Portières were an essential element in homes of the high Aesthetic Movement of the 19th century, and have long been of interest to me. These curtains, hung in a doorway or over the doorless entrance to a room, add warmth and style. I have sought to find ways to utilize them in contemporary applications, and regularly include the idea of portières in my ‘kit of possible parts’ in creating homes for my clients….
In a follow-up to yesterday’s post, I want to share a bit about 15 of the distinctive and inspirational people I have met on-line (and some in person) who have helped to shaped my on-line life, and enriched my experiences on social media. I’ve included links to their Facebook profiles so you can follow them as well…
What do you want to be when you grow up?
At age 13, while in school in a very comfortable suburban midwestern community, my class was given an assignment on careers. I researched interior design; more specifically the kind of education that was required to work in that profession, and what the career choice might mean.
At the projects completion I declared to my teacher and peers that I wanted to be an interior designer!
In 1994 Chris Casson Madden asked me if she could photograph some of the bathrooms at the beachfront property I designed for Caroline Hirsch – there are 7-1/2 bathrooms in the house so she had a lot to choose from….
Van Day Truex (1904-79) may be the most significant interior designer that you have never heard.
I recently had the opportunity to meet with Scott Himmel to learn about the offerings in the launch of Truex American Style, a very exciting new line of furniture inspired by Van Day Truex, and his illustrious friends and colleagues including Billy Baldwin, and Francis Elkins, other important American designers of the period (and a few legendary taste-makers thrown in for good measure.)
It bears mentioning that philanthropist Brooke Astor (1902-2007) described Truex as “one of the most charming men I ever knew”, and Albert Hadley (1920-2012) said that “No one influenced American interior design more [than Van Day Truex]”.
