Gaga for Gambrel

Gambrel 4Good Morning Lacquered Lifers! Picking paint colors is one of my favorite things that I do for clients, and today I want to share with you one of my favorite interior designers who’s paint schemes are constantly inspiring me – Steven Gambrel. Gambrel does amazing things with paint … sometimes it is bold, and sometimes it is subtle, but what he does is never simple. It is not strange to see a Gambrel designed room with five different paint colors, and while that may sound busy, it rarely is. Gambrel’s colors are always working together to achieve the right balance in a given room, and often the color scheme is so beautiful that your brain doesn’t even compute that there is more than one wall color and one trim color at work. He also never misses an opportunity to paint a ceiling, a piece of a room that people often forget about. So here are a few of my favorite Gambrel paint schemes, perhaps we can turn it into a game – how many colors in each room? Gambrel 5 Gambrel 6 Gambrel Gambrel 2 Gambrel 3

photos via www.srgambrel.com

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Treasures from the Farm

Screen Shot 2014-10-29 at 9.43.47 AMThe Mellon’s Oak Spring Farm in Upperville, Virginia – 2000 acres, four residences, and over twenty cottages. Former home of philanthropist and gardening doyenne Bunny Mellon, who passed away this spring at 103. This November, in a highly anticipated sale, Sotheby’s will host three auctions of items from the Mellon’s private collection – Masterworks, Jewelry, and Interiors. Despite the fact that I appreciate art, and I love jewelry, I am most interested in the interiors auction. Even though the Mellons were incredibly wealthy, Mrs. Mellon collected things that she loved, and the collection from Oak Spring Farm includes such things as simple ceramic dishes, baskets, and walking sticks. These photos, courtesy of Sothebys, show that life at Oak Spring Farm, while charmed, was relaxed and comfortable. For more information, catalog, dates, and exhibition schedule, click here.
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Shine a Light

Exterior 2Good Morning Lacquered Lifers! People are always asking me about the lanterns on my house, and so this morning I thought I would share a wonderful source for gas or electric lanterns – Bevolo. Bevolo Gas & Electric Lights was established in 1945 in New Orleans, LA, and three generations later is still owned by the Bevolo family, and each lantern is still made by hand in New Orleans. Bevolo’s French Quarter lantern has come to be one of the most recognizable pieces of a visit to New Orleans’ French Quarter. While our lanterns are not in fact Bevolo, they were made by a lamp company in Charleston that is unfortunately no longer in business, I am a huge fan of the Bevolo brand it is now my go to resource for beautiful copper lanterns.

BevoloThis is Bevolo’s bracket mounted Williamsburg lantern, which is extremely similar to the lantern on the exterior facade of Church Street. Portraits, InteriorsThe six sided lantern on the piazza at Church Street is mounted with a yoke, which is a great way to hang lanterns if you want to prevent them from moving around in a strong breeze or storm … something we have to be wary of in both Charleston and New Orleans. bevolo 3And this is the Bevolo Six Sided Lantern, which looks very similar to the lanterns on the piazza. So when you’re looking for that perfect handmade copper lantern, look no further than family-owned Bevolo. These southern talents have sold lanterns to customers in all fifty states, and thirty-two countries. So whether you’re looking for a lantern for your home in Charleston or London – Bevolo has got you covered. Happy lantern hunting!

Photos of Church Street by Francesco Lagnese

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