Nick Olsen on Decorating by the Stars

Hands down the most fun I've ever had writing an article has been for the current issue of House Beautiful.  It was a true triumvirate of friendship between designer (Nick Olsen), client (a family friend) and moi-meme.

Read the full interview here  where you will discover that Leos (like the client) adore fiery red and that both the client and Nick have an almost unhealthy passion for chairs.

Post-script from Nick:  My one regret is that I've only now realized that Monsieur Saint Laurent himself was another Leo enraptured by bold colors, expansive collections, and tribal/animal prints! It's so fitting that one of his fabrics [see the print on the settee above] would set our entire scheme in motion. 

Post-script from the Owner: The sheets are Pratesi, not Frette.

A big thank you to Newell Turner, Shax Riegler and Vicky Lowry for keeping in all my favorite bits.  Photo by Maura McEvoy for House Beautiful.  

High Style, Small Space

This month's issue of House Beautiful is dedicated to stylish small spaces and it was a thrill to be asked to interview interior designer Maureen Footer on her very own studio.  As you can see from the glimpses above, Maureen hasn't let a lack of square footage impinge on living with her favorite things, like fine French furniture and Fortuny.  Click here to read the entire article and hurry to your local newstand to see all of the inspiring interiors that will convince anyone that less can be more.

Below, an outtake from our conversation...

EEE: I always thought in a small space, you had to keep to one color so it flows…

Maureen: I learned years ago from the architect Billy Tsien to demarcate everything. She changed the rise on stairs so that you were aware that you were passing through space. She dropped ceiling heights as you were progressing through a space, she created door jambs just so there was an awareness that space was moving. I think I’ve always taken that message to heart – that if you create a sense of everything in a space, it feels larger. And if you turn it into a monotone surrounding, it’s going to feel like one indistinct space. If you create distinctions, you create an awareness of the possibilities of that space.

Did you feel constrained designing a small space?

Not at all. We have these great templates of living stylishly in small spaces. Stanley Barrows, Van Day Truex, Billy Baldwin – they made it an art form. They had these jewel boxes which they redecorated every three or four years, and they became a laboratory for their ideas.

The restrictions we put on where we can use antiques, where we can put damask and Fortuny are pretty arbitrary, and in fact there aren’t that many restrictions. And of course Grace Kelly’s designer George Stacey broke the barrier when he put French furniture in his squash court!

Hello Beautiful

House Beautiful, that is...

I am thrilled to announce my new affiliation with one of my very favorite magazines as a Contributing Editor. Did you know that House Beautiful is America's oldest shelter mag continuously in print since 1896? And it continues to thrive, surprise and delight under editor-in-chief Stephen Drucker's sure hand.

bedroom by Jack Simpson from House Beautiful April 1970 - why not?

It just so happens that this month's issue is dedicated to my very favorite color: blue! A wonderful spread highlights blue rooms featured in the magazine from its very first use of color printing (1938) to today.

Here is a selection from the April 1970 issue, including this wild dining room in Mrs. John Duffield's London residence by Baron Alexander Albrizzi.

"Glowing Sapphire Grotto" was the title given to this mirrored extravaganza. The geometric rug is reminiscent of David Hicks and perhaps there is a connection. Neil Zarach who formed David Hicks + Zarach had previously partnered with Albrizzi.

Bower for a little girl by John Doktor and Burt Wayne. (Wayne and Doktor later went on to head up the Anne Klein Design Studio.)

My "Apartment Beautiful" - Christmas 2008

In our library cum dining cum living room, we painted the walls Benjamin Moore Forget-Me-Not, in their heavily pigmented aura line. (With all of that going on in one room, it's no surprise that we opted for a 20" high Christmas "tree".) Palladian Blue and Farrow & Ball's Oval Room Blue also really get me going.

Of course who can talk about blue without mentioning Madame Castaing? Not me anyway - I've got a book to hawk! Here in her dining room at Leves, she brought the outside in with the blue of the sky and the green of the grass which during these grey days is just what the Dr. ordered.

That and a Ramos Gin Fizz.

toot, toot, toot went my horn

I was astonished and tickled pink to be included in one of my favorite magazine's "Top Four Design Forces" feature.... Thank you, House Beautiful!

Like fellow "accessorator" Iris Apfel says, put everything on and then add one more thing!