Paint the Town

Rose Tarlow says in her book, The Private House, that she can obsess about fabric. She often drives around with it on the dash of her car so she can think about it some more once she leaves the office. I shouldn't drive around with fabric samples in my car as they usually end up trampled by soccer cleats. But, I leave books open on my desk for weeks at a time. Picking things apart. Turning them over.

I've been stuck on this image (top) of Albert Hadley's living room. Arresting in its composition, but also remarkable in the use of this painted canvas. It's just painted blue. Anyone could do that.

I had a friend ask me to paint canvases for her like the ones in my hallway. I assured her that even her children could do that for her. She disagreed. But the panel, top, and the screen, above, and the chairs, below, anyone could do that.

It makes us copy cats, of course, and not design legends, but I never had "design legend" on my list of aspirations anyway so no harm done.

We can draw a lot of inspiration from the high-end magazines even if our budgets are low-end.

All images from Style and Substance, The Best of Elle Decor. Photography from top, Fernando Bengoechea, Simon Upton, William Waldron, Pieter Estersohn and Eric Piasecki. While all the other images could be translated with basically a coat of paint, the bottom image did inspire me to buy a (not inexpensive) sink. I had seen it originally in Pastis and was giddy to find it sourced in Elle Decor; it solved the problem of three boys and one sink quite well.

Its publisher has decided to focus its energy on Elle Decor while retiring Met Home. I subscribed to Met Home and enjoyed many of its features over the years. Best wishes to its staff members.