Floral Inspirations, LILIES/PALM: Naples/Charleston

Dean Farris Interior Design 2019

I always love receiving fresh flowers, and to me, they're a great luxury ... it's also a lot of fun to source greenery from local gardens, such as the owners of this house in Charleston did, (32 Legare)... enjoy!  DF

32 Legare, Charleston, SC

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PORTIERE: Victorian Coziness and Elegance

So, this weekend, Billy went out of town for a charity event, and I had a bit of time to think about some Spring cleaning and re-arranging- I decided to remove the overlay of cognac gauffraged cotton velvet (an old bed coverlet!) from my one draped table, to show off the nice bright colors of the silk plaid table skirt- and one thing led to another...

I decided to see how a portiere would look in the small opening between my tiny foyer and the living-dining room...something I had wanted to do for quite some time.

DFID

Here it is! - tied back-, a fun bit of D.I.Y. that I enjoyed working on this weekend- and here are some other images of portiere that I found online - as well as some more of my own creation- this creates a remarkably cozy feeling, particularly at night- and I recall my Mother's decorator, Jonathan Arbuthnot using portiere when he first decorated her house in North Carolina, they were so elegant in ivory moiré cotton with gorgeous gadrooned silk tie backs in avocado!  Rich!

DFID

Above, this is how it looked before the tie back- and I liked it this way also- as it reminded me of an old villa or castello somewhere in Italy or Spain- and I already had the hardware from a previous project on the east coast of Florida!  (see similar in below images)

One can see how not tied back gives a completely different feeling and look- check out these tied back versions below, including my own!

DFID

DFID

Above, you can see where I also played with using a mirror where before I was using some boating pictures I had from a previous (waterfront) apartment.  Here's a few more, hope these inspire you to create your own cozy Victorian revival!  DF *****

DFID

DFID

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Cyber Monday and The Color Purple

Tray, Home Goods

Yesterday, I was out picking up a few things, and popped in to a local chain store called "Home Goods" - this place is always packed with shoppers, and yesterday being the first of December, was no exception. As I wound my way through the aisles, I had been searching the stock for a pair or threesome of wall brackets- George, the sales clerk said they didn't have any, which surprised me somewhat.  Anyway, I did find in CLEARANCE, this very fun faux alligator serving tray ($19.95) which looks like a Ralph Lauren piece- so I snapped it up.
Here it is on my small painted wine table. 

Toss pillow, Home Goods

  I also found this very pretty deep plum and white chevron print pillow- (down filled!) for - wait for it- yes, it was only $10.00 !!! Wow! They had about three or four of them and I should have bought all of them- anyway this little jewel adds quite a punch to my little settee- and I do like the contrast between the more formal silk pillows- and check out the bunch of lavender in my dragon bowl- I know I should be Christmas shopping for others, and not for me, but it's Dean's Addiction, what can I tell you?  I'm totally resisting the strong impulse to go on Amazon right now and order Mario's new book- which when I do get I hope to have autographed by my famous friend and one-time mentor...and I'm enjoying his influence on my free-wheeling palette for my new flat, which cheers me up every time I see it- it's not formula, it's intuitive, like a painter creating a work of art- resulting in a disarming kind of charm.  Thanks Mario, what a genius you are!  See my earlier post on the use of purple in interiors, and remember, my other mentor, the late, great Mr. Albert Hadley, was quoted as saying that "lavender was the beige of the nineties" (paraphrasing) - so enjoy your day, and look for some purple to add an unexpected twist to your decorative or wardrobe schemes!  Cheers!  DF *****