While working on one of our new projects, I came across this antique bureau in the 2011 Jan/Feb issue of Veranda.

It reminded me of an idea sketch I had done for a foyer on a project about two years ago. The proposal was turned down for another idea…

I think it was the Chihuly style chandelier that made the client nervous.

  Stylistically, I love the juxtaposition and tension created by modern chandeliers and light fixtures in beautiful old spaces and rooms. I do have an important qualifier. It must capture the spirit of an appropriate period light fixture. The “crystal Chihuly” did this is spades. Our new project has similar high ceilings, gorgeous original plaster moldings and marble fireplaces. I’ve found myself wondering…. If not the foyer, then perhaps the dining room????

Cheers,

PS: More of my design sketches can be seen here. 

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One clear singular thought emerged in my mind as I worked on Sally’s and my living room design vignette for this May’s Wenham Museum Show House. While color fashions and trends come and go each year, neutrals have a staying power that can not be denied, regardless of style or period.

They can be used as a neutral background against which a designer develops and expresses his or her details and color color palette, as in this project done by Boston’s own Richard Fitzgerald. (New England Home, July/August 2009, Interior designer, Richard Fitzgerald, Photographer, Michael Paternio)

Brooke and Steve Giannetti us neutrals as a stylistic and lifestyle expression. (Veranda, July/August 2011, Interior design  by Brooke and Steve Giannetti, Photography by Steve Giannetti and Lisa Romerein)

English interior designer John Carter shows us we don’t have to stick to whites. We can use browns, dark taupes – even wallpaper with wonderful success.  (2009 The English Home magazine, Interior design by John Carter, month of issue and photographer unknown)

Here’s an eclectic/modern living room done in 2008, an artful collaboration between the owners and Tate + Burns Architects. (New England Home, September/October2008, Interior deign a collaboration between the owner and Tate+Burns, Architects, Photography by Michael Paternio)

Finally, a page from John Saladino’s book Style, published in 2000.

What do you think of neutrals. Classic? Boring?

How do you use them?

Cheers,