huge success, as the design groupies flooded the Market Square Courtyard. 

Justin Bieber, get out of town! 

Mary McDonald engaged in conversation with each and every one of her fans who waited patiently for her stunning new book, which sold out before I could get my hands on one. 

Many of my dedicated readers know that I consider Bobby McAlpine to be the genius of our era. His quiet presence and soulful approach to life, sprinkled with wit and humor dazzles me. 

If you haven't purchased his book, get it HERE. I cannot resist the opportunity to walk you through some photographs of my friend's stunning McAlpine house. 

For those of you who would like to see more of this house click HERE.

The elegant designer, David Easton describes his love of textiles at Safavieh.  Safavieh developed  a special Soumak weave to capture the handmade character of the ikat textiles Easton collects during his travels. The rugs are hand-knotted in India of 100 percent wool. 

Barclay Butera, is posing in his eponymous showroom with my adorable new client, Haley. Separated at birth? Her husband built my website, and is amazing, so if you are interviewing tech support to build or alter your site--he's your man.

Thom Filicia , Genevieve Gorder of Dear Genevieve, and Francine Garder of Interieurs NYC had a joyous reunion at Capel Rugs, where Genevieve's new collection of graphic and colorful wool dhurries
took center stage. On Thom's link, his rolodex of favorite shopping haunts is a gold mine. His eco-friendly line at Safavieh was a show stopper.

His Henninger carpet in Purple Haze, embraces the plum tones we are starting to see around design town.
Excuse me while I kiss the sky!

Florence de Dampierre is new for me. She is a charming woman, interior designer and decorative arts historian, defining that je ne sais quois word: "insouciant." Her beautiful book, French Chic, is a revelation. This unusual transition fabric treatment puts the fun back in functional.

Two tone, graphic wood flooring, brings this girly, curvy French room down to earth.

Martyn Lawrence-Bullard's book: Live, Love and Decorate was a hit. His energetic presence bought quite a bit of sparkle into the room! He seems quite delighted with this edited wardrobe malfunction!

Suzanne Kasler, was scribbling her autograph madly for the waves of design lovers flooding the event. Her book, Inspired Interiors, was so distracting one Christmas, I could hardly open my other presents. I'm still not over her dining room.

In Interhall, in the IHFC, we ran into this glowing couple.

Lauren Liess of Pure Style Home was shopping at French Market Collection. She really is a lovely person and it comes across in her blog. The bloggy girls had a great time dining at Proximity last year. Steve Giannetti, needed to translate our social media obsessed banter to Bobby McAlpine, who is truly outside of the technological loop.

John Dransfield of Dransfield and Ross cuts a dapper profile at his eye candy space in interhall. Well, with all that name dropping, I have to admit a great fascination with this truly talented group of people who gather in High Point once a year to celebrate the ever mutating style of the home.

Even the market babies were wowed!

More Later!!

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