Architectural Digest March 2009: Article additions

After publishing one of my projects in this past March 2009 issue of the Famous Worldwide Magazine: “The Architectural Digest” (page 68), I have received many e-mails from friends, clients and fellow ASID designers asking for more details about this project. Therefore, I have put together this article and added some pictures that my clients, the house owners, and I thought couldn’t be a better choice for the magazine.

This magnificent Residence is located in one of the best neighborhoods of Calgary, Canada and has wonderful view from the backyard that overlooks the center of the city. Every detail was carefully mastered by many professionals and the owners of the house: Gary Swanson and Colena Manning. When I met Gary and Colena the construction was in the final stage and they needed to defined the style and select the furniture for the House.

We decided to approach this by steps knowing that this process will probably take many years but knowing that the final result would give us a nice sample “Of the Art of Design”.

The style chosen was what we now call French Country Revival or New European Classic: rich bright colors, textures and different materials. One interesting anecdote was convincing the owners of the use or a zebra rug. I showed them many of my classics catalogs as well as the Karges catalog showing many rooms with their classic furniture surrounded with a vintage Zebra rug. Finally, we settled for a faux zebra rug for the second floor hall way.

The majority of the furniture was made by Century Furniture mainly because all the furniture needed to be shipped to Canada which has some restrictions for imported furniture. I think Century Furniture is fabulous. I had a great connection with the factory; therefore I knew in advance that they will accommodate any of our particular requests. The fabrics are by Stroheim & Roman, Pindler& Pindler, Brunschwig & Fills and Newport Mansion.

The final touches were the accessories and window treatments. This made a perfect frame for what was done before. In the living room I particularly love the Friedman Brothers classic gold leaf mirror that sets above the classic French style sofa giving the perfect balance to this impressive piece of furniture. The two barrel type chairs sitting in from the picture window sets the perfect stage for the breath-taking views. In the kitchen-dining room, the selection of the Oscar de la Renta butterfly table was the best solution. This table opens from the center and increases its radius for bigger parties without losing any of its opulent style.

We are still adding some little touches every once in a while. I remember once a client of mine asked me; when is a project done? Really, I do not have that answer. A project is done when we feel that there is nothing else to add….

European Revival

The Dream Home

Jennifer and Michael Digaetano fell in love, decided to get married and build their dream home. They found the perfect place on West Shores with lake view and a private beach.
Two years later, after many disappointments, the house was not even close to be finished. We met at the end of December, 2007 and their deadline was the end of April, 2008. After interviewing the couple and hearing their needs and desires, I explained to them that the style that they wanted was a Modern European Country or European Revival. They asked me, “ Elena, do you think that all of this could be done in this short period of time?” I assured them that working together, three of us on the same page, we will make things easy and possible.
After we defined the style of the house as French country meets Tuscan style; I re-designed all the cabinets to give them the classic French touch but with the warm and cozy Tuscan feeling. All the cherry cabinets, including the kitchen ones, were faux painted in light cream ivory with some gold tones to achieve the clean, but classic feeling of a modern European Château. This set the basics for the scheme of colors in the entire house including tile, stone, granite, columns, furniture and window treatments.

The result was spectacular, everything in the house was one hundred percent custom made. The medallion and the impressive Lantern by Fine Art in the foyer set the feeling of what follows in this magnificent house, with impressive stone fire places, marble floors, custom wrought iron rails and two story faux painted, gold-accented columns. The kitchen, great room and formal dining room are refined but cozy and give one the feeling of a perfect Dream Home .