A former film producer, Los Angeles designer Julia Chasman naturally approached the library at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design like a fantastical film set. The interior’s original fireplace grounded the space, albeit spiffed up with Delft tiles from Petra Palumbo. Meanwhile, the enigmatic Creatures of the Night wallpaper from Zak + Fox backdropped a wooden bookcase, coated in Dunn-Edwards’ deep Cherry Cola hue. Visual Comfort’s Farfalle chandelier bursts with butterflies overhead, while Peter Dunham Textiles’ Tuareg pattern infuses instant energy into the space as a ceiling treatment.
Designing in conversation with interiors past
Walking into the Lake Forest Showhouse, visitors were entranced by local designer Cynthia McCullough’s classical foyer accented in powder blue. Referencing the remnants of wallpaper left by Frances Elkins, McCullough took the jewel box space as her opportunity to pay tribute to the 20th-century visionary who spruced up the abode in the 1930s. McCullough wrapped the foyer in a pastoral Pierre Frey print featuring the garlands, pearls, and swans—motifs that echo in 3D throughout space with lamps, wall-hung plates, and objet. Most intriguing was the duo of mirrors from Ballard Designs that McCullough elevated with two complementary Schumacher wall coverings—a marbled Florentine variety and Mary McDonald’s Greco Stripe, which also swaths the ceiling (another maximalist moment to add on our list of brilliant design ideas).
Homing in on heritage
For the primary bedroom in Wow!house at Design Centre Chelsea Harbour, Tommaso Franchi, founder of London firm Tomèf Design, paid homage to his native Italy in an appropriately sumptuous fashion. A trifecta of Italian heritage brands often embraced in Franchi’s projects were united in the centerpiece Tiara bed. The bespoke creation crowns Bonacina’s kiss-shaped rattan headboard with a sleek Barovier&Taso Murano glass jewel and lush Fortuny velvet upholstered by French atelier Maison Phelippeau. The cinematic space is rounded out with creamy Phillip Jeffries silk walls—elegant yet understated enough to let the Tiara bed dazzle.
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