We asked three of our favorite designers to work their magic with Schumacher’s supremely glam and unfailingly livable Orient Express collection. The evocative, mix-and-match fabrics, wallcoverings and trims (plus appliques!) will take you wherever you want to go. All aboard!
SHELLEY JOHNSTONE
Melanie Acevedo
Chicago-based Shelley Johnstone zeroed in on the yin-yang power of two main patterns to unify separate but adjacent spaces, harnessing the complementary interplay of geometric structure and organic forms. The result? An office area covered in a wonderfully tactile fretwork paperweave that is in happy dialogue with the floral-bedecked potting room beyond. “I love working on the small spaces that are often overlooked,” Johnstone says. “A room doesn’t need to be grand to transform a home.” As a young decorator, Johnstone studied in London, and her exposure to that city’s cadre of top-tier craftspeople still informs her work. Bespoke details are part of her regular design vocabulary, as evidenced by the potting room’s trim-accented table skirt and the clean but statement-making window pelmet above the desk. “It’s proper but not fussy,” she explains, “a juxtapositions that feels young and fresh.”
The before.
After! Wall in Octavia Paperweave wallcovering, shell-chair seat in Rocky Performance Velvet, tableskirt and pelmet in Bouquet Chinois fabric, Chinese Chippendale chair in Ginkgo Embroidery fabric just beyond. All textiles are Schumacher; fschumacher.com.
Tableskirt in Schumacher’s Bouquet Chinois fabric.
Wall in Schumacher’s Octavia Paperweave wallcovering, pelmet in Schumacher’s Bouquet Chinois fabric.
ANDREW BROWN
Francesco Lagnese
For Andrew Brown, a Birmingham, Alabama, designer the best rooms “feel like they’ve come together over time”—the tension between eclectic, unexpected things enlivens a space. Brown overhauled his own bedroom with a rich mix of patterns and textures the coalesce into a splendid whole. His first bold move: upholstering the walls in patterned cut velvet, establishing a rhythm at once dynamic and subdued. (An ardent history-of-decorating buff, his use of the graphic motif is also a nod to David Hicks.) Next he took the existing bedframe to full-on canopy, essentially creating a room within a room. He dressed the outside in solid velvet and the inside in a light patterned woven to visually expand the canopy bed’s interior space. A rattan settee offsets the opulence, its sole floral pillow a delightfully temering note. “It keeps the room from skewing too masculine,” Brown says.
The before.
After! Walls in Octavis Velvet, exterior bed canopy in Gainsborough Velvet, interior bed canopy in Sauvage fabric, euro pillow shams in Incomparable Moire with Good Luck Knot Applique, duvet in Ginkgo Embroidery fabric, curtains in Incomparable Moire with Arches Embroidered Tape by Miles Redd, settee cushion and pillows in Venetian Silk Velvet, throw pillow on settee in Bouquet Chinois fabric. All textiles are Schumacher; fschumacher.com.
Walls in Schumacher’s Octavia Velvet.
Walls in Schumacher’s Octavia Velvet 72792.Francesco Lagnese
LILLY BUNN
Francesco Lagnese
When Lilly Bunn was pregnant with her first child, the one-time fashion editor renovated just about everything in her home—floor coverings, window treatments, the entire kitchen. Thus began the New York City-based designer’s new career path, and she has been crafting irresistibly chic yet resolutely pragmatic rooms ever since. Her motto? “High in style, but not in pretense.” For a just-married young couple with a bare-bones apartment bedroom, Bunn chose a wallpaper with a soft, pretty stripe and paired it with a gusty, blowsy floral on the headboard and curtains. “Blue is calm and soothing, which is perfect for a bedroom,” Bunn says. “It acts almost as a monochromatic scheme.” The two motis add visual interest but still leave the room uncluttered. A roman shade in a subtle pattern adds another spare, tranquill layer, and an ottoman in cute velvet feels just the right amount of luxe.
The before.
Walls in Fern Tree wallpaper; curtains, headboard and bedskirt in Bouquet Chinois fabric; roman shade in Sauvage fabric; slipper chair in Lange fabric; ottoman in Min Fret Velvet; Enfield rug from Patterson Flynn Martin; mirror from Aero; tray and lumbar pillow by Bunny Williams Home; bedding by Matouk. All textiles are Schumacher; fschumacher.com.
Ottoman in Schumacher’s Ming Fret Velvet; Enfield rug from Patterson Flynn Martin.
Walls in Schumacher’s Fern Tree wallpaper; curtains, headboard and bedskirt in Schumacher’s Bouquet Chinois fabric; Enfield rug from Patterson Flynn Martin; mirror from Aero; tray and lumbar pillow by Bunny Williams Home; bedding by Matouk.
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