A favorite expression (tongue-in-cheek, mind you) around the office: "It could be one of the great rooms!" Well, many of us are familiar with this great room done for a great lady by a great man (oxblood lacquer library, Brooke Astor, Albert Hadley) in New York City, but I'd never seen ANY of her famed Holly Hill estate in Westchester County until Mugatu saw a listing advertisement in the Sotheby's elevator and then Googled it himself (!!). Mrs. Astor passed away in 2007 and the spread has been on the market for months. Who wants to loan me $12.9mil? I'm good for it!
Anybluewig, take a look at the loooong paneled library above. I know the chintz h8ers out there will say "Nick, you're just an old lady who likes old lady decorating!" but this room serves as a lesson in non-matchy matching. The carpet doesn't exactly match the curtains (never "drapes," people), if you know what I mean. And I mean it literally. Sure there are bits of yellow in the rug and some dusty rose but the black field is rather out of left field paired with bright yellow-blue-pink chintz curtains, club chairs and pillows. It's also curious to see so much polished walnut-y/mahogany furniture in a dry, bleachy oak paneled room ... again it shouldn't work but it does. The perfectly scaled gilt mirror, gilt-framed paintings, and brass mounts on the furniture paired with the oiled craft paper lampshades, beige-y sofa and ottoman, and sea of hardback books -- no editions bound in red morocco for the country, thanks -- create the same shiny-dull situation as the scheme. Jeez, Sister and Albert knew what they were doing.
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Nick, you really are an old lady who likes old lady decorating. But we love you anyway! Keep the posts coming!
ReplyDeleteThis post reminded me of a book I scored at a library sale, Dorothy Rodgers's _My Favorite Things_. Have you heard of it? Read it? Do you love it? She liked rooms that at first glance seem old lady-ish, but when you look at the details you realize there is some crazy going on. I love the book and her philosophy, though living in some of her rooms would give me an altered mental state. Just in case you don't have this book (or someone else doesn't, cause I bet you do) I found it mentioned with a picture of a crazy room that is also kind of awesome. http://www.dianebergeron.com/blog/How-Would-Dorothy-Do-It-.html
ReplyDeleteAnd Jeremiah Goodman did all the sketches. I hadn't noticed that before trying to find some pics of this book. How great!
I have to admit: I like this so much more than That Other Library. The books in this one look real, for one thing.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen this room before and it's a beauty, all right. Oh sure, a lot of people call a room like this old ladyish, but to me that's nothing more than a stylistic label, like Rococo or Japonesque, and not--or not necessarily--a catty criticism. Or, at least, if it's meant that way, I don't take it that way.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, the terms 'Baroque' architecture & 'Impressionist' paintings were also first slung around as dismissive slams, but who's laughing now? Sticks & stones and all that. Besides, I'm never much impressed with the way people who use that term in a derisive manner decorate their own places.
Anyway, here's why that room works: yes, there's a ton going on in it--mixed styles, mixed colors, mixed textures--but the good news is that all those things cancel each other out, meaning the room as a whole reads as neutral, without any narrowly-defined style or restrictive color scheme to contend with. With so much going on, you could stick just about anything in there & it would work, whereas, intruded into, say, a blue-&-brown color scheme or a punchy all-orange Mod decor, a red linen sofa or a green lacquer Chinese Chippendale desk would jump out at you & throw the whole room off. Here, they'd just blend into the mix. The quality of the individual pieces in the photo aside, jumbled, friendly rooms like this take most of the aesthetic heat off, so that a book or two sitting out of place or the dog's slimy chew toy on the floor don't destroy the perfect looks of the whole room, the way that can happen with a too-edited decor. "Less is more"? Who needs that kind of pressure? Life's hard enough already without worrying about stuff like that. So forget 'de-cluttering.' The More the Merrier is the way to go if you don't want to spend time having to play butler or maid in your own place. Color & pattern--lots of pattern--are your friends. Nancy Lancaster described the value of camouflage the best: "“You never want to have only one mouvement thing--like the Savonnerie rug--that would stand out. You must have mouvement everywhere.” Once you get that taken care of, the rest is easy.
It's the wall color. Perfect.
ReplyDeleteNick, you're such an old lady! : )
ReplyDeleteI love the curtains NOT drapes vocabulary lesson. My mother always said the same, and I still can't stand the word drapes. ;) I would call this room WASP, in the best sense of the word. I'm enjoying your blog. Thank you for being here!
ReplyDeleteI like the luxury of space in this room. And people need not h8. That's very 2003. I say for peeps to like what they like. :)
ReplyDeleteYou are an old lady, but in a good way.
ReplyDeleteIt's also curious to see so much polished walnut-y/mahogany furniture in a dry, bleachy oak paneled room ... again it shouldn't work but it does.
ReplyDeletereally brilliant! ... i think the room is spectacular.
I love your old lady who likes old lady decorating ways!
ReplyDeleteWhy is mahogany furniture considered so unusual
ReplyDeletein this pickled room? From my experience it's the
most used type of furniture in pickled rooms.
I must admit I am totally confused by this statement.
Pickled oak and or pine rooms like the one at Holly Hill
where always filled with rich dark wood furniture as a foil
to the lightness of walls. Of course there were secondary
pieces and accessories that might have been painted etc.
but warm, darker woods have always been the most commonly used.
this is the type of room that once you are in you feel enveloped with love. much the way you would feel in your granndmother's arms.
ReplyDeletenever could i even understand how to decorate a room this way. it DOES take skill i give you that. if there was just one unexpected thing in there i might appreicate it more. and to me the mismatched patterns aren't unexpected enough. i need ONE modern piece...just one.
if i were going to live there that is. visiting?? i like it just as it is.
Brooke Astor did it her way. Her style no one else's Why is everyone picking her style apart? You people call her style old lady style.At least she NEVER had old lady thinking,she gave to the things in life that mattered to her & that would benefit the future to come.Your candle blew out a long time ago she was a glimmer of hope to all, & her light is still shining, while yours never even flickered!!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's to bad mr.Astor had to pass away. He was brilliant as a designer.
ReplyDelete-Zane of ontario honey