Jamie Drake and Claudia Juestel at De Sousa Hughes (Photo: Moanalani Jeffrey)

My interview with Jamie Drake was conducted in a unique location, an elegant display room for De Sousa Hughes on the first floor of the Showplace Square building in the San Francisco Design Center. Having High Tea behind display windows was a first for both my guest and myself. As busy designers were walking by we sipped on Organic Darjeeling Estate by Mighty Leaf Tea, nibbled on various tea sandwiches from Lovejoy’s Tearoom and chatted about the evolution of a creative child to an established designer, about show houses, color, and inspiration.

De Sousa Hughes window display at the San Francisco Design Center (Photo: Moanalani Jeffrey)

Claudia Juestel: You came to San Francisco to give a lecture at the San Francisco Design Center. What were the main topics of your presentation?

Jamie Drake: My focus was on how to define your style. Now as a designer it is important that we all design our designer’s style; but I also talked about how you define style for your clients and how you make their homes reflect them. Because at the end of the day, they’re the ones who go in and out the door every night, we aren’t.

CJ: Exactly. It was enlightening. You have participated in a number of show houses on the East Coast. We have San Francisco Decorator Showcase here every year. Have you ever considered participating in a show house on the West Coast?

JD: In fact I have done a show house in Los Angeles a few years back. I did an Esquire show house in Cold Water Canyon, which was great fun, a giant semi traditional, but very LA party house. And the opening night highlight of that was Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy party there. And then I did also a few years back a show house in Chicago sponsored by House Beautiful. I would be open to San Francisco. It actually took me a long time to get into Kips Bay.

CJ: Really?

JD: I think I applied five times for it.

CJ: I understand that it is by invitation.

JD: You can apply, even in the old days I think you could apply. You submit work you have completed, not boards on what you would do for Kips Bay, but completed work and PR showing where you have been published.

“Logical Library” at Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse 2009 (Photo Nick Johnson)

“Logical Library” at Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse 2009 (Photo Nick Johnson)

CJ: Well Kips Bay made a very good decision to finally invite you to participate. What are some of the most memorable places you have designed homes in?

JD: Well certainly one is my home town New York City, but in addition, I have worked on fabulous projects in Bermuda, Paris, London, Saudi Arabia, Washington DC, and Los Angeles, so a lot of different exciting places.

Rendering of the living room at “Villavenue” in Bermuda (Image: courtesy of Drake Design Associates)

CJ: When you design in other places do you think more site-specific? How does it influence your design when for example working in a place like Bermuda?

JD: I think it is interesting that when you work in environments that are not your day-to-day environment that one expects to have more local color in your work. But in fact we live in such interesting times where we have information that warps when being presented to us. I think it is more international than ever.

CJ: I agree.

JD: Even when I worked in Bermuda, the client specifically didn’t want the typical Bermuda house with white walls and wicker furniture and prints. The client said that he wanted a darker house, a more solid house, because if it is gorgeous weather and bright and sunny, he was going to be outside and if it is not he wanted to be someplace that’s warmer and more cozy.

CJ: That makes sense.

JD: I think the most site-specific place I worked was Saudi Arabia, where culturally there is so much to include about usage etc., with the separation of men and women and places where people come and pay honor to the sheiks. So that was a little more site-specific. But when I worked for a Saudi in Paris, it was Parisian International, and when I worked for an American in London, it was international as well with American art.

Drawing room in a townhouse in London (Photo: Fritz von der Schulenburg)

CJ: And it all worked wonderfully, judging from the photos. You grew up in Connecticut. Your mother was a painter, your father was a printer, and two of his cousins were prominent interior designers. Did your family have an aesthetic influence on you, and can you recall an early design moment?

JD: Certainly it is inevitable that my family did have a huge impact on me aesthetically, and being around my mother’s palettes with the fresh squeezed paints on them, and the printing shop that my father owned with the pots of printer’s ink, which are thick and viscous and shiny, all had an enormous influence on me. Living in homes that were professionally designed by interior designers was, I think, probably very seminal in both the notion that we lived in something that was fully designed, but also was a fully involved lifestyle in a way. When you have a fully designed home, you also know how to sit down to a table well and eat a proper meal. It is a lifestyle that is sort of fluid with setting a table and dimming the lights hopefully, lighting the candles.

My earliest designs memories were probably working on my childhood backyard fort with my best friend from around the corner. Our fort was not actually much of a structure; it was actually sort of a pit in the ground, ringed by a circle of rocks, and sort of Stonehenge in Connecticut. I furnished it with antiques, which were actually things that I found in an abandoned barn nearby. So there were old bottles, rusted-out wash pans, farm implements; and I would arrange them in sort of little decorative ways.

CJ: How old were you then?

JD: Probably 6, 7.

CJ: That’s pretty amazing.

Drawing by Jamie around 10 years old (Image: courtesy of Drake Design Associates)

Drawing by Jamie around 10 years old (Image: courtesy of Drake Design Associates)

JD: When I got a little bit older, I guess when I was 11 or so, my mother decided it was time to redecorate the house, and she decided that she and I could do it instead of employing our cousin.  We were keeping the same furniture, but we were changing backgrounds.  We were going to reupholster some things, and I was absolutely adamant that I wanted a black patent leather bedroom.  I think at that point I might have been influenced by the bottle green lacquered living room that Angelo Donghia had in his 74^th Street house.  But I think that I was older by the time that I saw that, maybe not.

Anyway, my mother was horrified by the idea of black patent leather.  She understood sort of the concept of dark shiny walls, but black.  How about chocolate brown, how about burgundy maybe, anything but black.  But I was a very willful child, and I insisted it be black or nothing.  The room did not need to be redesigned, did not need to be repapered and changed anyway.

CJ: You are so known for your color.  But at that point it was only black?

JD: For some reason I was just absolutely hell-bent that it had to be black.  So I said fine, the walls are fine, don’t redo my room.  Everything else in the house was being repainted and repapered.  So I got my black room with these white shiny moldings and doors.  And I put the bed on a diagonal and covered it with an antique black and white toile tablecloth my mother had bought somewhere, and I had a very chic room that I liked.

Drawing by Jamie around 10 years old (Image: courtesy of Drake Design Associates)

Drawing by Jamie around 10 years old (Image: courtesy of Drake Design Associates)

CJ: Yes very chic indeed. So speaking a little bit about your mother and your father: one constantly created custom colors in printer’s ink, and then your mother mixed colors on a palette as she painted. As a designer you know a lot about pairing colors and are very brave in your color combinations, obviously due to an early influence. Do you do a lot of custom paint colors, or do you go with what is out there?

JD: Interestingly with paint colors we don’t tend to do a lot of customization. I find that Benjamin Moore is my brand of choice, and between their Classics Collection and their other collections, two major fan books, plus metallics, and this and that, there is practically an endless selection that works with what I want to do. We certainly customize, and usually use Benjamin Moore paints to match to rugs, fabrics and wall coverings all the time. But with paints we tend to find a number and pull it out of the pot.

CJ: I’m very surprised by that, because I think that would have been the first inclination because you’ve seen the mixing of colors so much.

JD: It’s funny, I have been in business 32 years now, and when I started out the painters all mixed their own colors. A really a good painter, a fine painter would paint and always mix the colors. But I don’t know that I have one really that I could trust to do it anymore.

CJ: Oh I wouldn’t trust any painter with mixing colors. Remember the movie “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House” with Myrna Loy and Carey Grant?

JD: Butter, I want butter! She went on and on about the yellow she wanted.

Bedroom in Flatiron loft in NYC (Photo: William Waldron)

Bedroom in a West Chelsea apartment in NCY (Photo: Wouter Vandertol)

CJ: As a designer you’re known for confident color choices, what is actually your approach to choosing color?

JD: I think there are two great parts. One is intuitive: I can walk into a room and sense what tonality it should be, whether it should be pale or intense, grayed out or vibrant. And then the equally important part is just what is right for the client. Very few clients will actually say I want purple and blue with a touch of aqua. But they will tell you a general range of what they like, such as pastels, or fresh colors, or jewel tones. They can usually tell you what they don’t like.

CJ: Which is equally as important.

JD: Right, especially if they can’t tell you what they do like, if you can get out of them what they don’t like you are okay. However even then I find sometimes that I strongly feel if they say no green and I feel that the room should be turquoise.

CJ: It’s blue then.

JD: Right, exactly and it is just about what words you choose and what tones you show them. Some times when a client tells you that they don’t like a specific color, a very specific color that has a memory in their mind, and if you show them something that is a variant in the same family, they are perfectly willing to accept it and embrace it.

Living room in an East Hampton home (Photo: Minh + Wass)

Bedroom in loft on 5th Avenue in Manhattan (Photo: William Waldron)

CJ: Do you think there are ugly colors, or do you think it is about the combination?

JD: I don’t think there are any ugly colors, and I’m not even sure that I think there is any combination that can’t work somehow; it has to do with balance and proportion.

CJ: Blue and mauve, you could probably pull that off.

JD: I can pull that off; you can give me any combination. I could say no, yeah, oh yeah.

CJ: What about the color of a Band-Aid?

JD: You know, the walls of the living room in my last apartment was maybe almost the color of a Band-Aid, maybe not quite. But that color of a Band-Aid actually again has to do with texture as much as proportion. Really shiny it could be really beautiful, how luscious!

Living room in Jamie’s former 5th Avenue loft in Manhattan (Photo: William Waldron)

CJ: Yes certain colors look best with a sheen, and so you are absolutely right. Moving on from color for a moment, and going back in time: you worked at a contract design firm during high school and during college interned under the late Angelo Donghia, considered one of the top designers of the 20th century. What effect did that have on you as a designer?

JD: Well in high school it was wonderful to just to go off and basically be an adult all day. It was a half-day, every day for a year and a half, and full time in the summer. And as the precocious tad that I was, I certainly didn’t want to be some geeky teenager, I wanted to be an adult.

So as a lifestyle experience it was fabulous and to work in the environment where they were. The library was enormous with hundreds of sample books and wall coverings, and even though it was commercial and contract, it was fascinating to know. So that was a wonderful, wonderful experience to have so early in life. When I worked for Angelo Donghia he was at the height of his career and his fame, and so it was an incredible honor. The office had a hush to it, a reverential hush, which I found surprising and maybe a little odd. It didn’t feel like fun was going on exactly.

CJ: You don’t seem like the quiet type.

JD: I like a little background noise, I do. But I had the opportunity when I was there to work on the house he had bought in Key West at that time, the famous octagonal house. I worked on some of the drawings for that house, and then I worked on the sketches and some of the drawings for Angelo Donghia’s first licensed furniture collection for a long defunct company called Kroehler. A lot of that was inspired by photographs of furniture he had taken in China. So I’m talking about 1976 or 1977 when China was probably just open then, and he went on this trip and found all these fabulous pieces of furniture that he used as inspiration for things that were in his early collections.

Octagon house in Key West, Florida, formerly owned by Angelo Donghia

CJ: And then you went to study design at Parson’s. Surprising to perhaps some people, you actually opened your own design firm immediately after graduating, which was a pretty gutsy move for a young designer. How did that come about?

JD: It wasn’t gutsy at all because it wasn’t a decision; it was an opportunity that presented itself; and that’s how it happened. I had gone to a poncy, ritzy private school for a nano second when I was in high school, and I met friends there who stayed friends. And literally two days after graduating from college, the girl who had a boyfriend, she met at the same time, called and said, “Aaron and his father have both decided to move. They are taking new apartments in the same building on 5th Avenue, on the same floor, and would you like to do them?” And I said “sure”, she said that she would send the car up the next day to have me come for a barbecue in Greenwich to talk about it.

And that is how I started. It was not a decision, it was presented and I said “great, okay”, and I never really looked back. I had not decided to go out on my own, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I had only graduated literally two days before, and I had gone through my four years of college in three years. So I was not sure that I really didn’t just want to take the Summer off and agonize like most recent graduates do. But opportunity came and I embraced it.

CJ: And perhaps also you had a slightly unusual approach for an American, I would say being European, because we start working and having practical experience at a young age. So I was quite surprised when I moved here and went to college with students who had never worked before.

JD: And you are right, I had that experience in high school. And I always knew what I wanted to do, so I didn’t have that other hand-wringing time, which is “what am I going to do?” I just got a general education, a Bachelor’s in English, which was sort of the fall back kind of career, very focused.

A young Jamie Drake during his college days (Photo: courtesy of Jamie Drake)

CJ: But you also had to run a business all of a sudden. It is very different working for someone else and doing design, but all of a sudden having to do bookkeeping, billing, and such. There must have been something that was a little bit challenging.

JD: You know, back in those days in the ‘70s was there really any bookkeeping I did. Not really, I had a check book, and I ran it out of a check book. The checks were written by hand. I am not sure I even had a typewriter. Did I type purchase orders? I might not have, I might have written those by hand in triplicate with carbons; it certainly was triplicates with carbons.

CJ: And it worked. Did you have a fax machine?

JD: Absolutely not! In 1978 there were no fax machines. Fax machines probably did not come in until the 1980s. When you think about the changes that we have been afforded in the last 25 years, from the first cell phones, which were the size of a suitcase, and car phones that were enormous, and a fax machine coming into the office. My office manager at the time (she worked for me for 17 years and she left 2 years ago) about 20 years ago or so thought the devil was going to come into the office. And now of course we have tiny Blackberrys and iPhones, and we don’t ever have to be in an office.

Interior of the office of Drake Design Associates (Photo: courtesy of Drake Design Asscociates)

CJ: And we shop and find information on line, and we email. Communication is very different now. Back to design again: you are not only known for unusual color combinations, but you are also when it comes to unique pairings of furniture and choices of materials. Perhaps you can give us a couple of examples.

JD: I do like strange combinations, such as in this dining room where we did that had a 16 foot long buffet to store the clients possessions with doors wrapped orange pony skin. It sits next to an onyx topped table, one of the most wildly patterned onyxes you could ever imagine, on top of a custom rug with polka dots around the border in multi colors that came out of a collection of Danish pottery that the client had sitting on the sideboard, all topped and crowned by the most over-the-top gilded Austrian chandelier.

Dining room in an apartment on the upper Eastside in Manhattan (Photo: William Waldron)

CJ: Austrian?  You warm my heart!

JD: Austrian indeed, and an Italian baroque mirror it is reflected in.  So there is a combination of crazy things.  In my own living room on 5^th Avenue at one end there was the arm of a tailored sofa, rather Jean-Michel Frank in inspiration, next to it is Art Deco tea table, behind it red lacquered acrylic bookcases from the 1960s, and sitting in front of that a 1940s version of a Louis XVI-style wing chair with an African stool next to that.  So you have Africa, you have the 1920s in France, you have the 1960s in France, the 1940s, a lot of French I guess, but it is a mélange of decades and influences.

Living room in Jamie’s former 5th Avenue loft in Manhattan (Photo: William Waldron)

CJ: And that’s what makes it so wonderful!

JD: And that is what I think makes it provocative. And again back to the information we have available to us, and the opportunities we have available to us with travel, and even if you don’t get to travel, with TV, it is learning about dispersed cultures over the course of decades and centuries.

CJ: And it reflects our lifestyle today. Nobody wants a straight-forward French Neoclassical room for example. We don’t want to live in a museum. We want to mix it up to reflect our experience. That also makes it more timeless, because you see different periods and different cultures, and it is definitely more fun.

JD: Yes, absolutely.

Jamie Drake on the “Chloe” sofa he designed for Lewis Mittman (Photo: John Besller)

CJ: Besides interior design you also design products, namely furniture for Lewis Mittman, fabrics for Schumacher, rugs for Safavieh, faucets for THG and bath accessories for Labrazel, an impressive list. Please tell us more about how these collections came about and how they reflect your signature style.

JD: Designing products is something we had always done as one-offs for our clients. And having done years of custom furniture design and rug design, not so much faucets unfortunately because of the tool and die costs, I had a lot of ideas and things that we had made beautifully and successfully over the years. So when the opportunities arose to bring them to a wider market and to maybe reinterpret them a little bit in cases, I embraced those. It is also as a designer a wonderful way to extend your business beyond the core services we provide, so a way to have an income without hands-on-service 24/7.

Jamie Drake’s drawing for the “Saddle Bag” chair (Image: courtesy of Drake Design Associates)

“Saddle Bag” chair for Lewis Mittman (Photo: courtesy of Drake Design Associates)

“Provencal” cabinet for Lewis Mittman (Photo: courtesy of Drake Design Associates)

Brass faucet inlaid with horn for THG (Photo: courtesy of Drake Design Associates)

Stingray bath accessories for Labrazel (Photo: courtesy of Drake Design Associates)

CJ: And a different kind of creative pleasure when you design for quantity, which gives you access to more materials and options. Where do you find your inspiration?

JD: I find my inspiration really literally everywhere. The main source is probably fashion, and I read Woman’s Wear Daily everyday, and it is a bible. But I also see fashion the minute I walk out my front door often. Travel is a huge inspiration, and having been to India and Morocco, Paris and Greece, London and Cambodia, Australia and Thailand I have had great opportunities to be a lot of places. But again, I can find inspiration walking up Madison Avenue.

CJ: When you travel, do you become a design tourist where you go to all the obvious places that a designer would want to go to, shop at the markets, take pictures of doors and things like that?

JD: I do. I think it’s inevitable to want to capture those little moments and those visions and take them back; sometimes they get used and sometimes they don’t.

CJ: So can you give me maybe an example, a trip to Morocco or Cambodia perhaps and how that would have then translated into a specific project or item or design?

JD: When I went to Cambodia, when I went to the temples of Angkor Wat, I took masses of pictures of the carvings especially, and shortly thereafter was when I signed my license with Schumacher, and one of those pictures got reinterpreted as a printed linen/cotton fabric called “Temple Garden”. And then that became one of the most successful of the patterns, it is a tree of life meets Matisse kind of a pattern, simple and graphic but very lyrical. It also became a rug for Safavieh.

“Temple Garden” rug for Safavieh (Photo: courtesy of Safavieh)

“Jazzed” fabric for F. Schumacher (Photo: courtesy of F. Schumacher)

CJ: That’s a very direct and successful example. Now for a little gushing, you have been inducted into the Interior Design Magazine Hall of Fame in 2003 and you’ve been repeatedly named one of the top 100 Designers in Architectural Digest, again just recently, and you been nominated by Traditional Home as one of the 20 design icons. What impact do you feel your work has had on the world of design?

JD: I am by nature not someone who breaks his arm patting himself on the back, but I think that my influence has been greater than I maybe am even comfortable acknowledging. I think that my use of color and eclecticism has been very influential, and the boldness of it. And when I think back to some of my early work that was published, such as a room that I call “Tangerine Twist”, all of a sudden everywhere I started to see those strong orange and citrus tones. I probably wasn’t the only one who was on that train, but I was certainly an early proponent of it. And I think any time you have the good fortune of having things published, you have that opportunity to be an influencer. And so in a way I am influential.

Sitting room in Flatiron loft in NYC (Photo: William Waldron)

Sitting room at Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse 2002 (Photo: William Waldron)

Billiard room in NYC (Photo: Yale Wagner)

CJ: And speaking of publishing, I have your wonderful book here.

JD: It sold out and is out of print. You can still find it on Amazon.com though. It was great putting a book together. But this book is a couple of years old already, and of course books take about a year to do. So the book is actually three years and more old; so it’s time for another book. I am in the early stages of putting a new one together. I am just starting to compile what we have already photographed that might be good for the book. So we are getting it started. So maybe it will be available in 2011.

CJ: I am looking forward to it. On a different subject, you are on the Board of Directors of the Alpha Workshops www.alphaworkshops.org. Please tell us how you got involved and what the organization is about?

JD: I got involved about 9 years ago when I was introduced to them by someone who does public relations and marketing by the name of Mike Stroll. He is a big fan of Alpha Workshops and was doing some pro bono work for them. I went to an event where he was talking about their work and showing their work, and I became enamored of it, I thought it was quite nice, and I became a client. Because the Alpha Workshops is in essence an organization that gives training and employment to people living with HIV and AIDS, to help them re-enter the job market in a supportive environment as decorative artists.

We are a New-York-State-certified school, and we teach in our training the basics of decorative arts, such as faux bois, faux marble, verre églomisé, hand-blocking, wall paper production, casting, gilding, etc. We earn a full 50% of our income by selling things we make, such as wallpaper and lamps, and we do a lot of on-site projects, on-site finishing, unusual projects like a 17’ diameter, upside-down tree, constructed of gnarled grapevine that hangs on the 6th floor of Takashimaya’s, New York 5th Avenue Flag ship store. And so after becoming enamored as a client, I became just more and more interested in it, and got to know the director, some of the board members, and I was invited to join the board. It is a perfect fit for me, for my love of decorative arts and my love for humanity.

Prince George Ballroom with gilding and restoration by Alpha Workshops (Photo: Tim Proctor)

“Eden Rock” table lamp in Manhattan House apartment (Photo: Lucas Allen)

CJ: That’s wonderful. I have not heard about the organization before preparing for the interview. The level of craftsmanship is amazing. Perhaps many other designers in the Bay Area are not familiar with the Alpha Workshop either. Do you have any local representation here?

JD: We don’t have any local representation in California. In New York City our lamps are represented at Dennis Miller at the New York Design Center on 200 Lexington Avenue, and at Lorin Marsh in the D&D Building. The wallpapers are at Pollack, as well as a line of licensed fabrics, and we have a line of contract wall coverings with Koroseal. So we have some things that are more broadly distributed, but not out here.

CJ: Maybe you should talk to Eric and Jeffrey at De Sousa Hughes.

JD: I know, exactly.

Jamie working on a rendering (Photo: courtesy of Drake Design Associates)

Master bathroom in the “Villa Maria” Hamptons Showcase in 2002 (Photo: Dennis Krukovski)

CJ: Can you think of doing anything else if you wouldn’t have become an interior designer, which you obviously wanted to be at a very young age? What would you have done if that would not have worked out?

JD: As a great fan of Law & Order, I might have been a prosecuting attorney, although I am sure it is a lot more fun on TV than it is in a day to day. I think I would have made a fabulous proper butler.

CJ: Really?

JD: Working for somebody in a very grand home, as long as they were nice, setting the most perfect table, making sure the flowers were fabulous, making sure the food that came out of the kitchen was picture-perfect and delicious, and that everything was right in its order.

CJ: I think being an interior designer, and a service oriented one, probably is a little bit similar to that.

JD: Yes, we just get compensated maybe a little bit better.

CJ: Probably, and you don’t have to wear the white gloves and the one uniform.

JD: But I’d have a better manicure if I wore the white gloves.

Living room in an apartment on the upper West Side in NYC (Photo: Wouter Wandertol)

Bathroom in NYC townhouse (Photo: William Waldron)

CJ: Last but not least, what may people be surprised to learn about you?

JD: Oh wow! Well as evolved as I may appear on the outside, I am still just an adolescent goofball on the inside, and sometimes I can really do some jerky things. But I have a good time pursuing those.

CJ: Oh I would hope so.

JD: I do.

Bar area in Sub Zero’s executive dining room (Photo: courtesy of Sub Zero/Wolf)

Bathroom in Lux Kitchen and Bath Showhouse (Photo: Elizabeth Felicella)

CJ: Well thank you so much Jamie, I really appreciate your time.

JD: See, and you thought we weren’t going to get through it in the time we had.

CJ: We did.

JD: I trained myself over the years to speak sometimes in these kinds of formats in sound bites. When I talk to the press back and I speak in sound bites, I don’t have to think about it or drag it out. I give them a snappy answer, everybody wants somebody that puts a smile on your face, people love it if you pepper it with sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll.

CJ: Oh, we haven’t covered that subject.

JD: Ah yes I did, that was my last answer.

CJ: It was very subtle; and I am apparently very slow.

JD: Alright, wonderful, wonderful.

“New American Glamour”, written by Jamie Drake is available online at Amazon

Dining table in Tucker & Marks’ dining room (Photo: Matthew Millman)

Now in its 34th year, the San Francisco Decorator Showcase again drew hundreds of submissions from leading interior designers throughout the Bay Area eager to show off their creativity. But only a few got the opportunity to display their talents at the 1929 French Normandy-style home, designed by Albert L. Farr. There was universal agreement that the outcome was a huge success, and the owners and listing agents (the home is on the market with David Barrett of Warwick Properties and Joel Goodrich of Coldwell Banker) could not have been more pleased with the transformation.

“It is really wonderful to see this historic residence restored and brought into the 21st century.”
Joel Goodrich

Staircase at the 2010 Decorator Showcase (Photo: Moanalani Jeffrey)

This year the design community says farewell to Executive Director Delanie Borden who is known for her infinite charm and patience. After ten years she wanted to hand over the reigns to a new generation, and this time she was shadowed by her successor Michaele M. James. Together they coordinated a most successful showcase that highlights the skills of almost thirty talented interior designers, architects, landscape designers and artists. The average person may not realize the efficiency and finesse it takes to organize such an extensive renovation in only three months. My hat goes off to these ladies!

Detail of 2nd floor sitting room designed by Charles De Lisle (Photo: David Duncan Livingston)

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SFDC 2010

Upon entering this gracious home immediately to the right is the powder room designed by Matthew Turner of MacCaul Turner Design who drew inspiration from the myth of Narcissus, which he felt should lend much reflection and also some darkness to his design.

Powder room (before)

Powder room (after)

After the jury accepted his design Matthew learned that the homeowners wanted something light. Although he had to make major revisions to his palette none of the magic of the original design was lost. Each component makes subtle references to the myth, as the ‘vanity’, which is real rift-sawn white oak in contrast to the faux wood finish on the walls.

This major contribution to the success of the roomcame from the talented decorative artist Katherine Jacobus whose most meticulous faux bois work on the walls and silver linen texture on the ceiling are simply exquisite. Together they took an overworked and dated closet and powder room and turned it into a timeless and masculine space, which offers function while intriguing our senses.

Katherine Jacobus & Matthew Turner

“Go ahead, step in and have your moment of Narcissism.”
Matthew Turner

“A moment? A moment for some, a lifetime for others!”
Suzanna Allen

Across from the lobby you enter a vestibule that leads into the generously scaled dining room designed by Tucker & Marks whose principal Suzanne Tucker not only succeeded with a most comfortable and inviting room that can serve more than one function, but also beautifully showcased her new fabric collection, such as the floral drapery fabric, which has a border incorporated into the yardage.

Dining room (before)

Dining room (after). Designed by Tucker & Marks (Photo: Matthew Millman)

A perfect balance of casual and elegant it is not only a place for dining, but also a light-filled retreat for reading, listening to music and conversing, as Suzanne added a grand bookcase along the back wall, a large dry bar near the entrance and a generously-sized curved sofa in the bay window. Contemporary art and objects, such as the portentous “Horny” bronze table lamp from Blackman Cruz, add contrast and relevance to this otherwise feminine and light dining room. This is a place where you can get happily lost in the details.

Bar in dining room. (Photo: Matthew Millman)

The kitchen was a challenging space to configure, long and narrow, with an enclosed staircase and a dark pantry breaking up the back area. Jennifer Hershon and JoAnn Hartley of Hershon Hartley Design took a chef’s approach and built the design like well-thought-out recipe.

Kitchen, before (Photo: courtesy of Hershon-Hartley Design)

Kitchen (after). Designed by Hershon-Hartley Design. (Photo: Margot Hartford)

They used neutral tones, subtle colors and textures to visually expand the width of the space. Materials included white oak for the floors, a combination of natural and painted quarter-swan oak for the cabinets, CaesarStone on the counter tops, walnut and steel for the island, and cast concrete tile by Andrew Fleischman on the backsplash behind the range. Venetian plaster by Affinity Studios was not only used on the walls, it also covered the hood above the range, which consisted heavily troweled plaster embossed with real giant Tasmanian tree fern fronds.

Kitchen designed by Hershon-Hartley Design. (Photo: Margot Hartford)

The breakfast nook was carved from a small corner next to the staircase. A built-in leather and fabric banquette and round table make maximal use of the awkward space. Now the kitchen now is not only up to date and more functional, but it also appears brighter and more comfortable, as a visitor noted, “I could live in here.”

Breakfast nook, before. (Photo: courtesy of Hershon-Hartley)

Breakfast nook (after). Designed by Hershon-Hartley Design (Photo: Margot Hartford)

The library, one of the most popular rooms during the selection process, went to Darin Geise of Coup d’Etat, who had earned much respect last year with an amazing transformation of a basement closet. His “Hall of Wisdom and Enlightenment” is a true reflection of the aesthetic of his showroom, dark, masculine and warm with touches of whimsy and surprise, like the red velvet wing chairs with Anglo-Indian gilded canopies fit for a king.

Rendering for presentation by Coup d’Etat. (Image: Courtesy of Coup d’Etat)

Library designed by Darin Geise. (Photo: Matthew Millman)

The room is layered with unique furnishings, curious objects, tons of antique leather books in various languages, a unique infinity mirror over the mantel, and an eclectic grouping of art including a large painting called “Taiho Rock” (turned on its side) by landscape designer and artist Topher Delaney and a photographic study of nests by Sharon Beales.

Darin used bold scale with Topher’s painting, the imposing spherical chandelier made from rusted metal banding and the Silo light installation next to the leather sofa, which is comprised of industrial grain lids and is strangely reminiscent of some medieval torture device. So why does it feel right in the room?

Library designed by Darin Geise. (Photo: Matthew Millman)

Darin Geise. (Photo: Matthew Millman)

Moving on to the second floor, the master bedroom suite underwent the biggest transition architecturally, as it had the most awkward layout. Shelby de Quesada in collaboration with her husband Jorge de Quesada of De Quesada Architects completely reconfigured the space to create a luxurious retreat for the home’s future owners.

New floor plan for master bedroom suite by De Quesada Architects (Drawing: De Quesada Architects)

Originally the entrance was where the bed is now situated, and the bedroom was flanked by two oddly configured spaces, a combination of a closet and bathroom on one side and a Jacuzzi tub recessed in a raised carpeted platform and more closets on the other. The new layout is not only much more functional, but also provides more interesting focal points. Upon entering the room the light-filled gallery catches the eye, and the bed is tucked away to the right while still taking advantage of the views through the bay windows.

Master bedroom designed by Shelby de Quesada and Quesada Architects (Photo: Margot Hartford)

Shelby described the overall design concept as a contemporary adaption of Neo-Classical principals. The walls were treated in traditional Grasello Venetian plaster, expertly executed in shades of café au lait by Willem Racké. The Klismos-style bed from Therien Studio Workshops anchors the room furnished with a mixture of antiques with classical lines and exquisite woods. Thierry Chantrel’s living green console and plant arrangements truly bring the gallery to life with succulents and air plants.

Gallery designed by Shelby de Quesada and Quesada Architects. (Photo: Margot Hartford)

The warm palette continues into the bathroom pairing pear wood with more Venetian plaster, white Calacatta marble and nickel-plated trim and fittings. Nods to designer for the separate toilet room and overall to a very successful transformation.

Double vanity with pearwood and calacatta counter tops and backsplash. (Photo: Margot Hartford)

Will Wick’s room immediately took me out of San Francisco, away to a place somewhere in the Mediterranean, perhaps occupied by an artistic American woman with a minimal and modern aesthetic. I guess Will got his point across, as his inspiration was a guest quarter in Mongibello, Sicily.

Guest bedroom designed by Will Wick. (Photo: Patrik Argast)

Pale gray plaster walls and limed oak floors serve as the base for an eclectic mix of rustic and masculine furnishings, which invoke a sense of cool austerity. The minimal décor is accentuated by a grouping of interesting portraits on one wall and a very large photograph of water by Richard Misrach on the other. This ethereal guestroom definitely transports you to another place.

Guest bedroom designed by Will Wick. (Photo: Patrik Argast)

The adjoining dressing room and bathroom were designed by showcase newcomers Cecilia Sagrera Hill and George Brazil of Sagrera Brazil who envisioned a retreat for a young lady who had moved back home after graduating from University. Although a likely scenario these days most graduates may not have such a gorgeous boudoir designed for them.

Dressing area, before (Photo: courtesy of Sagrera Brazil)

There are many wonderful elements in the very small dressing room, from the charming aqua wallpaper, over the graceful Roman shade with two-color trim, the lovely custom dressing table and stool, to the marvelous glass bubble ceiling fixtures, and the iPad with wardrobe selections by Barney’s personal shopper especially compiled for the young fashionista.

Dressing area designed by Sagrera Brazil (Photo: David Duncan Livingston)

The pair’s attention to detail continued in the bathroom where they replaced the pedestal sink with a custom vanity and laid out the marble tub surround in an over-scaled chevron pattern and added an off-center shampoo niche. My favorite of the small touches was 3” by 3” painting from one of the designers’ personal art collection. Not a detail was overlooked! Cecilia and George achieved a perfect balance between timeless elegance and fashionable femininity.

Dressing area (before)

Dressing area designed by Sagrera Brazil (Photo: David Duncan Livingston)

George Brazil & Cecilia Sagrera-Hill (Photo: Moanalani Jeffrey)

The guestroom designed by Marion Philpotts and Jonathan Staub on the second floor was described by the designers as “Elemental Luxe” in where they went for a fresh, natural Asian island feel, quite possibly inspired by the location of their second office in Hawaii. They set pale neutrals and textures against a turquoise Chinese daybed painted with automobile paint for durability. Also here the walls had a lot to say with wallcovering from Nobilis, one side in a silver paper covered with lacy handmade paper and the rest with “Papier Bois”, which has a light oak texture.

Guest bedroom designed by Marion Philpotts & Jonathan Staub (Photo: Matthew Millman)

They also extended their design out to the terrace where they added a splash of color with orange wire chairs. The warmth of the outside successfully contrasted their cool and soothing sleeping quarters.

Terrace off the guest bedroom designed by Marion Philpotts & Jonathan Staub (Photo: Moanalani Jeffrey)

Jonathan Staub (Photo: Moanalani Jeffrey)

The adjacent closet and bathroom got a distinctive makeover by of De Meza + Architecture + Interiors, also first-timers at the showcase this year. In their “Modernism Talks Back” bathroom Gregg de Meza and his team of hardworking ladies, namely Jennifer Gustafson and Michelle Nelson, did not go the understated route, as many of the other designers, when they chose black and white contrasted by bright yellow as their color scheme.

Guest bathroom, before (Photo: courtesy of De Meza + Architecture + Interiors)

Guest bathroom (after). Designed by De Meza + Architecture + Interiors (Photo: Shae Rocco)

To heighten the contrast and to infuse whimsy they used a black and white ½” mosaic tile by Trend USA with the quote “wash behind your ears” repeated in the shower and a dizzying custom pattern on the floor that only appears random. From what Gregg explained it was a very deliberate pattern they had created, and it came with a very detailed map for installation.

Guest bathroom designed by De Meza + Architecture + Interiors (Photo: Shae Rocco)

They designed a vanity whose details on the exterior are reminiscent of those on the existing closet doors, but whose interior is a cleverly thought-out space-saver with plenty of storage lined in bright yellow for a wake-up kind of surprise. They also painstakingly painted the inside of the closet drawers in yellow. DMA’s first showcase room debuted with a splash and with no detail overlooked.

Guest bathroom designed by De Meza + Architecture + Interiors (Photo: Shae Rocco)

Mary Hardy and her son Gregg de Meza (Photo: Moanalani Jeffrey)

“Eat more bacon every day” a little girl responded when asked by Gregg de Meza about what the shower wall would read.

Anastasia Faiella in collaboration with Rothblatt Architecture took the second floor kitchenette from drab and uninviting space to a treat that anyone would appreciate on his or her bedroom floor. Anastasia and her collaborators got a rid of the opening into the adjacent sitting room and reconfigured the whole layout. They kept it light and airy with pale walls in a raw and troweled plaster finish with a pigmented top coat executed in an ever so subtle fashion by Ted Sogyi of Probert Art, white cabinetry, gray “Flatiron” marble bricks on the backsplash and Carrara marble on the counter tops.

Kitchenette, before (Photo: courtesy of Faiella Design)

Kitchenette (after). Designed by Faiella Design (Photo: Chi Fang)

This generously sized kitchenette has all the essentials needed to satisfy a midnight craving, such as a large sink, a microwave, Fisher Paykel’s drawer dishwasher, a two-drawer-combo refrigerator and wine fridge from U-Line, and Miele’s built-in whole bean coffee system. Could anyone ask for more?

Kitchenette designed by Faiella Design (Photo: Chi Fang)

Next door in the official second floor sitting room Charles de Lisle got creative in covering the outdated floral wallpaper on the walls. Inspired by all the smocking and ruching in fashion Charles had been dying to use ruffles and such. If your clients won’t let you use ruffles in their homes what better place than a showcase to install 200 yards of black and white gingham as a wall treatment?

Second room sitting room, before (Photo: courtesy of Charles De Lisle)

My memories of gingham took me back to my childhood of dirndl dresses and aprons. But my brain went to different universe when I entered this room. The black and white ruched walls with ruffled tops and bottoms were contrasted with white, gray and bright chartreuse yellow, and furnishings that are decidedly modern and paired down. My memories of the Alps have faded into space. Inspired by Frances Elkin and Michael Taylor, Charles put his modern and offbeat spin on the room. I feel that showcase houses should be inspiring, and this room is unexpected — perhaps not everyone’s cup of tea, but it gets a strong nod from me.

Second floor sitting room (after). Designed by Charles De Lisle (Photo: David Duncan Livingston)

The chairs upholstered in custom-dyed chartreuse hemp twill and the minimal brass floor lamp are designs of the CDL Workshop. The armoire was constructed from an art-shipping crate, the benches from I-beams covered in cushions fashioned from moving blankets, and the fire place mantel out of perforated galvanized steel. These are humble materials taken to another level. Charles created a sophisticated and intriguing room full of surprises.

Second floor sitting room designed by Charles De Lisle (Photo: David Duncan Livingston)

Another designer going against the staid grain was Michael Burg who fell in love with a tiny attic room that had a corner sink in it. With bold strokes he transformed a tiny attic room into sexy chamber.

Attic room, before (Photo: courtesy of Michael Burg)

When Michael first saw the space it reminded him of the many small European hotel rooms he had stayed in. He even kept what other designers may have considered flaws, such as the corner sink and the exposed radiator. These more humble aspects are set against bold strokes. He covered the walls and ceiling with a black wallcovering with a subtle fretwork pattern, and thought of the essentials, something to rest on, something to regenerate, and something to inspire the mind.

Attic room (after). Designed by Michael Burg (Photo: Scot Meacham Wood)

Attic room designed by Michael Burg (Photo: Scot Meacham Wood)

So the main pieces are a tufted Napoleon-3rd-style red leather campaign bed and Edwardian lounge chair, a vintage glass vitrine with toiletries and piccolo bottles of champagne and liquor, and a mortician’s table with a mini TV, and a Louis-XVI-style secretaire. Michael designed a room that is utterly unafraid and charmingly enveloping.

Michael Burg (Photo: Moanalani Jeffrey)

“No, it is the wife of the violin maker Bussotti giving birth in “The Red Violin.”
Michael Burg, to someone wondering what the strange noises were coming from miniature TV.

In another small attic space Cecilie Starin aimed to create a space for contemplation and reading, which she called “Ivory Tower: A Room for Thought”.

Aupair room, before (Photo: courtesy of Cecilie Starin)

The focal point is a French day bed with a linen canopy and luscious pillows, perfectly fitted in between the windows. Despite a generous amount of furniture the small room does not feel cramped, and there are interesting details everywhere, like the rustic chandelier by Jim Misner made from vintage parts, and the stunning stenciled cream and tan custom wallpaper in a crackled linen look by Jennifer La Pierre on the ceiling. An open metal bookcase is filled with baskets, boxes and objects, arranged in a slightly haphazard fashion, giving the sense that they hadbeen collected over time on various traveling adventures. The result is a reflection of how Cecilie likes to live and most inviting to visitors.

Sitting room (after). Designed by Cecilie Starin (Photo: Cecilie Starin)

Cecilie Starin & Buzz Kaplan (Photo: Moanalani Jeffrey)

“I found it very interesting when several different people over the last few weeks have mentioned my
room has a “steampunk” vibe to it. I love that!”
Cecilie Starin

Study designed by Brian Dittmar (Photo: David Duncan Livingston)

Brian Dittmar’s debut at the showcase came with immediate accolades from Diane Dorrans Saeks who detailed his process before the rooms were even open to the public. Brian’s study was perhaps the most personal room in the house reflecting his lifelong passion for horology. A collection of time pieces from various periods are displayed throughout, which include an 1860s French “Portico” clock, an Art Deco wall clock, a 1950s German “Hoop” clock, unusual hour glasses, an armillary, antique pocket watches from Brian’s grandfather, and a one-of-a-kind “Skeleton” wall clock by furniture designer and metal artist Paul Benson who also created the floor lamp besides the custom wing chair.

Study designed by Brian Dittmar (Photo: David Duncan Livingston)

Time was also subtly reflected in many of the furnishings, as in the custom rug with the quote “Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely” by Auguste Rodin and the mirror with a poem by John Muir about how time relates to the earth etched upon it. Hard to tell what time it is in here, but time very well spent by Brian.

Brian Dittmar (Photo: Moanalani Jeffrey)

Val Fiscalini utilized every inch of the oddly shaped petite attic bathroom and maximized space with a wall-hung vanity from Kohler in the shape of a hat box, a wall faucet and narrow shelves. Reflecting the light from the small windows and expanding the space is a mirrored wall that consists of an oval Venetian-style mirror mounted on an mirror panel etched in a large Fortuny-inspired pattern, which was also applied onto wallpaper by Jennifer La Pierre for continuity.

Attic bathroom (before)

Attic bathroom (after). Designed by Val Fiscalini (Photo: Will Chubb)

The tub was replaced with an open shower with a partial frameless glass panel. Honed Avorio marble lines the wall of the shower and on the floor an ivory ceramic tile simulating the texture of pebbled leather is bordered in a thin line of the same tile in chocolate. Val took a tiny, awkward and drab bathroom to an understated jewel box.

Attic bathroom designed by Val Fiscalini (Photo: Will Chubb)

Benjamin Dhong was awarded the attic room right next door with breathtaking views of the Golden Gate Bridge through the small dormer windows. Inspired by the romance of Parisian garrets and the birds-eye view Benjamin called it “The Aerie” and played on a theme of skies, trees, and birds. The palette is comprised of warm grays, taupes, creams and teal, with touches of ivory, gold and ebony.

Attic sitting room designed by Benjamin Dhong (Photo: David Duncan Livingston)

The walls were painted by Linda Horning with the subtlest shadows of tree branches in a foggy greenish gray. Furnishings are a mixture of traditional and modern: a French Directoire daybed and a 1960s bone marquetry table with chalice base by Anthony Redmille from Lebreton Gallery, a parchment-covered stool inspired by Jean Michel Frank from Coup d’Etat, the “Egg” chair by Arne Jacobsen upholstered in a shimmery cream velvet cut in the shape of clouds, and the “Tete de la Femme” lamp by Giacometti. A statue of the “Winged Victory” from Candace Barnes Antiques and a wood sculpture of a Titmouse bird and her nest introduced Avian elements to the design. Benjamin’s garret is certainly the chic nest he dreamed of high above the Bay.

Benjamin Dhong (Photo: Moanalani Jeffrey)

“Your zebra was killed, mine died while having sex.”
Benjamin Dhong to Cecilie Starin when noticing they both used a zebra rug.

IT’S ALL IN THE DETAILS

One of the many qualities a talented designer brings to the table is an attention to details. The shape of a chair arm, the curve of a table leg, the exact shade of a certain color, the trim on a pillow, the texture of a custom finish, the distinctive grouping of objects, all of those small things can make a huge difference. Upon closer inspection many of these special details were revealed in this showcase.

A 19 century Spanish tole chandelier and wall paper on the ceiling in Tucker & Marks’ dining room (Photo: Matthew Millman)

A pleated valance with nailhead details in Hershon-Hartley Design’s kitchen (Photo: courtesy of Hershon-Hartley Design)

A tiny painting above the towels and the bookmatched marble on the tub surround in Sagrera Brazil’s bathroom (Photo: David Duncan Livingston)

A ruffled header on the shirred wall treatment in Charles de Lisle’s sitting room (Photo: courtesy of Charles de Lisle)

A chandelier by Jim Misner and ceiling treatment by Jennifer La Pierre in Cecilie Starin’s sitting room (Photo: Cecilie Starin)

The subtle mural by Linda Horning in the sitting room designed by Benjamin Dhong (Photo: Benjamin Dhong)

The new Lutron “Vierti” dimmer switch in De Meza + Architecture + Interiors' bathroom. (Photo: Shae Rocco)

Paul Benson’s custom wall clock in Brian Dittmar’s study (Photo: Emily Payne)

And All That Art

Of course none of the rooms were short on art in one form or another. Shelby de Quesada and Brian Dittmar consulted art advisors Baxter & Cook to put the perfect collections together for them. Shelby wanted Bay Area figurative artists, and Brian needed pieces that supported his theme of horology.

“Untitled” painting by Mario Palacios, “Quboids” bronze sculpture by Adam P. Gale, “Untitled Figure” watercolor by Nathan Oliveira, and “Piano With Blue” by William Theophilus Brown (Photo: Margot Hartford)

“Stitch in Time” handstitched linen pieces by Ruth Laskey in Brian Dittmar’s study (Photo: David Duncan Livingston)

Other designers worked directly with galleries. Among them were the Dolby Chadwick Gallery who assisted De Meza + Architecture + Interiorsand Benjamin Dhong and Silverman Gallery who loaned works to Charles de Lisle.

“New Territory” painting by Gary Ruddell in De Meza + Architecture + Interiors’ bathroom (Photo: Shae Rocco)

“Departure Indigo” painting by Gary Ruddell in Benjamin Dhong’s sitting room (Photo: Emily Payne)

“Wind is blowing down the Mountain” and Wind is blowing the mountain down” by Christopher Badger in second floor sitting room designed by Charles De Lisle (Photo: David Duncan Livingston)

Fraenkel Gallery was assigned the foyer and staircase, spaces that are customarily given to galleries as generally no furnishings are needed. They put together a collection of 19th and 20th century photographers from various countries including Irving Penn, Lee Friedlander, Loewy and Puiseux and Hiroshi Sugimoto. They also commissioned Jefferson Mack of Mack Metal to create two light fixtures for them, one of which is called “Alva’s Helix” and spans 27’, hanging from the ceiling of the top floor and spiraling down to the first floor, while lighting all the art in the staircase.

“Storyville Portrait” by E. J. Bellcoq, initialed & printed by Lee Friedlander (Image: courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery)

John Bergruen Gallery selected works on paper for the second floor hallway from blue chip artists such as Wayne Thiebaud, Ed Ruscha and Lucian Freud.

Art installation in 2 floor bedroom corridor by John Bergruen Gallery with works by Lucian Freud (Photo: Moanalani Jeffrey)

“Anticipation is Beyond Us” pigment and gold on paper by Alexandrer Gorlizki from John Bergruen Gallery (Image: courtesy of John Bergruen Gallery)

One of a kind “Jan” art chair designed by Jan Showers in the Gump’s window

There has been a fresh new spirit ever since Marta Benson took over as the CEO for Gump’s. Although still steeped in tradition in many ways, where longtime customers who collect Christmas ornaments or add to their place settings and jewelry boxes can keep coming back to have their desires fulfilled, the store also continues to move with the times. In their commitment to showcase fresh talent here in the Bay Area and across the country Marta and her team have collaborated with a number of artists and designers to create special pieces and collections for Gump’s.

Crowd at the preview party for Kyle Bunting’s collection for Gump’s

Andrew Fisher debuted his stunning line of furniture made from bronze, fine burl woods and coquillage here, Robert Kuo exhibited his beautiful cloisonné and repoussé work here twice, and numerous artists from various fields were invited to create artwork to launch Gump’s fragrance “Baroque Pearl” and sculptors to participate in group show to show the variety of bronze work.

One of a kind “Holly” art chair designed by Holly Hunt

Libby Bunting, Kyle Bunting, Christian Arkay-Leliever, Marta Benson, Gene Ogden

And most recently Gump’s collided with a rainbow from Texas, not the real kind, not the one of Skittles fame, but one made from cows. Two years in the making Kyle Bunting, famed designer of amazing rugs, upholstery fabrics and wall coverings made from intricately patterned cowhides, took his work to the next level by venturing into furniture.

The process was so secretive not even Kyle’s own wife Libby Bunting knew exactly what he was up to until the preview. He wanted it to be a surprise when he brought her to San Francisco and walked her into Gump’s, where the first floor and store windows had been taken over by some of the most colorful objects ever made from cowhide. And she was blown away, especially when she saw the “Clutch” dining table with two intertwined rectangles designed to symbolize their relationship.

One of a kind “Kris” art chair designed by Kris Lajeskie

Kyle Bunting, Libby Bunting

The buzz was no less amongst the guests who previewed the collection at the private party. Kyle asked a number of designers who had created special patterns for the company in the past to come up with one-of-a-kind art chairs. Among them are De Sousa Hughes’ co-owners Geoffrey De Sousa and Erik Hughes, Holly Hunt, Art Ellsworth, Kara Mann and Kris Lajeskie. In addition Kyle and his team designed a limited edition of furnishings and art only available at Gump’s. Pieces include cube-shaped ottomans with matching lacquer bases, the long hair “Fog Hide” chair, tables and consoles and the two-sided curved “Neu” screen. Each piece is made to order and can be fully customized by color and finish.

Erik Hughes, Kyle Bunting, Marta Benson, Christian Arkay-Leliever

Amidst the first to experience the stunning collection were Fati Farmanfarmaian, John Hummer, Ed Hardy, Candace Barnes, Diane Dorrans Saeks, Jennifer Raiser, Mark Busacca, Geoffrey De Sousa, Erik Hughes, Jiun Ho, Holly Baxter, Steven Miller, Jay Jeffers, Michael Purdy, Ted Boerner, Sarah Lynch, Elizabeth Varnell, and Marcy Carmack.

Claudia Jusetel, Janelle Lovener, Darrell Robinson

Don Buhman, Ann Davies, Wray Humphrey

David Mast, Guest, Elizabeth Varnell, Sarah Lynch

Jennifer Matthews, Paige Downey, Steven Miller

Phyllis Quinn, Susan Gross, Patty McAdaragh

William Rhodes, Antonia Russo, Mark Harris

Crowd at the preview party for Kyle Bunting’s collection for Gump’s

“Flume” hide art designed by Ryan Brewer

Fati Farmanfarmaian and Mark Murphy

My-Ky Lee, Butch Soohoo

David Mast, Steven Miller

One of a kind “Fern” art chair designed by Fern Santini

Jiun Ho, Kyle Bunting, Christinan Arkay-Leliever, Jennifer Matthews

One of a kind chair “Marvin” art chair designed by Marvin Wilkson

Wayne Hand

Kyle Bunting’s furniture and art will be on display at Gump’s until June 13th, 2010, Monday through Saturday 10:00am to 6:00pm and Sunday 12:00pm to 5:00pm. And look out for my upcoming interview with Kyle.

The gorgeous handmade pewter “Nautilus” vase by Arte Italica makes a stunning statement in both modern or traditional interiors. Its grand scale (22.5” wide x 17” high x 8” deep) and classic shape draw attention to stand alone as a sculptural object, even if one did not make it to the Flower Mart this week.

Available at Anthem for $ 2,550.00

Bunny Williams and Claudia Juestel | Photo: Moanalani Jeffrey

I was truly looking forward to my interview with Bunny Williams, one of our country’s most enduring designers and the doyenne of gracious living. I have always found her interiors inviting and timeless, while still offering fresh ideas. Bunny learned from the best! When somebody asked her why she put the red egg chair into the living room she designed for this year’s Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse she replied, “because I just felt like it”, something her mentor Sister Parish might have said.

Living Room at the 2009 Kips Bay Decorator Show House | Photo: Maria Quiroga

We met at Roots Restaurant in the eco Orchard Garden Hotel. From the moment we shook hands Bunny could not have been more gracious and down to earth. While I was truly honored that she made time for me during her short visit, somehow she gave me the feeling as if I might be the all important guest, southern charm at its very best! She apparently had gotten up at 5:00am ET to come to San Francisco, flew across the country, gave a long presentation followed by a book signing, and then came to meet with me right before dinner with colleagues. That is a busy day for anyone; but my guest was light-spirited and engaging. We enjoyed Rare Cargo organic English Breakfast tea, as well as mini grilled cheddar cheese sandwiches and crostini with goat cheese laced with a touch of Blackberry puree and Kalamata olive tapenade, all organic and specially prepared for us by the Chef de Cuisine. Simply delicious!

Claudia Juestel: You are back in San Francisco for a lecture at Design San Francisco 2010 at the San Francisco Design Center. What sorts of subjects did you cover in your presentation?

Bunny Williams: I talked about my philosophy on design and interiors. But because I was speaking to a group of professionals I also tried to add some of the experience I have had on the business side and in working with clients, because I think other professionals are always interested in that.

CJ: Oh absolutely. I am certainly one of them, and I very much appreciated your candor.

BW: And so I tried to include that in the presentation, as well as talking about what I like in the way of color, furniture and fabrics, and how I approach a project. So it was a little bit of the way I would approach a design project, as well as sharing with them my some of my business knowledge and stories about client relationships.

Dining room in a New York City apartment | Photo: Fritz von der Schulenburg

CJ: I understand you are also meeting with clients here. Do you do a lot of work here in the Bay Area.

BW: I currently have one client here. I have actually worked on this house for a while; but it is the only project I have had here.

CJ: Do you see a difference between clients here in the Bay Area and California and those in New York?

BW: No. I think a client who would hire a New York designer is pretty sophisticated and goes anywhere. It is sort of what I call an ‘international philosophy’. They are intelligent, they have good taste, and they love art. I think San Francisco is much closer to a lot of this feeling of New York, more so than L.A.

Dining room in a French farmhouse in the South of France | Photo: Fernando Bengoecha

CJ: I agree with you on that. What are some of the most memorable places you have designed homes in?

BW: Well, the South of France! We were doing a wonderful early farmhouse, a very a large farmhouse. That was very exciting! I also loved designing a ranch in Texas on 60,000 acres in the middle of nowhere. That was exciting because we were actually in a place where there wasn’t anything, and so everything we did was difficult and challenging, but it was still exciting because it was so unusual.

CJ: You mentioned in your speech that there was no hardware store. So if you didn’t have enough picture hooks you were in trouble.

BW: We had to take absolutely everything. We had to think ahead of time of needing everything that we would possibly need to fix something for problems. We had a toolkit, we had picture hooks, we had everything that we would possibly need. We had to make sure we took it all with us.

CJ: How rewarding it must have been when you realized you were well prepared. I wanted to go back in time a little bit. I learned that you grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia, and you were actually named Bruce Boxley Blackwell. What an amazing name! What was it like growing up in a small town in Virginia, and how do feel your upbringing and perhaps your unusual name have influenced you as a person and as a designer?

BW: I think that the great thing about growing up the way I did was that Charlottesville in those days was much smaller than it is now. It has grown a lot. We lived in the country out on a road where also a lot of my relatives lived. Everyone went to other people’s houses. My father’s great aunt was sort of the doyenne of the family. We had Sunday lunches with her every Sunday. There would be 25, 28 people from somebody 70 years old to a little baby. I think that I grew up in a place where there were a lot of family and friends, and they were always doing things together. I loved being in people’s homes.

Baby Bunny on horseback | Photo: courtesy of Bunny Williams

I always laugh because there weren’t a lot of restaurants in Charlottesville at the time. You couldn’t buy liquor by the drink. Alcohol was not sold in a public place. It was a dry county; so people didn’t start restaurants because people didn’t go to them. You would go to a club, but entertained at home. And I think that having the memories of that life and the fun of it. There is nothing more fun then when you are a little child going to a lunch and all these older people are doting on you, and knowing what you want to do. And it just made the whole of art of living something that I obviously didn’t understand when I was a little child; but I just knew it meant something to me. So when I began to contemplate a career I kept thinking, “well this is what I would like to do”. I was artistic and I went to art school. I loved playing house with my mother and setting the table; so I had a feel for the domestic environment.

It is funny having a name like that. A lot of my cousins had funny names, because in the South you often got a last name as a first name. But it made us all to be very outgoing and social. I had to talk to adults from the time I was young, and I think that it helps me in my business, because in parts so much about decorating is the relationship that you have with your clients.

CJ: Indeed.

BW: You can be a genius, but if you can’t express yourself and you can’t make people feel comfortable, you are not going to go any place. So much of what we do is getting people to trust us, and learning to observe people, imagining what they are thinking, and trying to help them make the decisions for their house. So I think growing up with a kind of kooky family and having a social life as a child was very instrumental in helping me to be able to deal with a lot of people.

CJ: Well, I think it comes through in your work. Earlier today you talked about conversation groups. It seems like something so simple and so straightforward, but some people don’t fully understand that. But you really know how people can best utilize a room, which is so important. We leave when the work is done, but our clients live in the spaces we create for them. When they are frustrated about the lack of comfort or insufficient seating, awkward arrangements etc. they will remember that more than the aesthetics of the room. So your history and your sense of hospitality surely make a huge difference.

BW: Oh absolutely, absolutely, and seeing how people entertain, just seeing how they can have a cocktail buffet for 100 people, and how they can handle that in a house. I saw all that as a child. And we had fun! So those things I want to try to recreate to help other people.

Library in a New York City apartment | Photo: Fritz von der Schulenburg

CJ: And a career was born.

BW: Right.

CJ: Please let our readers know how you become a designer.

BW: I actually wanted to go to Parsons in New York. But my parents did not understand my going to a school in New York City that didn’t have a dormitory and wasn’t a women’s college in Virginia. So they were not for that, and I went to a junior college in Boston that had an interior design program. But I was very restless, and I wanted to go to work. So I left after one year and came to New York and got an apartment. The first job I had was as a receptionist in a very high-end English antique shop, which I loved. I learned a lot about furniture and the antique world, and it was fantastic. Then about 2½ years later I went to Sister Parish and Albert Hadley one day and asked if there was an opening. I was very fortunate that there was, and I was hired. I was there for more than twenty years, and so I say that was my real education.

Bunny Williams and Albert Hadley | Photo: Maria Quiroga

CJ: What made you go to interview with Parish Hadley specifically? How did you seek them out?

BW: Because I knew and loved their work. Mrs. Parish had done a house for some friends of my family, and their projects were in all the magazines. I think any young person should try to work for somebody whose work they admire. If somebody wants to do modern cinderblock furniture rooms they wouldn’t come to me; nor should they. They should try to find someone they are inspired by. It is like being an art student and you go work for Michelangelo in his studio. You go and find the person whom you most relate to and try to get some kind of job there.

CJ: I could not agree more. I say that to my interns all the time.

BW: I think the one of the big differences today is that young designers want to be on their own immediately, and I think it shows up in the lack of professionalism in their work. Until you know how a job is put together, until you really know the mechanics of it, until you know the organizational part of it, until you have done it over and over and over again, I don’t think that you have the right to go and have someone give you money to do it, if you don’t know how to do it.

CJ: Many of my interns have told me about some of their teachers impressing on them that they will be professional designers once they graduate. I on the other hand believe that that is just the start, and they will have a long way to go. I always tell students to get as many internships as possible while still in school, as they are classes they don’t have to pay for.

BW: That’s what I said today to some girls. I said that I have interns in my office, and everyday they take fabrics back and begin to see how an office works, and they can ask questions. If somebody has free time they show them how we do purchase orders and how we do the business part of it, because all of that is very different from what they learn. To me the most important thing that is coming out of schools today, which I don’t know how to do and I think its absolutely going to be essential, is CAD work and the computer. So if they can learn that skill it will be fantastic.

Bunny’s bedroom in her NY City apartment | Photo: Pieter Estersohn

CJ: So after working for Parish-Hadley for 22 years you opened your own business in 1988. Sister Parish and Albert Hadley are legendary, and you really did it the old fashioned way I would say; starting out a very young age and working your way up in the company. You mentioned a little bit how it has shaped you working for them, but please elaborate on what that was like.

BW: Well, first of all you learn the discipline of a job. Mrs. Parish used to say to me, “you know you can lose a client over a lampshade. You can do the most beautiful work, but if you don’t fix the carpet that was badly installed or take special care, that is what they are going to remember.” And you see what a difference that makes. This amazing thing I have done, how beautiful this is, that isn’t important to them. What is important to remember is that it is a service business. To us it is creative, we look at it as an artistic thing, it is, but to the client it is a service. They have hired someone to design their house, and they want everything perfect, and if there is a problem it has to be fixed immediately. Somebody has to pay attention to it, and although it is not the part you want to do the most it is the most important thing that you need to do, so the clients know that you are working for them, and that they are not going to accept anything but the best. It is very easy for me to do a floor plan for a room, but it is because I spent years seeing how those rooms evolved and how they are put together. There isn’t a formula to teach you that, like learning about scale and proportion. I see so many things in magazines where the scale is all wrong. I am thinking, “Why is there this dinky little chair trying to balance a side of a fireplace; that’s just bad design”.

CJ: Exactly.

BW: But you know, when you work for somebody like Albert Hadley who is a trained, you have to understand these things, and you are learning without making the mistake because you have to go be a designer. It was a just a phenomenal education. You not only had to learn it, but you had to do it, you had to finish a job, be on the installation, understand the height of the lamp to the sofa, all the minute details. Even today, I will look at a picture somebody brings to my office and say, “that table is the wrong height.” And they will agree. This is the kind of thing that hopefully by teaching them the next time they will see what is correct. It is like learning to ice skate. It is called practice; and I do think it is better to practice with people who are really serious, who are good at it, and they will develop. After more than ten years with Parish-Hadley I had my own clients, but I stayed another ten years. I was working on some projects with them, but I also was working independently. I had more than a decade of practice with them, and seeing how it happened, and helping on the jobs as the assistant designer until such point, I knew what I was doing.

Guest bedroom in Bunny’s home in the Dominican Republic | Photo: Fritz von der Schulenburg

CJ: Well they had a lot of faith in you clearly from the start. I also learned that ten years ago opened the high-style garden shop Treillage with your husband, famed antique dealer John Rosselli. How was that idea born?

BW: John and I decided on it on the spur of the moment. I was in his shop one day, and we were good friends, and we were talking. Every Spring I would go in his shop, and he would order daffodil bulbs for our garden. He had a garden in New Jersey, and I had a house in Connecticut. We would go and place the daffodil bulbs, and I said, “you know John the Chelsea Flower Show is coming up, and I have never been”, and John said, “well I have never been either, let’s go”. So while we were there I noticed all these wonderful booths that sold great garden items and statues, and there was nothing like that in New York. So I said, “I wish there was a great garden shop in New York”, and John replied, “well let’s open one”. So it was just literally a complete spur of the moment idea. And so we started buying for the shop, and he called New York and rented the space, which he knew was an old blacksmith’s shop on East 75th Street. And that was the beginning. I always say that John and I had the baby first, and then we got married. We opened the shop, and we had such fun doing it, and we still do. It is a great pleasure!

Exterior of Treillage | Photo: Edward Addeo

CJ: I can imagine. What is it like for a designer to be married to an antique dealer? Are your aesthetics similar? Does every vacation tempt you to go antiquing?

BW: Our tastes are very similar. I met John because I would buy in his shop for years. His shop was always a source for every project I worked on. Even when I was at Parish-Hadley I used to go into his shop. Our tastes are very similar. That is what we love to do, and it is not just antiques. If we are in India we are looking for textile manufacturers or people who can make things. John does a lot of reproductions and designs items he has then made. We love going around the world finding artisans. So it has made a life that is so wonderful because we share the same interests, and usually on a given day we want to do the same thing.

CJ: Clearly for both of you your work is your passion.

BW: Yes, yes, and its not. John has never made me choose. He understands that I have to get up at four o’clock in the morning or be gone for three days, because he understands my world. I think that it is often hard for women who have careers and are torn between those obligations and a husband, children and a home life. And the bigger you get, or the larger your design practice becomes, the more you travel. And you have to travel; you can’t just stay in one place. You are never going to grow if you don’t. You have to go look at things. I talked about inspiration. You have to be inspired, you have to be kind of shocked or you won’t grow. Otherwise your design will stay the same, very staid, and you won’t take chances.

CJ: And you are lucky to have someone to do that with.

BW: Exactly, exactly!

Bunny and John in their home in the Dominican Republic | Photo: Ricardo Labougle

CJ: You and your husband built a home together in the Dominican Republic. It is stunning! From an article I read in Town & Country a while back it sounded like it was quite an undertaking. Please tell us more about it and how it may have changed your life to have a residence in the Caribbean?

BW: The process of building was very unusual because they don’t have great construction crews and organization like we have here. It was very funny: I went there once during construction and noticed a window in the wrong place. So I went to the man who was supposed to be the foreman on the job. I said, “this window is in the wrong place. Where are the plans, where are the drawings?”

I had a wonderful architect by the name of Ernesto Buch who had done the drawings. And the foreman looked at me and said “drawings, drawings?” Well, he finally found them wadded up in a garbage can back someplace on the job site. But they were not out on a table where they should have been, like on most jobs. But the people are very sweet and kind; they are just not as sophisticated as we are. So you have to be a little bit more patient.

The building is very simple because we do not have heating, but we have air conditioning. It really is a concrete block, and everything is hand-done; all the is plaster applied by hand. That part of is very beautiful. My husband loves warm weather and hates cold weather, so it is really a treat for him to stay there. I of course can only stay for a week; but then I have to come back to work. My husband stays, and friends and family go down. He’ll stay three weeks and then come back for a week, but I leave. I get anxious because I know there are projects, and I have an office to run, a furniture line, and Treillage. So there is a lot going on; I can’t just leave it all for a month. Maybe one day, but not now.

TV room in Bunny’s home in the Dominican Republic | Photo: Fritz von der Schulenburg

CJ: Hopefully one day. You mentioned a little bit about this earlier. But please elaborate more on where you find your inspiration.

BW: You just have to keep looking all the time. An inspiration can come from the color of your sweater. You have to look and open your eyes all the time, like travelling, looking at books. I buy every magazine, every book, and I spend a lot of money on European books.

I buy edgy things, things that might not be exactly what I would usually use. You have to be pushed. I think that you need to go look at new buildings and keep up with things that are going on. I think inspiration comes from wanting to do something different, wanting to not do the same room over and over again. I think a lot of designers fall into that trap. You can see their rooms a mile away, and they all look the same over a fifteen-year time period. Now that might be a signature style, and maybe that is okay, but it is not okay for me, because I don’t really want the decorating to be about me. I want it to be about good design and about the client, and I think it is more fun to evolve.

I just finished a loft penthouse in New York, which is very contemporary, yet warm at the same time. It has steel walls and a beautiful stone floor. It is very edgy with glass all around, and yet people have said, “I don’t know how she made this so comfortable”. Even when doing something edgier you do not want to loose the comfort factor.

CJ: Oh, I am right there with you.

BW: I had a client who would allow me to do this. Some of my clients want a much more traditional space, that is what they come to me for, that is what they see. So I am always excited when I have someone who will trust me to go and do something different. I think sometimes that is hard for designers because the reason somebody came to them is that they saw a room they had done, and they want one just like it. So I keep trying to get people to challenge me. But I want to challenge my clients too. I would say, “well why would you want something you have already seen? Let’s try something new”.

CJ: So you educate them, and you and the clients get to experience new things, and grow.

BW: Yes, which is so important. I am working on a job now where I need a very specific unusual light. I have it in my head, but I haven not seen it. So now we have to either design it and have it made, or find an artist to blow the glass that I want. But that is fun!

Bathroom in a Palm Beach residence | Photo: Fritz von der Schulenburg

CJ: When you travel the world, like you said, you can almost have anything made, which is wonderful.

BW: Yes, but I think it is exciting that there is so much more great design on the market today than there was thirty years ago. It is astounding! Obviously you can walk into some place and find a very expensive and beautiful light fixture. But look at companies like Design Within Reach, and they have some fabulous things. I had a client who bought a condominium and wanted me to do everything from catalogues. He said that he did not want to spend a lot of money. I was pretty amazed how far we got. We ended up not being able to do everything from catalogues, and he understood that because he saw that I had made the effort. So then he let me go out and buy some more interesting things. But I was pretty amazed of what was out there if you really hunt for it.

CJ: It has certainly changed, especially in the last decade, Target, West Elm, etc. What do you feel are the most important aspects of your design?

BW: Livability – number one. I hate the word ‘comfort’ because it is not just about being comfortable, but it really is about a house being livable. The other thing probably is my ability to put a lot of unrelated things in a room and make them look related.

CJ: That surely comes from your years of experience, your understanding of scale, and an intuitive knowledge of how all the components and little details will work together.

BW: And it’s not easy. It could look like mishmash; it could look awful. You have to think that it perhaps could be more interesting to pair this very slick table with a beautiful carved chair. A lot of people are not comfortable doing that, but I love it. I love stretching. In this penthouse that I just finished, there is a coffee table made from Lucite with metal poured into it and floating within it, which is placed next to an absolutely exquisite 18th century French armchair in old and cracked leather. This is as yin and yang as it can be, but to me they absolutely complement each other in their uncomplimentary form.

Dining room | Photo: Fritz von der Schulenburg

CJ: Do you think not having had a formal design education forces you to trust your gut, and so much of it is instinctual because you have been doing for so long? You do not worry about anyone else’s opinion; you just know that it works.

BW: Yes. And nobody said, “this is what you have to do, this makes it right”. I have never had that kind of formal education. I don’t have somebody else’s formula. But I do think that there are furniture floor plans that work, and there are ones that don’t. There are certain arrangements that work. What you choose to make of that furniture plan is what you have fun with reinventing all the time.

CJ: And when it comes to trends, looking at your interiors they don’t matter. One can’t tell when they were done.

BW: You should not be able to. Someone asked me this weekend what the current trends are. I told them not to ask me that, that maybe it was fine to ask somebody what a trend in fashion is, but decorating is so expensive, and it is for a lifetime. The clients need to find their souls, they need to find where they are comfortable. And working with you that house will just get richer, but it will be added to, not thrown out. If you have done something that is faddy or for the moment you are going to be absolutely bored with it. I hope when people look at my work they cannot put a year on it, they cannot put a date on it, and hopefully that is what a classic is.

CJ: You have said it, your design is classic. You also debuted your furniture line, BeeLine Home last year. It has been very well received and garnered a lot of press. Please tell us how that came about and what your goal is for the line.

BW: I was at a point in my career when I was thinking about what to do next. Do I license my name to companies, what do I do? I love decorating, but I love other things to.

CJ: Did you want a new challenge?

BW: Yes, I wanted a new challenge. I like the idea of starting a new business, I like the idea of thinking it out and the process of it, as well as the design. So I decided that, instead of just licensing my name to companies and handing a design to them and them making and selling it, I wanted to produce it myself. Because I care so much about the control of the finished product I did not want to make compromises; I did not want somebody to tell me that we could save $10 if we change the leg this way or that way.

So I wanted to try to do it myself, and I designed pieces that I felt everyone needed. You need coffee tables, you need the perfect end table, you need a great occasional chair, you need lamps, you need a wastebasket. So in the first collection for the upholstery we started out with one sofa, a very unusual sofa, one very comfortable chair and an ottoman. There are a lot of great sofas on the market, but this one just a little different and quirky.

The other thing I wanted to do was to make it all in a limited edition. And the reason I feel so strongly about that is that with most of my work I have had the luxury of finding wonderful one-of-a-kind things. I don’t care if it is a fabulous expensive antique or something I found in a thrift shop, but it is just unique. I have never been the kind of decorator to go to the D & D Building and furnish a whole house from there. To me that becomes a little hotel-like; it is not quite eclectic enough. Even the good pieces that are available from many good furniture companies, you see them over and over again.

I opened a magazine a couple of months ago, and there was the same chair in three jobs, the same chair! Three different decorators had used the same chair. Well, my clients don’t want that. They don’t want to open a magazine and say, “oh there is my chair”. So I wanted to have products that designers or individuals could buy, and then they would not see them again. If I sell out of it I am not going to make more. I am going to come up with another table, another lamp, and I hope to build on the numbers I sell. Some of the quantities were maybe 50 or 75. I would like to build that up, but I don’t want to make 1,000 of something.

“Tray Chic” ottoman from the BeeLine Home Collection | Photo: Edward Addeo

CJ: I don’t blame you. You mentioned Design Within Reach earlier, a company that produces iconic 20th century design for the masses. Personally I refrain from using those pieces since they are everywhere.

BW: There are millions of them. With Design Within Reach you have to use it sparingly. I bought some chairs for a client’s kitchen, but there is nothing else in there that is from a commercial store. Everything else in that kitchen is unique. So I kind of got away with the chairs that you will recognize in a minute; but I don’t want to do a whole house of it.

“Workhorse” desk from the BeeLine Home Collection | Photo: Edward Addeo

“Party Hat” desk lamp from the BeeLine Home Collection | Photo: Edward Addeo

CJ: I hear you! So now for a little gushing: You have been inducted into the Interior Design Magazine Hall of Fame in 1995, you were awarded the prestigious design and business award by Edith Wharton Restoration 2000, and the “Giants of Design Award” by House Beautiful in 2006. Perhaps I even forgot something else. What do you think are your greatest achievement as a designer?

BW: Well, the awards are very flattering, and they are very nice. I sometimes think I have been in the business so long, but that is an interesting question. I am not sure that I feel like I have even had my greatest achievement. I am very proud of the work I have done. I look at the books and I cannot believe my body of work in a way, but I also would love to figure out a way to really design and make some fabulous things that are available to more people and which are affordable and stylish. Because I do think that is important. I can remember starting out as a young married woman, not having a lot of money and wanting to be able to go and buy something of quality and something that is special that you still have when you are sixty.

CJ: Well you got an excellent start with your collection. What I feel is nice about your line is that it is affordable, but also of quality. So you are certainly filling a niche in the market with lots of growth potential.

BW: I am trying to. It is interesting because I am doing it myself, and it would be very exciting if I really could make a very successful business out of it.

China pantry in Bunny’s home in the Dominican Republic | Photo: Fritz von der Schulenburg

CJ: Oh, I am certain you will. One article I read called you a busy bee. You are one of America’s most successful interior designers, the co owner of an antique store, a furniture designer, a sought after lecturer, and a best selling author of three design books. I believe you are working on a fourth one now. You have a lot going on. How do you unwind?

BW: I go to my house in the country, and I have no problem unwinding. I get a lot of work done, but I go to the country, and I have my dogs I adore. I am with friends whom I love and who are not in my business. We talk about politics, we listen to music, and we go for walks. In the Summer I am always in my garden, I am always puttering with my own house. I don’t work on weekends; that is my time. I tell my clients that I will work during the week until 10 o’clock at night, but I am just not available on Saturday and Sunday. And I think you have to go and get involved in things that aren’t about decorating. I have a charity. I started a garden event in Connecticut called “Trade Secrets”. We raise money for WSS, which is Women’s Support Services. It started in my backyard, and this year it will be its 10th anniversary.

CJ: Congratulations!

BW: And it is garden vendors, it is plants people, it is just great fun. So I like doing other things like that. I think decorators have to understand that decorating is not going to save the world. I love what I do, and I am very fortunate, but I want to be a more multi-dimensional person that that. I like to talk to people who have no interest in decorating.

Bunny in her garden in Connecticut | Photo: Maria Quiroga

CJ: We all need a full life, especially someone who works as hard as you do. You do need that balance. If you had not become an interior designer what might you have done professionally instead?

BW: Gardening. Or I would have started and animal shelter.

CJ: Are you involved in a charity with animals as well?

BW: Yes. Well, we tried to start something that we could not get funded. It was an amazing foundation called “Tails in Need”; and we put on the “Great American Mutt Show”. It was this very fancy dog show; but it was just for mixed breeds. And we had classes like the best lap dog over 50 pounds, and the dogs that most looked like their owners. It was the best thing in the whole world; it was unbelievable! But the interesting thing is that we raised money privately, and my friend Kitty Hawks and I did this.

We could never get any of the big humane societies to help fund it. I kept saying, “I am not adopting dogs, I am trying to get everybody to want to go and adopt a dog, not go get a purebred dog or go to a puppy mill”. But I needed corporate backing. We did it for 3 years; but because we could not get backing we stopped doing it.

Bunny’s dog Lucy in her Connecticut home | Photo: courtesy of Bunny Williams

CJ: It sounds like it was a wonderful idea; too bad you could not continue. What else might you be able share with us people may not know about you?

BW: Let’s see, people know everything about me. Well, I love to do things with my hands. For instance I love to paint a room, or paint a piece of furniture, or do some kind of project. That is a very relaxing escape. I am not very athletic, but I love to take walks, and I love to work in my garden. I am not competitive. I am very competitive with myself, but I am not at all competitive with another person. If I was playing tennis with you I would be happy if you won. But my competition is with me. I am never competitive with other designers or with my friends; I actually hate that. But I am very competitive about the best I can do, setting goals for myself, and working hard.

CJ: Well that certainly comes through in your work too. If look to other people to measure yourself against then you are not really creating your own thing.

BW: And it is hard sometimes because I think this business is very competitive. I don’t want people to say that don’t care. I always want to be nice to people, and I want success for everybody.

CJ: That’s very kind of you. Thank you so much for spending this time with me and allowing us into your world.

Bunny Williams’ books “An Affair With A House”, “Point of View” and “On Garden Style” are available in San Francisco at William Stout Architectural Books and online at Amazon.

Alexis Traina and Ronda Carman

When design editor Ronda Carman came to San Francisco recently she was honored at a cocktail party hosted by Alison Pincus and Susan Feldman co-founders of One Kings Lane, with designer Scot Meacham Wood and Alexis Traina.

As founder and editor of All The Best (allthebestblog.com), which has an international following of designers and design enthusiasts, Ronda is a woman who could easily be labelled a “tastemaker.” Her site is a daily source of inspiration and information, whether she’s spotlighting a dramatic renovation, recommending a new book, or featuring an interesting interior designer.

Alison Pincus and Susan Feldman, Co-Founders of One Kings Lane

One of Ronda’s favorite sites is One Kings Lane (onekingslane.com), which marked its first year of business with the launch of an exciting new project called the “Tastemaker Tag Sale.”

Juliet De Baubigny, Alison Pincus and Jeffry Weisman

Each Saturday the Tastemaker Tag Sale will feature items personally selected by leading designers such as Kendall Wilkinson, Ken Fulk, and Nathan Turner, all available at a discounted price. Alexis Traina was excited that so many of the designers involved with One Kings Lane are based in the Bay Area, pointing out that it’s only natural since so many trends originate here.

Elizabeth Cooper, Palmer Weiss and Scot Meacham Wood

Designer Scot Meacham Wood, a co-host of the event (held at the beautiful cooperative located at 2006 Washington Street, which Malin Giddings has on the market for $8,500,000,) said that One Kings Lane “has been an invaluable source for great sale prices on top-of-the-line products since it began last year.” No doubt he’ll be logging in every Saturday to capture those special tag sale items.

Alison Pincus, Ken Fulk and Susan Feldman

If you want to become a tastemaker like Ronda, Alexis, and Scot, then simply join One Kings Lane today at onekingslane.com and start shopping!

Elizabeth Touw and Allison Speer

Gina Pell and Lily Achatz

Mark Pincus and Alison Pincus

Kimberly Ayres and Lawanna Endonino

Catherine Hall, Paul Keenan and Kimberly Ayres

Photos: Drew Altizer [drewaltizer.com]

The 2010 San Francisco Decorator Showcase is going to run from May 1 to May 31, 2010, and we have heard from insiders that it may be the best yet!

The transformation of 3450 Washington Street began just a few months ago, and will likely continue to the last possible moment as some of San Francisco’s best designers and contractors create the ultimate luxury residence.

The participating designers for 2010 are:

Benjamin Dhong (Sitting Room)
Brian Dittmar (Study)
Cecilie Starin (Au Pair Room)
Charles de Lisle (Sitting Room)
Darin Geise (Library)
David Kensington (Living Room)
Gregg De Meza (Bath)
Anastasia Faiella (Second Floor Kitchenette)
Jennifer Kearney and Susan Fenelon (Back Garden)
Jennifer Hershon and JoAnn Hartley (Kitchen)
Davis Dalbok (Living Room Terrace)
Thaddeus Warren (Quiet Room)
Matthew MacCaul Turner (Powder Room)
Stephanie Marsh Fillbrandt (Nursery)
Michael Burg (Sitting Room)
Nancy Eslick (Bath)
Frank Eddy (Front Garden)
Marion Philpotts-Miller and Jonathan Staub (Bedroom & Bedroom Terrace)
George Brazil and Cecilia Sagrera-Hill (Dressing Room and Bath)
Shelby de Quesada and Jorge de Quesada (Master Bedroom Suite)
Shirley Robinson (Entry Hall/Foyer)
Kevin Hackett and Jessica Weigley (Children’s Playroom and Terrace )
Elan Evans and Charlotte Meyn (Powder Room)
Suzanne Tucker (Dining Room)
Val Fiscalini (Bath)
Will Wick (Bedroom)

Holly Baxter of Baxter & Cook is curating art installations in the Master Bedroom and Study.

A Tranquil View from the Third Floor

Cecilie Starin, who is designing the Au Pair room, recently wrote an excellent piece about the home’s architect, Albert Farr. She notes that the home, built in 1929, “is reminiscent of the style of Henry IV at Place de Voges. The red brick structure, trimmed in stone, is topped by a steeply pitched slate roof. The symmetrical front obscures what appears to be an earlier Norman manor on the uphill side. There are turrets, multiple dormers and roof details.”

She says that “It has large interior public spaces and high ceilings, both features often seen in Farr homes. He gave special attention to the third level of homes that was often left as undeveloped attic space and he did this at 3450 Washington.”

As we await the “big reveal” a few designers have released photos showing some of the work that’s being done. Very exciting stuff!

The Kitchen as of March 18, 2010

Kitchen design by Hershon Hartley (rendering by Kathy Bloodworth Extraordinaire)

The kitchen will be especially interesting to see as it has been completely gutted, and will make use of gorgeous materials and expert workmanship from A Rudin, Affinity Studios, Ann Sacks, Arnone Glass Art, Arteriors, BOS Electric, Benjamin Moore Paints, CaesarStone US, Carrera Marble Company, Cimarelli Enterprises, Colby Proctor, David Goldberg Design, Drian Jones, Gulassa, Henredon, Tm RInger of Hinc, JBS, Mark Ames of JD Group, Jacarra Design, Light Express, Noir Furniture LA, Out of the Woods, Peta Sanderson Wall Finish, Pindler & Pindler, Pollack Fabrics, Purcell Murray, Royal Draperies, Avner Lapolsky of Sloan Miyasato, Dan Odetto of Standards of Excellence, Dean McCracken of Switzer, Tomasi Design, Wende Cragg Soft Furnishings, Witford, and Wyatt Ellison Elemental Art.

Showcase Director Delanie Borden and design star Candace Barnes

The 2010 San Francisco Decorator Showcase will run from Saturday, May 1 through Memorial Day, Monday, May 31. The home is open to the public Tuesdays through Sundays, and closed on Mondays (except for Memorial Day). The hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday; and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday and Memorial Day.

Tickets are available at the door and are $30 for general admission and $25 for seniors. Group rates are available, and must be arranged in advance by calling (415) 447-3115.

Proceeds to benefit the Financial Aid Program of San Francisco University High School.

Further Information: Decorator Showcase 2010 [decoratorshowcase.org]
Further Information: 3450 Wshington Street [joelgoodrich.com]

Guests enjoying a Sea Cliff view
Photo: Moanalani Jeffrey

When you enter a Sea Cliff home, with its unobstructed views of the Pacific Ocean and Golden Gate Bridge, you realize why the phrase “million dollar view” is actually an understatement here. With recent home sales in this neighborhood ranging from $5,400,000 to $18,000,000, a million dollar view would be a bargain.

As there are less than 40 homes in Sea Cliff located along the coastline, there are very few opportunities for anyone but homeowners and their families to know what it’s like to live from such a vantage point.

David Stanton with wife Shanna McBurney (right) and Friend

Thankfully David Stanton and wife Shanna McBurney (owner of the Hang Art Gallery on Sutter Street), often use their stunning Sea Cliff home for entertaining and philanthropic events, giving their guests a lovely opportunity to experience Sea Cliff living at its best.

Moanalani Jeffrey of examiner.com recently photographed the home during a recent event, and noted that besides the sweeping views “The talk of the night was the once nonexistent bottom level of the home.”  Stanton and McBurney, who have owned the home for over 10 years, underwent a painstaking renovation to create an indoor basketball court beneath the building.

“Sleek wood paneling lead you down multiple corridors of stairs opening up to the court and its high ceilings,” according to Moanalani. “To be on you’re A-game you’d have to ignore the large glass wall, which revealed the outdoor patio, infinity pool and breath taking view of the Bay.”

Most Beautiful Basketball Court in the World

This particular home (built in 1913 for the W.A. Doble family — a name known best today for the Doble Steam Car collected by Jay Leno, among others) was mentioned in a 1920 editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle, with the author suggesting it would be the perfect location for a movie setting. “There is the sea, the rocks, the cliff, the palace and the gardens,” the article said, in one of the first instances of someone lobbying for San Francisco to be a prime location for filmmaking.

The Chronicle’s words are just as relevant today as they were in 1920. The sea, the rocks, the cliff… the grand homes of Sea Cliff are in a setting unlike any other in the world.

Photos: Moanalani Jeffrey [moanalanijeffrey.smugmug.com]

This home is not for sale, but one major Sea Cliff home is on the market with similar views for $11,500,000.  If you are in the market for a San Francisco home with a stunning view, let us know and we will put you in contact with a qualified luxury real estate agent.

cforms contact form by delicious:days

Image: Courtesy of the San Francisco Design Center

Design San Francisco 2010
by Claudia Juestel

Design San Francisco at the San Francisco Design Center, the annual conference for interior designers, returned last month. It was once again packed with great lectures and seminars to inspire and to expand our knowledge. The various events were sponsored by ELLE DÉCOR, California Home + Design and California Homes. And of course the showrooms were filled with their newest wares for spring. It was a week to learn, to discover and to celebrate. Since this is an event for design professionals only I wanted to share some of the highlights with our readers.

A Green Initiative

The Design Center launched “Green and Bold”, an initiative led by Margaret Collard that brings together the design community for a greener future for the Bay Area. Two major projects have been launched already, the restoration of St. Dominic’s Church here in San Francisco and the renovation of St. Vincent’s Boy’s school in San Rafael.

Proposed plan for St. Dominic’s Church
Image: Courtesy of Green and Bold

Stimulating Lectures

The headliners this year were Margaret Russell, Editor in Chief of ELLE DÉCOR magazine and renowned interior and furniture designers Bunny Williams and Jamie Drake (look out for upcoming interviews with both designers.)

Margaret Russell opened the event by talking about her latest book “Style & Substance, the Best of Elle Décor”, which is a retrospective of some of the best design featured in the magazine in the past twenty years.

Margaret Russell at the Galleria
Photo: Lisbeth Ortega

The same afternoon visionary furniture designer and manufacturer Dakota Jackson spoke about the new landscape of design at De Sousa Hughes.

The following day Bunny Williams took the stage sharing her expertise on good design. While showing images of her work and sharing her design philosophy she made many excellent recommendations:

• A round sofa and a round table in a corner to deal with an awkward space and to create another seating group
• Lacquering a low ceiling in pale gray to give the illusion of height
• Table lamps on a long dining table with the cords running down in between the leaves
• A French sofa with a higher seat for breakfast room seating
• Slip covers on dining chairs to create different looks
• Decorative recessed fluorescent-lit panels to imitate skylights in an underground hallway

On Friday Jamie Drake reflected on the good old days of design in San Francisco when Michael Taylor, John Dickinson and Anthony Hail reigned supreme. He also spoke of developing a style from your gut rather then from trends. After 32 years in the business, and looking amazing, he also offered a lot of useful advice:

• Incorporating sentimental items to add personality
• Backlit bronze and milk glass shutters give the illusion of a window
• Inset color boxes in a wood book case add interest
• Anchoring strong colors with black and white or wood
• Adding custom hardware to furniture turns something functional into jewelry
• Recessing a free-standing bathtub into a lacquered platform

Jamie Drake signing books at De Sousa Hughes
Photo: Lisbeth Ortega

Informative Seminars

The selections were top notch and ranged from branding and marketing to design as a long-term investment. Due to popularity Benjamin Moore’s Color Pulse 2011 had two sessions. According to color specialist Mary Hoffman green seems to be the “it” color this year. As for 2011 there were four trends mentioned, The Farm, Order, Escape and Tribe inspiring an overall theme of “Balance”.

Distinctive New Designs

Christopher Peacock Home has expanded their exquisite kitchen line into bathroom cabinetry and has added their own line of low VOC paints including “Cupboard Low Lustre”, a traditional oil-based paint specially formulated for high quality paint grade cabinetry.

New bathroom installation at the San Francisco showroom of Christopher Peacock
Photo: Courtesy of Christopher Peacock Home

Shears & Window introduced Perennials’ new Amoré fabrics, a collection of textured indoor/outdoor jacquards inspired by 15th century Florentine masters and debuted award-winning local designer Suzanne Tucker’s new line of textiles that include luxurious damasks, sumptuous silks, plush velvets and embroidered sheers.

Amoré fabrics by Perennials Fabrics
Photo: Courtesy of Perennials

“Monique” and “Grenade” fabrics by Suzanne Tucker Home
Photo: Courtesy of Suzanne Tucker Home

De Sousa Hughes is known for showing the best of contemporary design by local artisans. Jonathan Browning’s “Ventoux” torchiere and “Anjou” cocktail table exhibit maximum design within the most minimal amount of space. Ted Boerner’s “Cleo” limited edition table lamp is based on Ted’s grandfather’s carved wood sculpture from the ‘40s and is named after his grandmother.

“Ventoux” torchieres by Jonathan Browning Studios
Photo: courtesy of Jonathan Browning Studios

“Anjou” cocktail table by Jonathan Browning Studios
Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Browning Studios

“Cleo” table lamp by Ted Boerner
Photo: Courtesy of Ted Boerner

Phillip Jeffries showed their latest collection of wall coverings at McRae and Company, which included “Horsehair”, made from abaca and polyester to create the look of real horsehair for a fraction of the cost, and “Laquered Strié” with a high gloss texture in a unique grooved random stripe.

Phillip Jeffries’ “Horsehair” wallcovering
Photo: Courtesy of Phillip Jeffries

Phillip Jeffries’ “Lacquered Strié” wallcovering
Photo: Courtesy of Phillip Jeffries

Gaul Searson debuted their new shagreen furniture collection. Among the pieces are the fabulous “Amalfi” side table, with a wonderfully detailed iron base that appears quite simple on initial inspection, and the “U Bend” table with a subtle concave edge.

“Amalfi” side table by Gaul Searson with an iron base by Martin Metals
Photo: Courtesy of Gaul Searson

“U Bend” table by Gaul Searson
Photo: Courtesy of Gaul Searson

Allegra Hicks’ latest textile collection for Lee Jofa is comprised of sophisticated Japanese-inspired Ikats, organic embroideries and luscious chenilles.

“Ikat Drops” and “Tulip” fabrics by Allegra Hicks
Photo: Courtesy of Lee Jofa

Gregorius | Pineo at Kneedler Fauchere presented a number of fresh designs including the “Constanza” weathered oak dining table, which would be oh so perfect for my future home in the wine country, especially after learning that it was inspired by Lake Constance, a beautiful area near my childhood home.

And Ironies also added to their extensive collection a number of pieces with a rustic feel, in addition to case goods with the more unique kinds of materials and finishes they are known for. Among them are the “Mantis” side table with a polished nickel base and mother of pearl top and the “Strider” bedside table in parchment and brass.

“Constanza” square dining table by Gregorius | Pineo
Photo: Courtesy of Gregorius | Pineo

“Mantis” side table by Ironies
Photo: Courtesy of Ironies

“Strider” bedside table by Ironies
Photo: Courtesy of Ironies

Celebrations

California Home + Design magazine hosted nearly 300 members of California’s design community to honor the ten winners of its fifth annual design awards. Amongst the winners were Gary Hutton Design for residential interior design under 3,000sf, Joshua Aidlin and David Darling for sustainable architecture, Jay Jeffers for commercial design, Matthew Leverone for best showcase design.

2010 CH+D Award winners with editors Sarah Lynch and Erin Feher
Photo: Lisbeth Ortega

2010 CH+D Award winner Alexander Purcell & Dr. Jan Zakim
Photo: Lisbeth Ortega

2010 CH+D Award winners Lewis Butler & Jay Jeffers
Photo: Lisbeth Ortega

Heather Hutchinson & 2010 CH+D Award winner Matthew Leverone
Photo: Lisbeth Ortega

Guests at the Janus et Cie cocktail reception
Photo: Lisbeth Ortega

The closing party brought together the Bold and Green panelists and award recipients and all the designers who could use a drink after a jam-packed week. Proceeds benefitted the Tree Fund for St. Dominic’s Church.

Green and Bold Award recipients
Photo: Lisbeth Ortega

]]> http://residesf.com/2010/03/06/design-san-francisco/feed/ 0 http://residesf.com/2010/02/23/diffas-dining-by-design/ http://residesf.com/2010/02/23/diffas-dining-by-design/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 07:31:35 +0000 damion http://residesf.com/?p=559

7×7 and California Home + Design, designed by JR Studio
Photo by Stephanie Penn Photography

DIFFA’s Dining By Design
by Claudia Juestel

San Francisco’s most highly anticipated high-design charitable event DIFFA’s (Design Industry Foundation Fighting AIDS) Dining by Design never ceases to delight guests every time and continues to raise money for the Positive Health Program of the UCSF AIDS Research Institute. Even during the toughest of economic times the local design community showed its support.

For the past ten years very winter between thirty and fifty creative luminaries have conjured up tabletop installations filled with elegance, whimsy, irony, intelligence and glamour. They have come from the world of interior, floral and event design, as well as architecture and fashion, but have also included an author and TV host, a criminal trial lawyer and a rabbi. The artistic mind may work in many fields, but it has repeatedly found creative expression in this unique event where the only requirements are to create a stunning environment within the given foot print and seat ten people for dinner. The rest has always been up to the imagination of its creator.

Ronette King, Anthony Garrett, Christie McRae
Photo by Arrowood Photography

Co-chairs this time were Anthony Garrett and Ronette King, with global architectural firms HOK and Gensler, and Christie McRae, president of the established McRae and Co. showroom.

And of course the arbiters of good taste from the world of design and architecture came to see what their colleagues dreamed up. Among them were interior designers Marc Blackwell, Rose Tarlow, Brenda Mickel, Matthew Leverone, Cecilia Segrera, George Brazil, James Marzo, Kathleen Navarra, Barbara Ashfield, David Hansen, Gary Hutton, Marian Wheeler, Brian Dittmar, Jay Jeffers, Melanie Coddington, industrial designer Yves Behar, art advisor Holly Baxter, architectural photographer David Duncan Livingston and creative business coach Michael Purdy.

David Parks & Shirley Parks
Photo by Arrowood Photography

Also in attendance were antique dealers Rod Hipskind, Inja Yang, and Heather Di Pitrello, Gump’s charming CEO Marta Benson, famed restaurateur Brandy Ho, the new publisher of 7×7 Susie McCormick, Gentry Magazine’s editorial director Stefanie Lingle Beasley, SOMA Magazine’s editor in chief Ali Ghanbarian, wine expert and writer W. Blake Gray, St. Regis Hotel’s general manager Toni Knorr, Design Investment’s managing partner Margaret E. Touborg, Academy of Art University’s president Dr. Elisa Stephens, NBC meteorologist Craig Herrera, philanthropist Amy Yang, and Zero Divide’s chief strategy officer Timothy Wu.

Tara Arrowood & Rose Tarlow
Photo by Arrowood Photography

Again the two-night event at the San Francisco Design Center, starting out with the Table Hop & Taste preview night followed by the Gala Dinner, proved that our ingenious local talents always have an abundance of new ideas, as each vignette offered its own surprises.

Joel Robare of JR Studio was asked to design the setting for 7×7 and California Home + Design magazines. Inspired by Amistead Maupin’s classic “The Tales of the City” he created a Bohemian-chic environment for an imaginary dinner party on Barbary Lane. Joel paired high Victorian antiques from Coup d’Etat with décor and colors from the ‘70s. Reflecting on that time period he placed a bar tray with crystal decanters full of liquor right in the middle of the dinner table, filled tea cups with “magic” mushrooms and packed a silver tumbler with rolled white chocolate joints from Cake Works. His wit and elegance made this a stunning installation.

7×7 and California Home + Design, designed by JR Studio
Photo by Stephanie Penn Photography

Rhonda Hirata, Tim Treadway, Martha Thompson
Photo by Arrowood Photography

I had the pleasure of dining at Lisa Quinn’s table. Since she was at a shoot in Los Angeles we were graciously hosted by Lisa’s associate Kristi Witt who shared her excitement of helping with the installation by the TV host of “Home with Lisa Quinn”. Lisa was inspired by her of viewers, who most likely are watching her show while having dinner. So we watched her on TV as well, while indulging in a wonderful meal by Taste Catering and lounging on sofas and benches from Ikea, which was apparently the main resource for this design. Lisa and her team got an impressive presentation from a small budget.

Home with Lisa Quinn, designed by Lisa Quinn
Photo by Arrowood Photography

Barbara Buzon & Mauricio Sanchez
Photo by Arrowood Photography

Karman Ng of Cantilever Design and architect Carey Cheng also aimed to design a space not challenged by a limited budget. Most of the components came from Home Depot, and humble building materials were transformed into a striking contemporary design. Sustainability also played a big role in their choices. The platform was made from salvaged shipping palettes and FSC-certified plywood, the chairs and benches were also made from the same plywood and finished with a clear coat made from renewable whey proteins, and the artwork by local artist Jamie Spinello named “Leucos Kytos” represented the cell-based AIDS virus. It was comprised of upcycled materials such as plastic bottles, magazine pages and discarded plastic photo paper. Karman’s many years of attending the event as a guest prior to participating as a designer surely inspired him to also visually honor the charity itself in such a subtle fashion.

Cantilever Design, designed by Karman Ng and Carey Cheng
Photo: Arrowood Photography

Scot Meacham Wood, Donna Sachet, Mark Newman
Photo by Arrowood Photography

Gil Mendez’s vignette for Anthem and Murray’s Ironworks was both refined and rustic. Gil was inspired by the Mexican tree of life and the great courtyards of San Miguel de Allende. The cast aluminum chairs and console designed by Gil, the iron tree trunk table and chandelier, the nickel floor lamps, the tin flower mirrors, the silver candle sticks and the pewter trays, balanced by a soft wool rug from Tufenkian, reminiscent of stone tiles, and a centerpiece of succulents, all together created a ferrous fantasy that felt rooted in nature while still appearing surprisingly urban.

Murray’s Ironworks & Anthem, designed by Gil Mendez
Photo: Kathryn McDonald Photography

Deborah Greenspan, Tim Wu, Dr. John Greenspan
Photo by Arrowood Photography

Robert Fung with the event design company Hartmann Studios was not going for subtlety. Fuchsia patent leather chairs and walls were unapologetically paired with black and silver, giving off playful yet a slight naughty feel, but in a most agreeable fashion.

Hartmann Studios, designed by Robert Fung
Photo by Arrowood Photography

David Pace & Heide Betz
Photo by Arrowood Photography

Gensler went for a conceptual look reminding us all that Dining by Design after all is an AIDS fundraiser. Their theme of optimism was reflected in the words that made up the surrounding structure and the hundreds of ribbons hanging over their table, which guests joyfully collected.

Gensler
Photo by Arrowood Photography

Jane Evans & Paul Evans
Photo by Arrowood Photography

David Stark’s installation for Benjamin Moore’s made me feel like Gulliver travelling to Brobdingnag, as I passed a brush twice as tall as me and walked into a giant paint can. That is one of the wonderful things about Dining by Design, where one set as thought provoking as that of Gensler’s can be next to something so whimsical and humorous.

Benjamin Moore, designed by David Stark
Photo by Arrowood Photography

Janelle Loevner & Kirk Loevner
Photo by Arrowood Photography

Fashion designer to the First Lady Jason Wu collaborated with architect Giancarlo Valle who deconstructed the cube to create the tablescape for Stolichnaya Elit with an ice-cube-shaped light fixture, geometrically textured walls and an endless abundance of glassware, ready to be filled with some Vodka one assumes.

Stolichnaya Elite, designed by Jason Wu and Giancarlo Valle
Photo by Arrowood Photography

Drawing of the development of the shape of the room by Giancarlo Valle
Drawings courtesy of Giancarlo Valle

Joe Freund & Ron Ryan
Photo by Arrowood Photography

While Dining by Design is always the perfect opportunity for us designers to really play with the kind of drama some of our clients might perhaps find a bit over the top, some still go for understated elegance. That is what The Wiseman Group did with their installation for Shears & Window, which featured designs by Rose Tarlow Melrose House in a clean and modern dining room that could go straight from the event to someone’s home.

Shears & Window, designed by the Wiseman Group
Photo by Arrowood Photography

Dining by Design is an event filled with inspiration and countless ideas many take home to liven up their own dining rooms and table settings, but it also a fabulous celebrations of creative minds in support of the Positive Health Program, without which many people afflicted with AIDS would not have a place to go to get treatment and support. Our sincere thanks to all the sponsors and designers, the hardworking committee members and the volunteers who every year give it their all to make Dining by Design a success.