Working on a brown study

Somes ideas for a study or library with brown walls....

above, Miles Redd

above, the iconic room by Sister Parish

above, Mario Buatta

above, Amy Fine Collins' office, via Elle Decor

above,room by Dorothy Draper, the Greenbrier

above, interior design Gwen Driscoll, via Elle Decor

above, Billy Baldwin's brown living room

Timeless Elegance

These rooms have it...


Design by Sister Parish, image via Architectural Digest



Bunny Williams, photo by Fritz von der Schulenburg


Astor library, design by Albert Hadley


Mario Buatta


Sister Parish (White House dressing room)

UPDATE:
Thanks to the Devoted Classicist, I have some photos of the Astor Library the way it was when Albert Hadley decorated it. The photo above is from recent years when the house was for sale. Please go to the Devoted Classicist's blog to read more about this fabulous room.

Here is the original painting over the fireplace, compare to above:



And another photo of the room, with the original rug and chairs.



above two photos from the book ALBERT HADLEY: THE STORY OF AMERICA'S PREEMINENT INTERIOR DESIGNER by Adam Lewis courtesy of The Devoted Classicist.

Details, Details....

Elsie de Wolfe said "Good dressing is largely a question of details and accessories." This applies to dressing people and rooms. The details of pulling together a room are often the most fun to design. Trim, pillows, lampshades, decorative accessories, books, objets d'art - all of these are the icing on the cake that define a room and make it sparkle.

On a recent project we have had the pleasure of working with a client whose parents' decorator in New York was Sister Parish. There have been many beautiful pieces of furniture, artwork and accessories with which to work. We are looking forward to sharing that project when it is complete in the Fall.

Fortunately, the kind client saved an old lampshade of his mother's for us - I love the detail and scale of it. It is no longer usable (the silk is falling apart), but I wanted to save it for inspiration and to perhaps copy the detail. The lampshade has a beautiful detailed top and bottom, with shirred gray silk. We just don't see shades like this anymore.

I wonder if this came from a Parish/Hadley design?





Click on the images to enlarge.

ps - this lamp is not what the shade calls for, but I needed a place to put the shade.

Sister Parish Design - On Decorating

If you have not read this book by Susan Bartlett Crater and Libby Cameron, and you love interior design - go get it immediately. It's like sitting at a round table discussion with the best in the field today. I read it at the beach in June and couldn't put it down.

Speaking of Sister Parish, a few images of Parish Hadley design -

image via sara gilbane interiors


image via desk of annie


image via style court


Yellow Oval Room, 1962 via Chameleon Interiors