Trend Watch: Fur

Outfit by DSqaured2, courtesy Style.com

It's impossible to ignore the fact the it is now winter, at least in the North East of the U.S. (Australia: I'm jealous.) As I type, I'm looking out the window seeing the tiniest flurries floating around, and I know it's already snowed in some states. Yikes! Winter is tough, fashion-wise. It's difficult to choose outfits that work both inside and outside, a particular challenge in cities whereby most inhabitants spend a fair amount of time on and off public transportation. Wearing a giant, puffy down coat will keep you toasty on the way to the station, but once inside the train, all those feathers get really stuffy, and it's not like you can peel the coat off and get comfy when you're crammed up against 50,000 other warm bodies (some creepier than others). But the real tragedy is that all the down puff obscures what you're wearing underneath (which may or may not have taken twenty minutes to put together)!

Fur has a long, and controversial past – as a p.c. pre-teen I was staunchly anti-fur – but there's no denying that it is CHIC. Adding a splash of fur to winter outerwear is the easiest way to ramp up style without sacrificing warmth, and, from what I can tell in New York, I'm not alone in this belief. Fur is everywhere! Real, faux, full-length coats, vests, collars, trim – it's everywhere and it looks fantastic!

Yves Saint Laurent


Dynasty Clutch by Angel Jackson


Versatile vest by Fendi


Mink and velvet "Ava" necklace by Louis Vuitton


Gorgeous coat by Altuzarra


Nesta fur-trim bootie by Manolo Blahnik


Bottega Veneta coat - at once cozy and chic


I love the elegance of this simple outfit, and the fur collar adds a fun, unexpected, but very chic twist.


Darrington clutches by Michael Kors


Electric blue at Versace

It's one thing to see a trend on the runway or in magazines, but how regular people bring it to the streets is a whole different ballgame. On The Street fashion guru, Bill Cunningham recently shared his favorite fur findings on the streets of New York in this video for the NY Times, and it's worth a look.

I bring it to the streets, with my favorite winter coat; a vintage 1960s fur-trimmed number I picked up in 2008 at a favorite shop in Soho that has since closed. I coveted it for a few months and when I saw it come down in price I snapped it up. Boy am I glad I did; it has made me feel so much less drab and sad for the last few winters!

Yes, I was photographed outside of Buffalo Wind Wings (in Brooklyn, no less)! Don't hate.

This being primarily an interiors blog (that touches on graphics), I can't, in good faith, ignore how the fur in apparel fashion translates to home fashion! We've been seeing furry, fuzzy pillows and throws for a while now. Prices run the gamut, but they all make a home look and feel warm, despite the freezing temperatures.

Photo courtesy Lonny


Living room by Patric Johansson for Elle Interior


Another Lonny gem


Chic interior by Ryan Korban - a fur throw and fur upholstery, which is a great take on a classic modern chair


Via Elle Decor

Heather Clawson, of Habitually Chic wrote a great piece on Carolina Herrera, illustrating how fur intersects in fashion and interiors.

Bringing the style into your own home is easy – stores high and low are offering great furry options; from Ikea sheepskin rugs to West Elm to Williams-Somona Home to trade-only vendors like Donghia, there are fur accents for everyone!


West Elm


Williams-Somona Home


Donghia

Inside the Oval Office

Images of the newly revamped Oval Office, decorated by Michael S. Smith were recently released and the response was tepid, at best. As Penelope Green of the NY Times put it in her article, "The Audacity of Taupe," the general consensus was something like "a collective yawn: too brown, too dowdy, too ho hum." While I like some of the choices Obama made, I generally agree, although I can't say I am surprised at the overall beige-y-ness of the whole affair. I don't think I was alone in my curiosity to see how this administration would handle the tradition of redecorating the White House, considering the state of the economy. When you're out of a job and just barely getting by, the last thing you want to hear about is the President frivolously redecorating his office. For many people, an ostentatious redecorating scheme would have been a slap in the face. I thought, under the circumstances, Obama would make some fairly understated choices for his new office design, and I believe he did.

This is probably a good place for me to note that none of my opinions on Oval Office interiors are driven by the politicians occupying them. I am commenting strictly on design, not politics. I do not think taste runs along party lines. My agreement or disagreement with an administration's policies has no affect on my judgement of their choices in interior decor.

Back to business. It is pretty easy to sit on the sidelines and criticize the end result of design projects when we know very little, if nothing, of parameters: what had to be considered, who was involved, who had to be pleased, and, often most importantly, what the budget was. Having said that, let's get to some criticism!

The White House is allots $100,000 for redecorating but it is said that the Obamas opted not to use taxpayer funds or donations from the White House Historical Association, a private non-profit, reportedly choosing, instead, to foot the bill with their own money. Given the contentious election, the shaky economy and the mixed feelings about Obama and the job he's done since taking office, he's under quite a microscope, as are most world leaders. There seems to be a mass of criticism at his decision to redecorate in the first place, but every single president since Taft has redecorated to some extent. Each new administration typically selects new drapery, furniture, art (often  from the White House's collection) and commissions a new oval rug.

Taft's Oval Office, circo 1909

While it may seem wasteful to some, as an interior designer, I am a proponent of putting a lot of thought into making a space beautiful and functional, especially one in which countless hours will likely be spent. Obviously, the Oval Office is an extremely important room, as the President's office, but also as a venue for press conferences, meetings with White House staff, heads of state, dignitaries, and more. With so much use (and for so many different purposes), the Oval Office should be very comfortable and should reflect the taste and personality of the person spending between four and eight years working in it.

I've already mentioned that I'm generally not much for beige interiors, as I often feel they're a cop out, used so as to not offend anyone, resulting in fairly boring spaces. In the case of the Oval Office, some feel the neutral colors and understated furnishings allow the bones of the room and the historical elements shine. I tend to disagree. Nothing makes things shine like highlighting various elements with bright colors or layering textures and patterns.

Obama's walls are now enlivened with a striped wallpaper, which I think adds interest and warmth and contrasts well with the architectural elements (wainscoting, crown moulding, niches). While I love the shape of the new, slimmed-down sofas, and the texture of the velvet is fantastic, I find they get lost a bit in the solid mass of beige rug. George W. Bush had a killer rug. The white walls, however, left something to be desired.

Designed by Laura Bush, W's rug was fresh and bold with radiating stripes. I loved the seal, placed off-center, so it wasn't covered by a coffee table or boxed in. It was smaller than other Oval Office area rugs, allowing the exquisite white pine and walnut floor pattern to shine. A similar floor was originally installed by Reagan, but was replaced by George W. Bush in 2005. Prior to Reagan, the floor was linoleum! What in the world was linoleum doing on the floor of the Oval Office!?! I think the rug and floor patterns complement each other well.

The stunning wood floor

In keeping with tradition, Obama commissioned his own rug, placing the seal off-center as well, but on a solid background with a border of inspirational quotes. I prefer the furniture and accessories in the Obama Oval Office (the mica coffee table, the blue lamps, which play off his Presidential seal). They are at once fresher, bolder and warmer but the room still doesn't feel complete to me. I'm nonplussed by the drapes, which were a holdover from the Bush Oval Office. I appreciate a floral against a stripe, but in this case, the damask isn't a bold enough contrast.

The drapes in Bush's office (left) versus Obama's
I also think a crisper, more graphic valance silhouette would would play off the stripes better. Something similar to those seen in FDR's 1934 Oval Office:


Truman and Eisenhower had similar offices, and they certainly didn't shy away from color, did they? I love the grey-blue drapes and rug with the pink chairs, although the tone-on-tone presidential seal gets a little lost.

This image shows a recreation of the original 1956 office

Since JFK's tenure, most presidents have used the same desk, called the Resolute desk after the HMS Resolute, an Arctic discovery vessel from which the desk was created using salvaged timbers. Obama has kept this desk.


The pared down drapes and overall simplicity of Johnson's 1966 office give the room a slightly feminine feel.


There is nothing subtle – or feminine – about the Nixon oval office in the early 1970s. He really committed to yellow and blue. Ford kept much of the decor when he moved in.


Carter and Reagan also infused some femininity, what with all that peachiness in their offices in 1977 and 1982, respectively. I prefer the graphic quality of Reagan's sunburst rug over Carter's floral version.


George H.W. Bush's 1992 office is a good example of a revival interior taken too far. The drapes are way more ornate and floufy than the Neoclassical style adhered to. The white walls are so bland, but I do like the colors of the drapes and the rug.


Clinton's 1996 office evokes elements of Nixon's but those Scalamendre-candy-can sofas really push the limits paired with the marigold drapes, blue rug, shrimpy coffee table.

Do you have a favorite?

A Pink Room to End All Pink Rooms

I have a post about pink rooms waiting in the wings, but then there was this story in the NY Times recently, and I couldn't help wanting to share it with you. So, I'll save my pink room roundup for another time - Valentine's Day, or some similarly obvious occasion like that.

The Times does these "On the Cheap" features, whereby a top interior designer is paired with a design-challenged New Yorker, helping them to redesign one room in their house on a strict budget. This one focused on Harrice Miller, a costume jewelry dealer and historian, who also produces concerts of Indian classical music, an interest she gained during a 1999 trip to Gujarat, India. She hosts dinner parties and jam sessions for musicians in her home, but didn't have a proper place for them to stay, as her guest room was being used for storage. She decided it was time to convert the spare room into a little jewel box reminiscent of those she saw in Indian palaces.

Enter Vincente Wolf, a minimalist designer who favors serene, neutral interiors with clean, modern decor. Two examples of his work:

Based on the tone of the article, this was not a client-designer match made in heaven. Ms. Miller essentially requested a "theme" room, which no self-respecting interior designer wants his/her name associated with. However, despite their rocky start, Mr. Wolf did the right thing: he managed to give the client what she wanted without compromising his own integrity and point of view. Not an easy task, folks. Rather than creating a room with literal references to Indian decor, Mr. Wolf evoked the feeling of an Indian cocoon with rich, vibrant colors, textures and textiles, while also incorporating the client's own furniture, accessories and artwork.

Before:

After:

The result, as you can see, is absolutely phenomenal. The client was floored (she wanted to move into the room), and the designer was surprised at how much pleasure he gained from stepping outside his comfort zone of neutrals. Both parties stretched a bit and, as a result, found common ground by opening their minds a bit. You can't for more in a collaboration like this.

All photos by Matthew Williams for the New York Times

A Glimpse in the Times

Photo by Yana Paskova for The New York Times

The client for a project I worked on last year with my friend and work compadre, Thomas Jensen, had a little feature in The New York Times on July 25. The client was photographed in the conference room we designed, so by proxy, I now declare Thomas and myself to be Famous Published Designers. We are just steps away from being household names, don't you think?

John S. Johnson III (yes, one of those Johnsons) is sitting at a custom PaperStone conference table (two tops were pushed together for larger meetings) fabricated by Bettencourt Green Building Supplies. John is sitting on and among Eames Molded Plastic Side Chairs in Lime Yellow.

See more project photos on our website.

DIY at it's finest

I briefly mentioned before what New Yorkers submit to and sacrifice in order to live here, and that the state was recently deemed the unhappiest in the the country, although I focused on life in New York City. I tried to put a positive spin on it, but sometimes it does wear us down. However, my cold little heart was warmed when Nick Olsen, a favorite source for whip-smart humor, talent and all-around fun-ness, posted a New York Times story about the 178 square foot studio apartment of his friend, Zach Motl.

Simply put, Zach doesn't play. He uses every inch of the space wisely, carving out storage where none existed previously and arranging furniture in vignettes, making the space look larger than it is and multi-functional–an essential in small-space living. But he didn't rely solely on his outstanding decorative eye, he is a fearless DIY-er, as well. He ebonized his own floors! He removed, cleaned and replaced his window panes to reduce rattling and heat loss! He installed bead board (which he stained and treated) in his kitchen nook! He built a space-saving cabinet/countertop that also works to create a sense of a little entry hall. This is one talented designerto watch.

The only thing missing is "before" shots. I would love to have seen what that place looked like before he waived his magic wand and transformed what is sure to have been a rundown, uncared for dump into a little jewel box of coziness.

Don't miss the slideshow for more images.

All images courtesy New York Times