Astrological Decorating Analysis: Robert Isabell

Anyone who knows me knows that I take serious (and seriously annoying) pleasure in reducing people -- friends, acquaintances, celebrities -- to their astrological stereotypes. Par exemple:

"Gemini? Ah, the twins. So you're really two different people. Which one am I talking to right now? Knock knock, CAN JIMMY COME OUT AND PLAY??"

But let's consider my current object of fascination, the late event designer Robert Isabell, who created lush, feminine partyscapes for the likes of Ian Schrager, the Miller sisters and the Met's Costume Institute:

images via The Daily Beast

And lived in a Brutalist fever dream:

images via The New York Times

In a town house and carriage house he joined together, essentially both a solarium and a dungeon, that not even his closest of friends got to see. Dude collected Paul Evans pieces (some from the estate of Shari Lewis!) a decade before they blew up the market. Sotheby's will auction off Isabell's impressive stash, including works by Charlotte Perriand, Jean Prouvé, and Harry Bertoia, on December 17th.

Oh, and his birthday? June 2, 1952. GEMINI.

I rest my case.

Other famous Gems include Prince (), assless pants aficionado and Jehovah's Witness; Angelina Jolie, bisexual blood-wearer and irritating Earth Mother; Eliot Spitzer, Wall Street enforcer and fan of the Red Light Special; and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (actual twins, no relation), founders of a Wal-Mart tween empire and icons of edgy fashion ... well, at least where MK is concerned.

Isn't this fun?! (Don't answer.)

Meet Me Halfway

The Black Eyed Peas' current ode to wainscoting? In entrance halls:


Dining rooms:


And bathrooms:


My mother installed chair railing in two-thirds of our Craftsman-style house in the early 1990s: never my favorite look (the dining room had brick red paint below, pineapple printed wallpaper above) but it was sort of mitigated by the picture molding about 14 inches from the ceiling. Lots of horizontal lines ... very Prairie School meets Little House on the Prairie. We won't discuss the painting of a bald eagle on black velvet that my dad refuses to take down, a gas station gag gift gone horribly wrong.

But each of the beautiful examples above, snatched via Miles, Remodelista (that's ex-Dominoer Dara Caponigro's dining room) and G.P. Schafer, has real deal wainscoting -- chair rail + paneling underneath -- a look I much prefer.

So I'm fully against solo chair rail and 100% 50-50 on wallpaper or fabric above wainscoting. These rooms have a certain chic and I know it's all in the application, but I need hard and fast rules on the topic. Does it get too busy? Too broken up? Fergie Ferg, I know you hear me.

Matters of Style Giveaway

Like my idol Jamie before them, the industrious Girls over at Matters of Style have started their own online store (teach me how!) and must have read my mind because to kick it off they're giving away one of these mineral lamps:


Wasn't I just asking for the real deal a few days ago?! So chic, not plastique. Enter to win by checking out the goodies and comment on their giveway post with your favorite item. Good luck, and no stacking the deck with commenter pseudonyms!!