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 A few months back, I received a random Ralph Lauren catalogue at work. Okay fine, it was really for someone else who didn't work there anymore. No harm, no foul, right? Anyway, the images featured in that catalogue were so beautiful and inspiring, I still find myself paging through them for ideas. And the one idea that keeps coming to me is, "I've gotta get me to that new flagship!"
 Red orange and chartreuse with crisp white I've been working in Stamford for almost 2 years now and one of the best Connecticut "finds" I've learned about is a shop called Dovecote in Westport. Don't ask me where exactly that is, all I know is Connecticut is a big rectangle and I go to the bottom left corner of it 5 days a week. But between the published pictures of their projects in more local magazines and these images from their site, I'm inspired to make the trip.
 As promised, I wanted to do an entry that went through the 2nd new vignette I added to the Portfolio section last week. This one is also adapted from a stunning showhouse room put together by the very talented design team in my corporate office. Again, they were working in a much larger space (5x what you see here) so I was tasked to pick the right pieces that would both suit the space and appeal to clients.
 This room setting was originally in a showhouse on Long Island. There were 2 of each chair instead of one, square end tables and 4 large leather ottomans grouped together as the coffee table. Obviously that would be way too much furniture for this space. Working with the sofa and one of each chair, I added appropriately sized items to finish off the room.
 I updated the Retail Projects section to show a new room vignette. It features one of my favorite color combinations--red, black and tan. It's gender neutral, stylish and easy to integrate into just about any space. Think about the clothes in your closet. I bet there's a fair amount of black and tan in there. A few accents of red (high heels, a tie--probably not both) are easy to work in to add some interest. There's lots of great ideas in this space. I'll break it down in the next entry to give you ideas you can adapt into your home.
 Leaning shelf, $89 each Millions of marketing dollars are spent every year by companies in an attempt to rebrand themselves into a source for desireable products. Once a company has achieved a reputation as boring, old fashioned or just plain ugly, it can be pretty tough to shake. Another designer had mentioned a surprising resource she had used to get great window treatments for her clients. Lots of options and really well priced. I took a look online to see the drapery and was very pleasantly surprised by their other offerings, too.
 While walking down Wooster Street a month or so back, I walked into a beautiful showroom, Moura Starr. The chandeliers there are stunning, reminiscent of couture jewelry. It's more Harry Winston than Home Depot. One fixture that caught my eye was this one-shirred chiffon over crystal.  As I browsed around in other stores that day, I noticed other versions of the chiffon overlay shade. This black one here is interesting because of the addition of black crystal drops. I'm not a huge fan of that ruched chain cover. It's kind of dated looking.  This fixture is from Crate and Barrel. I like the clean, unadorned look of this one. The secret to keeping it looking great is to use lower wattage bulbs or frosted bulbs. With a sheer shade, you don't want bright beams of light, you want a soft glow. Higher wattage bulbs also bring the risk of "browning" such a delicate shade. Browning=good for meat but bad for chandelier shades.  Even Costco (no, really!) gets into the act with their sheer shade/crystal lamp here. At $129, it's an affordable option that still brings some serious glamour.
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AuthorChristine Schwalm is an Interior Designer and Visual Merchandiser based in Los Angeles. This space will keep you updated on what's going on with CSD along with some ideas to inspire you. Go here for more information about pricing and services and here to make an appointment. Archives
January 2017
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