"That's absolutely right, except when it's absolutely wrong..."

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about (and leafing through the images of) stylist Peter Frank's Hudson, NY home in Elle Decor's September issue (Quirky & Deliberate, by Rima Suqi). I thought his insights about how it came together were fascinating, and his approach to design worth sharing. A set designer and stylist for the likes of Martha Stewart, Ralph Lauren, Pottery Barn, Garnet Hill, Architectural Digest, Frank is no stranger to buying for the home. But for his own, rather than shop the catalogs for which he styles, he tends to buy quirky, one-of-a-kind pieces, resulting in a collected home.

It is much easier to go to a store and select a select a set of furniture and accessories that are meant to coordinate than spend hours visiting different shops, finding ones off the beaten path or unlikely sources, looking for that one perfect piece to go in that one certain place. If you take that approach, chances are you have a lot of empty but soon-to-be fabulous spots in your house. In my opinion, the emptiness is well worth it, once you find that "wow" piece that no one else has and will probably stay with you, in some capacity, forever.

On a much smaller scale, Oliver and I have tried to implement that philosophy in our own home. We know people who move into a new place and within a week, they are ready to receive guests in a fully furnished, functioning abode. Not at all the case with us! The small-space thing definitely contributes, but we are generally slow to find places for our things. Living small has made us ruthless editors of our belongings. At this point, if something isn't extremely important to us, it will shortly find it's way to the Goodwill bag. But if it is important, then we will agonize over how to best display/use/enjoy it. We will move it up, down and all around until we are satisfied. The limited space also places tremendous limits on what we can put in a given space, but we were the same way when we lived in larger apartments back in ye olden days. Of course, sometimes, the time and the budgetary constraints become too much to deal with and we just go to West Elm or CB2 and get something off the shelf and ready for delivery, then we wish we'd done that months before! As a result of our very slow progress, it took a year and a half for me to feel that our apartment was guest-ready. Not to worry, we had guests over despite the non-readiness factor!

Needless to say, I took great joy in reading about how Frank came to fill his home over time. First of all, he lived in the house for about six months with a folding table, a couple of chairs and a mattress on the floor in order to "get to know" all the rooms at different times of day, to see how light and seasons changed them, which eventually influenced his color choices and the layout. I love that idea, if you have the luxury of time to execute it. Frank is clearly a master at mixing styles and textures: inky blue papered walls, am 18th century Korean screen and a Poul Kjaerholm cane chair; a Danish modern table paired with a Neoclassical mirror; Knoll chairs juxtaposed by Shaker cabinets; a Swedish clock atop Turkish carpets.


What I found most intriguing in the article was Frank's honesty about how his interiors come together. When asked what his secret to mixing eras, styles, sizes and shapes is, he responded that it's all trial and error. "You have to mix things and be honest–if it doesn't work, change it." Then he admitted to making lots of mistakes, (!!!) which, he says, his cluttered attic can attest to.

I can't tell you how comforting it is to hear admission of mistakes from someone who's been in the biz for twenty years. Thankfully, I haven't made any huge, detrimental or costly mistakes yet, but there have been small, fixable ones. Big or small, mistakes never feel good and you always think you're the only one out there making them. Not true! It takes a long time to gain confidence in this business. A lot of money, sentimental pieces, opinions and relationships are at stake when designing someone's home. There are plenty of opportunities for error, and every designer has nightmares about screwing up and getting fired. In the end, whatever we were worried about usually works out, resulting in a job well done and a satisfied client. But, it's always nice to know you're not alone in your private fears.

I also appreciated Frank's dismissal of rules and guidelines–style tenets that people seem to adhere to ('never do this,' 'always do that'), which are always changing, anyway and none of it makes much sense. As Frank said, "A very good decorator told me that all four legs of a piece of furniture must always sit within an area rug. That's absolutely right, except when it's absolutely wrong. I have both situations in my house, and both are correct." Fantastic.

All images courtesy Elle Decor