The Serenity of Ali Schwarz

http://alischwarz.com/

From the Hamptons & Westport galleries

Traditional is always beautiful and elegant

Traditional living rooms are often designed to reflect symmetry. Furniture that comes in two, as the chairs of wood can be used to help create a focal point in your living room. A closet or a fireplace could be your focal point, flanked by two pieces of furniture on each side. Emphasize your stay ideal focal points using two pieces of identical size on each side.


http://www.roomu.net/

Country House Decor in the City -William Howard Thompson House

With a creative eye and a passion for salvaged antique treasures from Europe, an entrepreneur proves that country style can be right at home in any setting — even an elegant city house.
Anyone still believing that country style must be limited to farmhouses need only behold the home of Annie Brahler for compelling proof to the contrary. Located in Jacksonville, Ill., the stately, six-bedroom house is a landmark of that city's historic district. On the outside, it is pure architectural sophistication; on the inside, it's country through and through.


Beneath a crystal chandelier, a small table off the kitchen provides an intimate dining nook.

Vintage silver gets repurposed as bud vases

Pictured: Eight-year-old daughter Isabel's bedroom has a bedstead that belonged to Princess Lillian of Belgium.

Dividing the living room from the sitting room is an archway rimmed in tooled leather and guarded by carved indian heads

Dressed Up & Dressed Down
Tasseled, buttoned "ball-gown slipcovers" dress up gilded dining chairs. Their opulence is underscored by the bare oak floor, outlined in walnut parquet, which gives the room the youthful look of "wearing an evening gown without shoes," Annie says. The Drexel claw-foot table was dark brown until Annie coated it with Sherwin-Williams "Pulmonaria" semigloss paint, deliberately avoiding a precise match with the slipcovers. "I don't like things to be matchy," she adds.

Annie in the Garden The daughter of Dutch immigrants, Annie lives with her husband, Richard, three children, and three dogs in an imaginative re-creation of the interiors inhabited by her ancestors, with antique "farmhouse castoffs" she unearths at barn sales throughout Europe. These she imports through her business, Euro Trash, a thriving enterprise that employs a carpenter and two seamstresses full-time. Like a tableau by the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer, these rooms combine opulence with an irresistible lack of pretense: Elaborate crystal chandeliers and chairs covered in simple linen look as lovely together as a 17th-century servant girl with a pearl earring. Here, all members of the Brahler clan make themselves at home as they please: "My kids and dogs are welcome anywhere," Annie says. "This is definitely not a museum!"

http://www.countryliving.com/homes/house-tours/william-howard-thompson-house-0506

Shabby Slips, owned by Renea Abbott

Right in the middle of the store is this limed table with these stunning shell chairs! What a find! When Shabby Slips first opened, the focus was on slip covers, but that has long since changed. Today, the focus is on the finest antiques for the younger set. To be sure, the store is still stocked with wonderful slipcovered furniture and there are beautiful pillows tossed about, but the antiques take center stage now. The trendy new lamps and accessories mix in with the old. The chandeliers and mirrors are exceptional, and there is a large selection of them to choose from.

Shabby Slips is owned by Renea Abbott, a much in-demand interior designer with several Veranda covers under her belt. She recently repainted the walls going from dark to white and the effect, along with all the mirrors and crystal chandeliers is stunning – the store absolutely sparkles! The ceiling is filled with the crystal chandeliers and the Venetian mirror shown above has to be the prettiest one I have ever seen! Shopping here is such a treat – a true eye candy experience.

http://cotedetexas.blogspot.com/2009/02/houston-shopping-bissonnetkirby.html

The Southern Accents brings a taste of the English countryside to Texas

With a nod to 1930s Art Deco glamour, Minton used a cool palette of pastels in the master bedroom. The simplicity of the canopy-style bed frame and its dressing lends a modern feel, and the pearlized woodwork reflects additional light throughout the room. “It just glows,” says Minton.

Inspired by tiger-stripe and paisley linens, Minton limited himself to a completely neutral scheme of gray, beige, taupe, and white for the guest suite. “We wanted the drama of no color,” he says. The stenciled pattern on the walls, played down by the choice of muted tones, gives an exotic but not overpowering feel.

From the Siamese figures flanking the center archway to the tomato-colored French chairs, the living room reflects the layered look typical of English design. “The British brought back many different cultural influences from their colonies, so we didn’t just stick to one type of furniture or style,” says Minton. “We created a look that made it possible to easily move a piece of furniture from one room to another.”

With an arrangement of antique Chinese and Japanese porcelain and English-style furniture, the entry hall is an inviting ode to eclectic English design and designer Joe Minton’s classic aesthetic.

For more pictures and credits:

http://www.southernaccents.com/architecture/showhouses/2009-showhouse-riverhills-texas-00400000057150/

Weiss & Wirth Interior Design

I would like to thank Weiss & Wirth Interior Design and Neil Alexander Photography for use of these beautiful photographs.

Weiss & Wirth Interior Design. They are a full-service interior design firm headquartered in the U.S. near Aspen, Colorado.

Weiss & Wirth Interior Design
(970) 945-5701

Photography Courtesy of Neil Alexander Photography

Neil Alexander Photography
neil@neilphoto.com
(504) 813-9460

Classic Contemporary

Brown Davis designed new paneling in the family room, where they repurposed furniture from the couple’s previous home. The print is by Robert Motherwell.

In the dining room, golden drapes warm the north-facing windows. The rosewood table, upholstered chairs, banquette and rug were designed by Brown Davis.

In the living room off the stair hall, Brown and Davis unified the seating groups with a Chinese-inspired rug of their own design.

More here:

http://www.homeanddesign.com/article.asp?paper=95&cat=158&article=20835

Classic beauties in muted tones

All images from here:

http://thelennoxx.zymichost.com/

Bedroom designs for girls

http://www.digsdigs.com/luxury-girls-bedroom-designs-by-pm4/

Luxury Traditional Bedrooms

Traditional designs perfectly fit for elegant and romantic bedrooms.

http://www.digsdigs.com/20-luxury-beds-with-traditional-design/

Italian luxury

http://www.saviofirmino.com/

http://www.vimercatimeda.it/

French Country Style in Atlanta, Georgia

With the aid of architect Linda MacArthur and designer Laura Walker, Atlanta homeowners saw the potential of turning a red brick Georgian two-story into the country French home of their dreams.

http://www.remodelingcenter.com/idea-galleries/country-french-style-home/

Beautiful in white

National Symphony Orchestra Showhouse

The modern walnut Parsons table, a trio of sleek steel pendant lights, and a pared-down tablescape are blended with grand wing chairs. "Balancing old things with new things gives a room great energy," says designer Michael Roberson.

White . . . minimalist, magical, or a little of both? The question remains if white qualifies as a real color or not. Some designers wouldn't think of creating a room sans pigment-laden appointments. Others use it as a foolproof mechanism for sophistication. In bedrooms, white and variations of it lead the way to a restful snooze. Dining rooms with white as their palettes sing in refinement and class. Teamed with black, and high-glass elements, the color reads glamorous and seductive. Warm white offers comfort. Feast your eyes on these colorless treats from showhouses across the country.

By Krissa Rossbund

Lake Forest Showcase House

This gentleman's room commands attention with its two-tone paletteand tailored canopy that envelops the beds.

In soft impressionistic strokes, the painting above a settee and two chairs in the room's gathering area introduce the only note of color--a delicate lilac--in an otherwise tightly composed symphony of ivory and gray.

http://www.traditionalhome.com/design_decorating/showhouses/room-bathed-white_ss1.html

From Chameleon Interiors

The room needs some additional architectural interest and
since there is little room for decorative detail
the designer applied moldings over
the chair rail to create the feel of paneled walls.

http://chameleon-interiors.blogspot.com/

James Michael Howard

http://www.jamesmichaelhoward.com/

Kristen Hutchins

California-based designer Kristen Hutchins, recently launched her own design company after working for both Ruthie Sommers and Kelly Wearstler.

Aaron Bayley Photography