Before working at our wonderful magazine, I didn’t really understand my design aesthetic. I had pretty much just graduated from UGA, where futons and Georgia paraphernalia (Go Dawgs!) were the standard design ingredients of college apartments. But after a year-and-a-half here, I’ve finally determined my style is “feminine chic.” I’ve constantly found myself drawn to cozy, romantic rooms that feature restrained color palettes, sumptuous fabrics and soft lighting.
Phoebe Howard’s guest bedroom in the 2008 Christmas House is the epitome of serene femininity.
InStyle Home featured this stunning SoHo loft three years ago. I’ve been hanging on to the magazine in hopes of re-creating this look in my own home someday.
This charming bedroom was featured in Country Living.
What design style best describes you?
March 11th, 2010 at 09:12am
Sejal
My husband tells me that he can read me like a book. If he comes home and finds me standing in the middle of a room with my finger on my cheek, he knows we’ll be rearranging furniture before dinner. On the other hand, if he finds me tapping my finger on my cheek, we’ll be buying new furniture before dinner.
Tonight–or at least sometime soon–I think he’ll find me tapping that telltale finger. I’ve been searching for the perfect chair for my living room and have finally narrowed it down to a select few. First up, these Louis XVI chairs from a recent Margaret Bosbyshell project; upholstered in black leather and accented with embroidered fabric, they take on a certain modern glam.
Or I could just as easily go with this pair of spring green wingbacks from the same project. I love how the color alone gives the traditional frames a fresh new vibe!
Or maybe it’s not a chair at all I’m looking for but, instead, a more unexpected settee. Barbara Howard recently fashioned this one for a client and I’m crazy about the zig-zag pattern!
Although I haven’t made any final decision, one thing is abundantly clear: The perfect piece will have some kind of traditional silhouette with a decidedly up-to-date covering.
What do you think? Any others you think I should be considering?
March 10th, 2010 at 10:32am
Heather
Ever since I was a very young child, I have taken an invested interest in art, and have been producing my own since the day I could first pick up a pencil. Fortunately, my degree allowed me to take a number of art-centric classes in college, from art history and issues of contemporary art to advanced painting. But as I neared the end of my coursework, I veered away from the realism I once preferred in favor of abstract expressionism, an artistic discipline that remains one of my favorites to this day.
Years later, I feel just as fortunate to be immersed in Atlanta’s fantastic art scene and to be inspired daily by the works contained in our local galleries. Creating art is just a hobby for me, but it has allowed me to truly appreciate the talents of those that far exceed mine. Until my budget allows, I will continue making my own artwork or sourcing it second-hand from antique stores, but I eagerly await the day when I can purchase large-scale pieces by the artists I so admire.
So naturally, when I was creating an original art piece for my bedroom, I was very much inspired by many local artists’ works, even just peripherally. (Probably the most valuable lesson my painting professor taught me was to be mindful of my influencers, because even subconscious inspiration from great artists is an inevitable and wonderful part of the creative process.)
Take the colorful abstract expressionistic paintings of Sally King Benedict, who is based in Charleston but represented locally at Gregg Irby Fine Art. I might describe them best as "stunning," and "gorgeous," but as pretty as they are, they're also perfectly in step with modern aesthetics, making them well-suited to a range of interiors. The fact that this young artist also graduated with me at College of Charleston just makes me doubly supportive of her work. I took the above photo at an art show for her work as well as others represented at the gallery.
Delightedly, I discovered the next artist on my list, Tina Steele Lindsey, via her comments on this very blog! Her acrylics-on-canvas, especially, are vivid, intricate and pleasing to the eye, but the examples shown here are only two of many that have recently captured me.
Lindsey works mostly on commission and specializes in media such as acrylic, oil and charcoal. Even her wedding portraits are imbued with energy and seem to tell very interesting stories. Lindsey posts her works—and the stories behind their making—on her blog, tinasteelelindseyart.blogspot.com, which is without a doubt one of my favorite new places on the net. She produces pieces on commission and also shows at Gallery 4463 in Acworth, Georgia.
Perhaps one of my favorite rooms we've ever published—the living room of interior designer Courtney Giles—features a large abstract canvas by Will Cay, represented through Carter Kay Interiors—which unequivocally demonstrates how art can make a room.
The works of Lorraine Christie, a world-renowned artist who's known for creating romantic street scenes of lovers and friends meeting, most often in the rain, are both beautiful and moving. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and now residing in Roswell, Georgia, Christie's work has soared in popularity in Atlanta thanks to local representation at Huff Harrington Fine Art. More Impressionistic than abstract, I love the linear qualities of the figures in these urban scenes and how well reflections are rendered in luminous oil pigments.
At last, my handiwork in oils below:
As you can see, I broke the cardinal rule of photography by capturing this image at night in incandescent light, but I intend to snap another shot in the daylight soon!
What artists inspire your own creative pursuits? Let us know in the blog comments below!
March 9th, 2010 at 04:48pm
Kate
Before spring comes and strikes us with vibrant colors like Pantone’s 2010 color of the year, Turquoise, I would like to make one last nod to the moody hues that I have been swooning over for the last few wintry months. There is something mysterious about dark rooms that I just love – they are dramatic yet calming and softly romantic.
I find myself pulled toward the stormy shades of these rooms…
T Magazine Blog
Studioilse
Photographed by Melanie Acevedo via Moodboard
(Image credits: 1. Erica George Dines via AH&L 2. Apartment Therapy
3. Erica George Dines via AH&L)
1. Heather J. Paper – Sherwin-Williams Sealskin SW7675
2. Clinton Smith – “The Veuve Clicquot Orange” like
Benjamin Moore’s Mandarin Orange 2018-20
3. Katy Wharton – Benjamin Moore Plum Royal 2070-20
4. Kate Abney – “Raspberry,” like Sherwin-Williams’ Cerise SW6580
5. Rachel Cardina Lasserre – Ralph Lauren Surrey TH28
Let us know what color you can’t get enough of! You can join Heather and me on the darker side or team up with the rest of the AH&L staff with their bright and bold hues.
March 5th, 2010 at 12:43pm
Rachel
Since it’s almost spring (therefore I need a house project), I have decided to paint 75 percent of the interior of my house. I owe a debt of gratitude to designer Amy Morris for the color inspiration stolen right off the walls of the bedroom she did at AH&L’s 2009 Christmas House. The paint color, Amazing Gray by Sherwin-Williams, was my favorite in the entire Christmas House. I am going to try something different with the chair rails and crown mouldings, though—rather than painting them a different shade than the walls, I am going to paint them the same color, but with varying finishes, eggshell to gloss, to create definition. I can’t wait to see it all finished!
March 5th, 2010 at 12:42pm
Gina Christman
