Fine Print: Suzanne Kasler Inspired Interiors

Cover Photo: Simon Watson

Another beautiful book that has been sitting on my shelf since early winter is Suzanne Kasler: Inspired Interiors (Rizzoli, 2009). Suzanne is an Atlanta-based designer who made the coveted House Beautiful “Top 100 Designers” list back in 2005, and has been going strong ever since, having been published in Elle Decor, House Beautiful, Southern Accents, Veranda, Traditional Home, and Architectural Digest. (The links click through to her stories, so take a peek.)  Here are images from her book, which was published by Rizzloli  in November, along with caption info and commentary.

Photo: Gia Trovan for Southern Accents

White walls set off deliberate touches of blue in this entryway that also doubles as a dining area. Hard to tell here, but the chandelier is adorned with seashells, the rooms only truly beach-y touch. The collection of blue glass is vintage. I love the turquoise bench upholstery; wonder if it’s velvet?

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Photo: Erica George Dines Photography

This is the living room of Suzanne’s own beach house. Everything – the walls, ceiling, and floor – is painted in Benjamin Moore’s White Dove. (That’s the color in my house too!)  The French flea market chairs are upholstered in indestructible orange and aqua ultrasuede. The fireplace surround is made of poured stone embedded with seashells. The coral sconces are beach-y but still sophisticated.

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Photo: Erica George Dines Photographay

Another room in Suzanne’s beach house. The artworks are vintage batick prints she found at a flea market, framed in bamboo and hung in a tight grid. The pillow colors echo colors found in the prints. The limestone and iron coffee table and the floor lamps provide strong but simple shapes in black and white. The little round table is a kitschy seashell covered piece from a local shop.

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Photo: Gia Trovan for Southern Accents

The floors and fireplace wall in this beach house are painted a cool, slean white, while the rest of the deocr is done in various shades of soothing blue. The walls in the sitting room beyond are sky blue; the slipcover on the chair is almost a French blue; the rug is striped in other blues. The blue balls are iridescent blown glass. The painting is by Dusty Griffith. Overall, a very watery space.

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Photo: William Waldron

You might not realize it, but there is a lot of white in this living room. The round acrylic tables are by Nancy Corzine (whose new book I wrote about yesterday). The stools are Russian, found in Paris and uphostered in two different fabrics to create a striped effect. These stools inspired the Anastasia bench in Suzanne’s furniture line for Hickory Chair.

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Photo: Erica George Dines Photography

I love the mix of greens and turquoise in this room, whose colors are rich without being heavy. The swirly chairs wor well mixed with the simpler Louix XVI-style ones.

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Photo: Tria Giovan

The peony pink color of the accent wall in this dining room is Glidden Checkberry. Kasler points out that this color has depth – you can see many different shades it in – red and pink and ochre and white. The Louis XVI -style chairs are upholstered in raffia with nail heads. I love the interlocking swirls on the front face of the console, which echo the curves of the chandelier and sconces . And the peonies, so luscious.

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Photo: Erica George Dines Photography

An elegant bedroom in neutral tones with a rosy hue.

All photographs courtesy of  Suzanne Kasler: Inspired Interiors, Rizzoli, 2009

Shop Alert: Shoo Woo Opens In Copley

Boston’s Copley Place has a new shoe shop, shoeWoo. It’s a chain (this seems to be the company’s sixth outpost) that carries affordable lines that include Nine West, Joan & David, AK Anne Klein, and Rachel Roy. While the interior looks like a sumptuous shoe salon, the merch seems more fitting to the not quite as fancy Shops at the Prudential. Though, I suppose it’s not all Jimmy Choo, Tiffany, and Louis Vuitton at Copley Place; that’s where I shop J. Crew. I haven’t actually checked out shoeWood yet, but next time I need a mall fix I’ll definitely wander in.

Fine Print: Nancy Corzine Glamour At Home

With all the rain over the weekend I finally had time to peruse the stack of review copies on my bookshelf.  Nancy Corzine Glamour at Home was published back in October, but I thought I would share some images with you anyway, in case you missed it, or loved it so much you felt like looking again. Her style is much more elegant, and well, grown-up, than I tend towards, but there’s no doubting her talent. When I think mirrored furniture, I think Nancy Corzine.

Photo: Carter Berg

The hand-painted tea-leaf silver screen provides a glamorous backdrop to the blue linen-covered sofa and creamy lacquered side tables.

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Photo: Ken Hayden

A trio of stools at the foot of the bed in this guestroom provide extra storage.

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Photo: Peter Vitale

This Hamptons dining room’s walls are papered in a traditional hand-painted silk chinoiserie design. The English Regency-period sunburst mirror adds sparkle, along with the chandelier, which is carved wood with a silver-leaf finish.

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Photo: Ken Hayden

A vintage black-and-white photograph of Marilyn Monroe hangs above the bar in the media room of a house in Los Angeles.

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Photo: Miguel Flores-Vianna

The large oil painting in this living room is by Antonio Murado.

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Photo: Ken Hayden

The toile de Jouy wallcovering in this Hamptons guest bathroom matches the bedskirt and draperies of the bedroom.

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Photo: Ken Hayden

A galley kitchen in a Manhattan high-rise has clean lines for maximum efficiency. The black-and-white photos are by Jeff Reese.

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Photo: Trio Giovan

A Palm Beach living room with whitewashed paneling and pale blue fabrics has a traditional Gustavian-era look.

Design Diary: Cabin Fever

I had been long corresponding with Gary Briggs, co-owner of Aunt Sadie’s boutique and  candle company, but it wasn’t until fall that I learned he is quite the collector of Adirondack, camp and cabin style furniture, art and accessories. I toured his South End place for “Cabin Fever“,  which ran in the Boston Globe Magazine, and followed up with “Log Cabin Chic in the City” for The Inside Source, for which Briggs shopped eBay for Adirondack-inspired pieces. It’s about time I showcased his collection here as well, especially since I promised more hunting lodge chic stories last week. (Sorry, work got in the way.) Check out the articles for details (the stories behind the collecting is interesting), since this is a photo only post.

Photo: Josh Kuchinsky

An overview of the main living space.

The details below are my snapshots.

ARTmonday: Polly Apfelbaum

I learned of Polly Apfelbaum when I saw her work hanging in interior designer Amanda Nisbet‘s daughter’s pink bedroom. I promptly Googled (thankfully the mag supplied the credit) and was rewarded. I LOVE Polly Apfelbaum.  Her work reminds me a bit of another favorite of mine, Beatriz Milhazes. Turns out that fine art publisher Durham Press creates prints of both women’s work. Seeing how MOMA owns Apfelbaum’s work, a print is about as close as I’ll get to ever owning one.

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Blossom, 2000
Dye, Synthetic Velvet
Collection, MOMA, NYC

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Bloomings II, 2005.
Ink on silk/rayon velvet
Angles Gallery, Santa Monica

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Funkytown (detail), 2005-09
Dye, Synthetic Velvet
Group Show: “Painting and its Environs” , Palacio de Sastago, Zaragoza Spain

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Love Park V, 2006
Unique multi color woodblock monoprint on Hiromi Handmade DHM-11 Triple Thick
Frith Street Gallery, London

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Dogwood Park 4, 2009
monoprint on Hiromi handmade Kozo triple thick paper, published by Durham Press
Locks Gallery, Philadelphia

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Rainbow Park I, 2006
Unique multi color woodblock monoprint on Hiromi Handmade DHM-11 Triple Thick Paper
Frith Street Gallery, London

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Color Field Notes – Orange, 2009
One of Eight Woodblock Prints in Color Field Notes
Paper: Osamu Triple Thick Edition: 43
Durham Press

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For Alice, 2003
Paint and Glitter on Building
The 2nd Valencia Beinnial, “The Ideal City”, Valencia, Spain

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Spooky Love #4, 2003
Large format Polaroid
Angles Gallery, Santa Monica

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Today I Love Everybody, 2004
Dye, Synthetic Velvet
Group Show: “Optima” The Ballroom, Marfa, Texas

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Las Vegas Room (detail), 2009
Synthetic Sequined Fabric
Solo Show: “Anything Can Happen In A Horse Race” Milton Keynes Gallery, Milton Keynes, UK

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Wallflowers (Purity), 1990
Wire, paper, glitter, tacks, pencil
Galerie Nachst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwalder, Vienna, Austria

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Wave Park
Durham Press

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Little Dogwood 33, 2009
Multi-color Woodblock Monoprint
Paper: Hiromi Handmade DHM-11 Triple Thick
Durham Press

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Inked blocks for a Polly Apfelbaum print at Durham Press


A Polly Apfelbaum Dogwood print in the press at Durham Press

Durham Press’ blog has a lot of cool images and info on Apfelbaum, Milhazes and other artists.