Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Modern Classic-Going back to the basics

Going Back to the Basics


Susan Heim, a partner of “On a Whim”, had done it all. With her natural artistic sensitivity and because of the nature of her job, she had access to the latest in design and fashion. She traveled to different accessories markets and read many magazines like The Architectural Digest and Florida House.

Then she came to her plateau. She did not know what to do with her living room, the first space that everyone would see coming into her home. She wanted something different -modern yet stylish. She wanted a different palette of color, neither the classical earth tones nor the bright contemporary tones. She felt trapped.

What will I do next? She consulted with one of her friends, a representative of different lines of fine accessories, a woman of very discerning taste in fashion, Kerry Line. Kerry recommended that Susan contact me, Elena Kerwin, an international designer, an Allied Member of the American Society of Interior Designers .


When I first met Susan at the Design Gallery, I immediately became interested in the project because Susan was up to date with current furniture trends in USA. She wanted something new and trendy. However , she wanted something that would last but she did not want something such as a classic English style. She asked me what should we do next. I went for a house call to gather more information about Susan; her lifestyle; her family and her home. I took many pictures of what she had. She wanted to incorporate some of her art work and pictures of her daughters as well as some accessories that she already had.

After this, I called to many of my friends, designers in Europe. I asked them what is coming in fashion and furniture trends . An architect friend in Paris gave me the latest in couture and fashion; basic colors off whites, blacks and a lot of grey mixed with metallics and different textures. A friend in Italy sent me some pictures of one of Giorgio Armani‘s houses in the Caribbean. It showed a lot of grey,-a sleek and fashionable look. Finally, one of my designer friends in London sent me the Armani casa web site, a brand new store just opened in London.
With all of this couture line, I told Susan we must go back to the basics. We will do a clean, sleek couture design, - a new European version of classic contemporary furniture called “modern classic”.

We selected a very sleek stylish Century sofa in off white with refined details and fresh fine form. We added texture with some faux zebra print pillows, added warm light with a couple of copper pillows. I reassured Susan that these pillows will be the striking point because I wanted to blend the copper that she had in her fireplace with her impressive copper entry . To complement the look , we chose a couple of very couture Armani – like Weiman chairs in a shimmery sleek silver color with a super fashion organic pattern.

We completed the upholstered part with a very comfortable yet polished classic, masculine-look chair and ottoman in a dark textured grey color for her husband to go with all the other pieces.
We also selected an oversized, yet refined looking, black cocktail table from Drexel Heritage. At that point, Susan asked me if the sofa and accent chairs have dark brown wood color, shouldn’t the cocktail table be brown too? Definitely not, I told her, the balance is in perfect contrast of colors. We do not want to do something so boring.


The rest was a combination of artistic touches. We incorporated some metallic tables that Susan already had. A very sophisticated, yet sober, grey rug with a black frame. Susan was not sure that she needed a rug. I remarked again that this would be a perfect frame for her livingroom. We added three black leather stools that had very shiny silver nail trim to contrast the cherry wood panel of the bar. The stools blended really well with the bar but one would notice the shiny silver nail making a smooth, striking contrast.


Finally, we complemented her art work with some stylish accessories like a table lamp from Drexel between the two accent chairs. A copper square metal piece in the cocktail table was added bringing some deepness to her black bases and some wooden boxes from the Walt Disney collection by Drexel completed the final look. A pair of tall wooden, hand carved, espresso bases were placed in the bar window to balance the height of the window.

I knew that when Susan was admiring the picture of her three daughters on the wall that her house was complete.

Elena U Kerwin, Allied Member ASID,