Design element: Spheres in interior design

When I was in Southern California this summer, I stumbled upon a wonderful interior design studio with a store attached, and this store had the most amazing selection of rocks and minerals for sale (for use as accessories).   The stone spheres in particular caught my eye – I love the shape, and they had a huge array of colors and sizes.

Since that visit, I have been collecting pictures of spheres that I noticed on Pinterest or in my old interior design image files. I was surprised to note that some of my favorite room images from the past have spheres used as accessories – I had not even noticed!

Here is a good example. This picture has been on my blog countless times. Something about this room has always had great appeal to me – the combination of the sand color of the sisal, the grays of the wall and upholstery, the contemporary art, and the white tulips (my favorite) – it all comes together beautifully. When I looked at this picture with fresh eyes, I spotted the spheres on the side table – one large, and three small. The small ones could be mounted finials. Interior design by Gerrie Bremermann.

When I opened up this month's Veranda and saw the beautiful house of garden designer Scott Shrader, I noticed the many spheres he uses throughout his house, inside and out. This was my favorite house from the magazine - in no small part because of the calm, beautiful, and balanced interiors. 

I featured this room on my blog several years ago. I wondered how the designer got all of the mercury glass spheres to stay in place, not knowing about museum wax when I wrote the post! Interior design by Caldwell Flake.

A Suzanne Kasler Interiors designed room, seen in a recent issue of Architectural Digest, is beautifully layered. The sphere on the coffee table caught my eye. Suzanne frequently uses spheres in her accessory design for a room.

The mantel of Suzanne’s own family room features a stone sphere.

Another Suzanne Kasler design with a grouping of stone spheres on the lower shelf of the console.

I think this sphere is part of the lamp; what a beautiful design. Via Elle Décor, interior design by Kevin Roberts.

I love the look of a sphere on a bookshelf.

I can’t locate the source for this image, but all of the spheres on the table caught my eye.

A crystal ball like sphere is a great element of this expertly styled coffee table. Via Bijou and Boheme.

A collected group of objects on a table include several spheres, which cleverly repeat the shape of the rounded feet of this Biedermeier table. Via Savvy Home.

A more rustic style stone sphere anchors the arrangement on this console.

I saved this picture in my old computer files because I liked the composition of the room, the art above the fireplace, and the indoor greenery. But this time around I noticed the sphere on the console, and what appears to be a large sphere on the left side of the room.

White spheres blend right in with this pastel palette.

A solidary large scale sphere is the reward at the end of the view in this more rustic style design.

In the recording studio of two concert pianists, a sphere carved by Thai monks is placed by designer Axel Vervoort. Via Architectural Digest.

Another favorite place for a sphere is on a mantel. Interior design by Caldwell-Beebe, one of my favorite rooms of theirs.

This house was on a tour of homes a few years ago, and I snapped a picture of the landing with its perfectly scaled wing chair (anyone recognize it?) and the three wood spheres that surround it. It’s a striking vignette.

One of my favorite Amanda Nisbet designs – there are other versions of this picture without the spheres, but I like the element that they add.

As I was putting the finishing touches on this post, I read an article in the New York Times about the new magazine Milieu, published by Houston based designer Pamela Pierce.

One of the designers featured in the premiere issue is Walda Pairon.  The work of this designer from Belgium captured my eye.  Remodelista had written about her this spring, and this close up of a vignette from Pairon’s living room particularly spoke to me.  As Remodelista notes, “Pairon puts great importance on the placement of objects; nothing should be gratuitous”. 

I think that sums up why spheres have such great appeal to me.  Their placement seems quite deliberate, they have such a calming and balanced effect to a room, and they are often one of my favorite ways to complete a space.  Clearly spheres have great appeal to Walda Pairon too – she chose an image of a sphere for the cover of her book Interiors with a Soul (which does not seem to be readily available in the US right now).

What do you think of spheres? Do you have any in your décor? I bought a beautiful sphere off ebay earlier this year, but I have not found a place for it yet.  I am thinking about putting it in a bookshelf, out of the way of curious hands (my kids) and enthusiastic tails (my dog).

Some of these images came from Pinterest, and the name of the designer was not attached. If the designer is not noted, and you recognize the work, please leave a comment in the post and I will update. Click here to comment. Thanks!

◊

I receive so many inquiries from shops, blogs, architects, designers, artists, and home related vendors about advertising opportunities on the blog.  Please see my advertising information page for more details on sponsorship opportunities available for the month of September.

To see my latest blog post, click here.
To subscribe to my blog by email, click here.
To follow my blog on Facebook, click here.
Twitter: @TTIBlog
Instagram: http://instagram.com/ttiblog
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/ttiblog/
Visit my online store, Quatrefoil Design: www.quatrefoildesign.bigcartel.com
To see design, architecture, art, and decorative books that I recommend, please visit the Things That Inspire Amazon store.

Thank you…and some other lighting in my house

Thank you for the wonderful comments on my post about my dining room chandelier decision. If you have not read the comments, they are quite interesting and entertaining to read – click here to see them. I would also like to thank the many readers who sent me great “off the beaten track” antique chandeliers sources.

As always, I read each and every comment, and I also received dozens of emails from readers with more lengthy thoughts.

I have decided to go ahead and put ‘dining room chandelier’ high on the list of items that I will work on with my designer in early 2013, when we do phase II of the design work.   Ultimately, knowing both myself and my husband, I am aware that whatever goes in my dining room will be there for a long time, so I have to select a fixture that I really love.  And, as many of you suggested, such a key design element really needs to be found with my designer’s guidance, especially since she selected all of the other lighting fixtures in the house.   We will get something that works with the style of the house, the room, and the budget.  If that’s an antique, great.  If that’s an amazing new lighting fixture, that would be great too.  But I do think it is time to find a beautiful fixture to put in the dining room.

Many of my readers were shocked that I have a naked bulb in my dining room, after spending so much time and effort working on the design and build of the house.   If you have ever built a house, or gone through a major renovation, you can understand the mental and financial fatigue that sets in at the end of a project. That’s why I still have my old beat up reproduction French country kitchen table and 1980s style barstools in my kitchen – which are definitely at odds with the architecture and style of the kitchen -  and will be replaced next year.

But – rest assured – I do have some beautiful lighting in other areas of the house, and here are a few glimpses (taken with an iphone camera this weekend).

A simple bell jar lantern graces the front hall.

I love our kitchen light fixture – it is grand in scale, which works perfectly in my kitchen. The iron of the fixture works beautifully with the steel windows in the kitchen.

The library light fixture is alabaster and has a subtle Greek key pattern etched into the side.  It has a lovely glow at night, and truly ‘makes’ the space.  I never would have selected this fixture on my own, but my designer thought it was the perfect touch for the room – and that has proven to be the case.

The lantern in my stairs is also large in scale, and looks great from all angles, particularly important as it is often seen from below.

My favorite lantern – the Mizner by Niermann Weeks – I had my eye on this lantern for years (I would often go into the Atlanta showroom and visit it), and I love seeing it every day.

I do have one other bare bulb to show you – in my groin vault hall.  My designer wanted something very special for this place, and she has never found just the right thing.  We will find something when we do phase II.

And finally, my master bedroom.  We put a cap on this one!  We looked at a few options, but again didn’t find just the right thing.  Maybe because it is capped, or maybe because I had a ceiling fan in my old master bedroom, but I don’t miss having a chandelier in my master bedroom.  Right now the room is lit by lamps and a few small targeted recessed lights, and it works just fine – although it would be nice to find a pretty chandelier to finish off the room.

It’s interesting to see these fixtures in isolation, because I was not aware that we had so many iron fixtures in the house!  They work well with the architecture and style of the house, and are spread throughout the house, so they are not seen at the same time. There are some key rooms that do not have fixtures at all because of the design of the space– like the living room, because centering a light fixture would not make sense for the furniture arrangement given the architecture of the space (and two chandeliers would not have worked either).

Writing this post brings back memories of all the time and effort that went into selecting light fixtures – not an easy task when building a house from scratch!

Email subscribers, click here to comment.

To subscribe to my blog by email, click here.
To follow my blog on Facebook, click here.
Twitter: @TTIBlog
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/ttiblog/
Visit my online store, Quatrefoil Design: www.quatrefoildesign.com
To see design, architecture, art, and decorative books that I recommend, please visit the Things That Inspire Amazon store.

An interesting chair

One of the first things that struck me about the furniture plan for the new house is the sheer number of chairs that make their way into every room of the house.  Some of the chairs are functional – they provide for balance and extra seating in the room.  Some of the chairs are like decorative accessories, much like a piece of art or sculpture would be used in a room.

When looking at the furniture plan, I thought about Mariette Himes Gomez’ book Rooms: Creating Luxurious, Livable Spaces, where she professes a love for chairs.  On her web site, she says "Chairs are like sculpture to me. I love chairs like I love books. I'm truly crazy about them."  In recent months, I have been noticing interesting chairs as key elements in the decor, and agree that they add a very special touch to a room.

This is one of my favorite vignettes, mainly because of the artful arrangement on the console and the beautiful collection of sketches on the wall.  However, when looking through my files for interesting chairs, this sweet little decorative chair really jumped out at me. I doubt anyone ever sits on that chair – it looks very dainty.

In a room full of strong design elements, the interesting chair under the cascading series of paintings draws my eye. Design by Barry Dixon.

 

This beautiful foyer, with interiors by Suzanne Kasler, has many wonderful architectural and design features.  However, what stands out in my mind is that the chairs came from the Gianni Versace estate, and Suzanne loved them so much that she even kept the original fabric on them.

The ornate lines of the chair in this entry add a whimsical quality to the vignette.  The green velvet seems like the perfect choice for this chair! I wonder if anyone ever sits on it?  Interior design by Amy Morris. Photo credit: Emily Followill.

Another striking design by Amy Morris features an interesting chair that is clearly meant to be part of the decor, not really a place to sit.  For some reason, this really appeals to me – chair as sculpture! Photo credit: Emily Followill.

This chair caught my eye as it is used as an extension of the tabletop and wall space, with a book perched on the seat, and a painting resting against the back. Source unknown.

This is one of my favorite images from the portfolio of Daryl Carter – the balance of the lines and the curves, the darks and the lights, the aged and the new really appeals to me.  I also love that interesting chair to the right of the console – it adds a great element to the space.

This chair looks like an antique, and seems to be purely decorative given its placement in the hall.  It looks perfect in this spot, and is one of my favorite images of Sheila Bridges work.   My husband’s grandmother has the most beautiful French antiques in her house, and told me that she rarely buys antique chairs because they often don’t hold up well to actual use.  The proportions of antique chairs don’t really suit the proportions of people today (I guess people are taller and wider now!), and the delicacy of some antique chairs make them very frail after 100 years or so.  However, using antique chairs as a purely decorative element works so well in certain spaces.

This chair is neither fragile nor retreating, and really seems to invite one into the space.  Interior design by Axel Vervoordt.

The diminutive chair set in a small hall seems to have a story to tell.  Interiors by Jackye Lanham, from an old real estate listing.  The house was featured in Southern Accents many years ago (see more of the house in this post).

 

I am not sure where this picture is from, but look at that incredible chair to the side of the armoire!  The fantastic woodwork makes it like a piece of art.  Not sure why the stylist put the stack of hats on the chair – I want to take them off to appreciate the chair itself.

Finally, a beautiful image from Clint Smith’s new website and blog – the chair really struck me, as it pulls out the tones of the tile and the wallpaper, and adds just the right balancing element to the room.  Clint is the editor of Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles, and we are all familiar with his unerring eye and his way with words from his work at the magazine.  The website (http://smithonstyle.com/) shows a more complete picture of Clint’s many talents, and is a visual feast.  I am looking forward to reading more on his personal perspective on style and design!

The good news is that interesting chairs are an easy addition to most settings, and can often be found on Craigslist and antique and flea markets (Scott’s Antique Market in Atlanta always has dozens of chairs that catch my eye).  Phoebe Howard’s store Mrs. Howard always seems to have beautiful and unique chairs that Phoebe has found on her travels and refurbished.  Often vintage and antique chairs need to be recovered - I did this a few years ago with an old flea market find, with great results (see blog post here). I am not sure where I will use these chairs in the new house, but I am sure they will find a place!


Books mentioned in this post: 

Rooms: Creating Luxurious, Livable Spaces (Mariette Himes Gomez)
Click here to purchase on Amazon.

To visit my store, Quatrefoil Design, click here – come see the brand new art and scupture items in the store!
To subscribe to my blog by email, click here.
To follow my blog on Facebook, click here.
Twitter: @TTIBlog
To see design, architecture, art, and decorative books that I recommend, please visit the Things That Inspire Amazon store.