Curated Interiors: The Art of the Mix

I find the rooms I gravitate towards the most have a common thread - a mix of seemingly disparate elements creating an interesting story board that invites you to explore the vignettes further.

Bunny Williams

"mixing things allows each piece to stand out on its own and become very special...yin-yang, something complicated next to something simple".  Bunny Williams 

explaining to a group of design students why the pairing of a Venetian mirror above a stone sink in a farmhouse powder room works well together.

Bunny Williams

Rooms that offer a wonderful melange of furniture styles and periods, finishes in glimmer and patina, colour that is intense against soft creams, whites and greys; organic patterns with bold geometrics... 

that interplay on "yin-yang" as stated above works because creating tension in a room is far more interesting than having everything MATCH!  

{Please don't ever buy the sofa, love seat, chair combo - EVER!}

John Saladino

"if you walk into a room, and your blood pressure doesn't go up, its a failure" John Saladino 

says in a 1st Dibs interview.  He is one of the legends of the mix and has been creating dramatic and beautiful rooms filled with "ethereal light" for 35 years.   

John Saladino

He also encourages bringing drama into a space like the dining room as 

"the last place we have theatre in our lives".  

Here are some more of my favourite spaces and designers that do it so well

Eric Cohler

Thom Filicia

Mary McDonald

Ryan Korban

Ramon Garcia Jurado

Some basic guidelines for creating a great mix:

Learn from the best - visit high end auction houses and furniture stores to see what great furniture looks like and it will teach you how to buy better at thrift shops and eBay 

Don't be afraid to mix woods or paint wood if the quality isn't great

Add  interest and dimension to a space by varying the height of your pieces, and bring in a variety of textures, colours and finishes 

Always have more light sources than you think you need because it gives you the option to create different moods based on how you are using a space

Have fun with your decor and buy things you love, eventually they will find a place that makes the most use of their function

And finally, take your time to put the space together - 

it's an evolution not a race to the finish line!

Eclectic Living Room

One thing I've learned over the years decorating spaces is that people put too many labels on themselves and that it makes even less sense to label your style at home.  I find that most people like a mix of old and new, classic with some modern elements, and varying degrees of colour and pattern throughout their homes depending on how they use the space.  I truly believe the label doesn't matter as long as it "feels" right for you.

Over the last couple of weeks I've been putting together some inspiration images for an "eclectic" living room project I'm working on.  The clients have two young children, including a toddler who's toys have taken over their very small living/dining room and they are in desperate need of good storage, seating for entertaining and a more grown up space overall.  They want the space to feel curated and are considering both refurbished/recycled items as well as new items.  With several projects around the house needing attention, we have a very limited budget and a short timeline to get this space done.

We have a very narrow hallway with no closet that opens up to the entire main floor with only a 4'x4' knee wall for delineation.  So, with limited space for furniture I'm looking for an interesting wallpaper to help make a bold statement when you first enter the home.  I love this Thibault wallpaper and gorgeous chest and vintage sconces.

Thibaut cork metallic wallpaper - stunning!

cork metallic paper up close

Since all of the living room furniture is to be replaced, and we didn't have any existing artwork to draw inspiration from, I decided that we would start with a gorgeous over sized rug to both delineate the living and dining room as well as become the foundation for the colour scheme for the room.  My client wanted something traditional in style but was open to bringing in a mix of patterns and colours.  I found this rug from Hellenic called "the Tree of Life" and the client loved it.  It's herbal dyed wool and hand made in India and has all the earthy colours we were looking for with pops of red and pink that really adds to the lively essence of space.  

The client likes earth tones and wanted a traditional space but with a bit of cultured, Asian-Ethnic touches.  I selected some fabrics with traditional motifs but more interesting colour combinations.  The patterned fabric for the chairs was chosen in muted tones to let the rug take center stage.  The drapery fabric is fab and will work very nicely with the darker wood tones of the existing dining room furniture. 

Fabrics & Rug

I'm also sourcing cabinetry for the dining room and living room.  We are playing around with a mix of purchased credenza's and built in book shelves.  Here are some ideas:

living room option via

dining room option via

living room option via

For the extremely narrow hallway our options are a narrow bench or console.  I love this hand-made beauty, from Urban Tree Salvage made of Manitoba maple, which I featured in my IDS post here.

Alternatively, a shallow console and mirror will work nicely too.  This one picks up on the red accents we will have in the space and has an artisan quality to it. It's always practical to have storage drawers in the front hall for all the little mitts, mail & keys.

via

We'll be out looking for upholstery soon.  Although the client was hoping for a sectional sofa and they generally work well in tight spaces, this living room needs storage desperately - so we're looking at a smaller sofa and two slipper chairs to optimize the layout and get as much storage and seating as possible at the same time.  

I love this eggplant velvet beauty from Barrymore.  Although this fabric is not practical with a sticky-finger toddler running around, this is the look we are going for.  A three-seater with slim, padded arms allow us to get maximum seating without wasting any space on bulky arms.  The thin legs also add sleekness compared to a skirted sofa style.

As for chairs, we have the option of one larger chair, in a wing back or club chair style, or alternately, two smaller chairs that can also serve as extra seats for dining when entertaining larger groups.  

For a single chair I like to feature something with great lines in a solid fabric, whereas with a clean-lined chair  a bold pattern really adds interest to the room while keeping the sofa in a sold colour.

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As you can see, the range of furniture styles are very broad in an eclectic scheme, but ultimately they will all relate to each other based on the colour scheme, shapes, textures and materials.  As we add each element to the plan, we change up the mix and that's what gives it a truly curated feeling.

That's it for now, I'll be back with updates as we go.