going with the grain

I always prefer hardwood floors, always let the woods show a good bit around the room if you have rugs or must have them.

whether - rough hewn- warped- sleek- polished- painted or stained the rich textured grain goes best.

Rose Cumming was a great advocate of bare hardwood floors-and was known to polish them herself. Mark Hampton writes in his Legendary Decorators of the Twentieth Century- 'The floors were bare and rather highly polished, surprisingly enough. She adored the effect of French chairs standing around at odd angles on bare floors."


This creation from CELINE is hard to resist-

I do like rugs too- but polished bare rich woods are for me, not to mention a hand polished Ruhlmann inspired table.

This one -from QUATRAIN,

"To create something that lasts, the first thing is to want to create something that lasts forever"

E.J.RUHLMANN

Ruhlmann Pavilion at 1925 Paris Exposition 

Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes

add to that touches of natural luggage color leather-again from CELINE.

& another Ruhlmann inspiration-this time a QUATRAIN chair.

So what about my design alter ego?


QUATRAIN describes this chair as  Danish Neoclassical.
- so like Hamlet- Shakespeare's Dane.

But, look, the morn, in russet mantle clad,

Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastern hill.

Shakespeare's HAMLET

Bernhardt depicted by Alphonso Mucha as Hamlet.

the chair, the play, the room.
& The room?
It's one of those rooms. There are always those rooms-something unforgettable. I can't put my finger on it. The warmth of the fire on a sunny day? The warmth of leather ? The warmth of the frayed grey curtains?

 

Interior Design by Michael Lee, image from AD here

Is it the practical side of Luxury? The fact that leather endures-whether the sole of a shoe trodding the sidewalk? the boards? stalking the moors?
Now we're getting somewhere.
Whether it's the brooding Dane or the brooding Rom-
It's Classic-like the novel, the play right?
The play's the thing.

Mucha sketches of costumes for Hamlet

Regardless of what you favor-
Bronte? Shakespeare?
Art Deco? Neoclassic?
when Rich in detail-it is Enduring- Addicting.
even Practical,
but don't tell anyone that.

clutch bag by CELINE

1st image by Fritz Eichenberg, Heathcliff Under the Tree, from Wuthering Heights, 1943, wood engraving
Ruhlmann here

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