"to get a room that sizzles" Polly Mellen

photograph by Eric Boman

I love Billy Baldwin. I love originality. As a designer, decorator-whatever one wants to call it- I always try to work toward an unstudied look. Shaken not Stirred.

In light of that and the appearance of my old curtains into the dining room of my now-not- so- new (old1930's) house and a recent post about it, I am celebrating Billy Baldwin. Bringing out the books again.

In honor of this great modern American Decorator, when I see a room (in the many many magazines I get every month) that reflects my favorite of his decorating ideas... "To get a room that sizzles with personality, you've got to take risks. A person with a real flair is a gambler at heart."


the Vogue caption reads " the living room, with a rug and pillows of Mellen's making, Meret Oppenheim's side table with stork legs, Three tapestries, made by Mellen's mother in the 1960's, hang on the back wall."

and this room happens to follow two more of Billy Baldwin's dictums:

"If you fall in love with something, that's all that matters. Your love protects you from all upsets."
"I'd Love to see less and less studied decoration and more and more things chosen because you Love them, That's the whole point really."

read the whole story (click here) written by Marina Rust for Vogue, with photographs by Eric Boman
and Mrs Blandings (click) post.