Starring Roles and Greek Urns

Arren Williams June 11, 2020

As this week has continued, I think we’re feeling such a shift, such momentum for much needed change in the world. It doesn’t feel like ‘business as usual,’ which must be a good thing. More than statues are toppling right about now…

Cheers, Arren

Can we just make up a word here, please? I’m often taken by an interior and the couldntyoujustmovein-ness of how it looks.

This living room is by the fab Eneia White Interiors, and fits that word to a T. Is that a grasscloth ceiling? Be still my heart. Hello to of-the-moment reeded details. Yes! Can we take a gander at those chairs? By all means. And of course, all of those dark-hued accents ground it perfectly.

I don’t think I’d change a thing…

Below, I’m getting more of the feels with this dining room, part of a cool, calm and collected Upper East Side project by White. Check more or her work here.

Details, details, details! Hubert de Givenchy once said “Luxury is in each detail,” and it appears that designer Cheryl Luckett definitely knows that to be true.

As part of her One Room Challenge project, Luckett has not only upholstered doors in linen and finished them with antiqued brass nailheads, she has found hardware with the looks to take a starring role in a silver screen musical.

Sourced through Addison Weeks, the Charlotte-based designer mixed a Michelle Nussbaumer Enamel Star backplate with a Scallop Knob for major Art Deco vibes. In a brass and navy enamel finish the stylish result has left me completely gagged.

For even more style (and more nailheads) check out Cheryl’s upholstery collection for Sylvester Alexander here.

While London-based ceramicist Freya Bramble-Carter imbues her work with a mix of forms and finishes inspired by nature, her recent project, a collab with interior design studio Krokalia, moves in a different direction. Described by Bramble-Carter as a ‘mish-mash’, the pieces combine her organic point of view with Classical Greek pottery. We’re talking inspo from 510-323 BCE.

The urns, vases and bowls, created by Bramble-Carter, and then playfully decorated by designer Pallas Kalamotusis of Krokalia, have such a fresh, handmade feel. Plus, there’s a definite nod to mid-century painted art pottery. More, please!

Freya Bramble-Carter is a member of the Black Artists + Designer’s Guild, a great organization worthy of your support, both financial and otherwise.

Sit Like Sylvia

Arren Williams May 5, 2020

I was lucky enough to grow up with an appreciation for vintage finds, heading with my gran Lena to assorted jumble sales and church bazaars, where she would bribe our way in for an early ‘dealer’s view’ of what was on offer. That’s where I caught the collecting bug. In fact, I still have the Art Deco alabaster dressing table mirror I bought at the age of 12. You’ll spot it in this snap on Insta.

What are your favourite vintage and antique finds? Send me a snap, I’d love to see.

Cheers, Arren

I have always, ALWAYS, wanted to own a Peacock Chair. And now, while I might be no closer, I definitely have a new one to top my list - The Melek accent chair. A great piece from the ace new furniture collection for McGuire by San Francisco interior designer Nicole Hollis, this chair is a standout in her line. But wait, there’e even more to see here.

Definitely no shrinking violet, this style of chair has quite the colourful history (take a look at the Vox mini doc below). But for me it’s all a little more louche, sexy and 70’s, since it's the chair made (in)famous by the erotic 1974 film Emanuelle, when star Sylvia Kristal posed topless in one for the movie’s poster.

If you’re in Canada and and fancy easy access to Canadian makers, artisans, artists and food purveyors, then you need to hit up Fabrique 1840.

Started as an online craft-centric offshoot of the Simons department stores, you can source everything from the fab Edwin chair (Coolican & Company’s mod take on a Windsor chair), to Lambert & Fils clean and minimal Dot Line Floor Lamp (in black or white it’s a winner). Currently sitting in my shopping cart? The limited edition ‘Artefact no. 7’ abstract art print below from Montreal’s mpgmb.

The good news is that Fabrique 1840 has become so successful that they’re looking to expand their roster of makers. Drop them a line here if that’s you!

After blatting on about colour last week, I thought it would be fun to delve into something a little, ahem, paler. While we’ve all seen more than our fair share of gorgie all-white Scandi interiors, I thought this more ‘dressed’ space was a sophisticated twist on a monochrome palette.

Designed by Baptiste Bohu, a French interior designer who works mostly in Asia, I’m very much into how layered it all is. That palette of soft tonal shifts in greys and whites, with just enough black to ground everything, and a hit or two of brass? Perfect. The decidedly glam take on a Qing Dynasty style scroll table is, well, rather FAB, and don’t even get me started on that lamp. Check out more of Bohu’s work here.

It's (not) a wrap

Arren August 3, 2010

Fashion designer Diane von Furstenburg is best known for her iconic wrap dress, but here's something altogether non-fashion related from DvF that was just too jammy not to share. Diane (along with best friend and interior decorator Olivier Gelbsmann) is in the midst of working with Claridge's, a posh London hotel, on re-designing 20 suites and rooms that are all expected to be finished by the end of this year. Here's a few snaps from the four rooms that are ready so far, one of which - the Piano Suite - rents out for an eye-watering $13,850 a night. I'm all over the nutty prints and high-contrast shenanigans, but what do you think? [Images: Claridge's]

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