With the days getting shorter and cooler, we couldn’t think of a better place to bury our heads than in the gorgeous rooms featured in these new tomes by three of our favorite decorating geniuses.
The Class Act
Known for her exquisite style and wonderfully luxurious interiors, the third book by the beloved Dallas-based designer Jan Showers is an invitation inside her favorite projects with tips on how to achieve her signature gracious and glamorous touch.
Eric Piasecki/OTTO
Showers and her husband Jim, post–dinner party, relaxing in the living room of their country house on a Napoleon III sofa. Matisse drawings flank the Napoleon III gilded mirror.
Cody Ulrich
A lady’s study with an ivory lacquered Plaza Desk and an Audrey Chair from the Jan Showers Collection. The lamp and the chandelier are vintage Murano from the 1940s, and the drapery is Garden of Persia in Blush Conch by Mary McDonald for Schumacher.
Jeff McNamara
In a historic 1915 Hal Thomson house in Highland Park, Dallas, a pair of faux-bamboo painted chairs are nestled into the curved stairway.
Jeff McNamara
One side of a large living room in a historic Hal Thomson house in Highland Park, Dallas, with a lovely pair of brass-and-glass Louis XVI–style tables and a coffee table in bronze with an opaline top—all vintage from the 1940s—and the Paris Banquette from the Jan Showers Collection. The floor lamp to the right of the piano is the Capri from the Jan Showers Collection. Art by James Welling.
Showers and her husband Jim, post–dinner party, relaxing in the living room of their country house on a Napoleon III sofa. Matisse drawings flank the Napoleon III gilded mirror.
A lady’s study with an ivory lacquered Plaza Desk and an Audrey Chair from the Jan Showers Collection. The lamp and the chandelier are vintage Murano from the 1940s, and the drapery is Garden of Persia in Blush Conch by Mary McDonald for Schumacher.
In a historic 1915 Hal Thomson house in Highland Park, Dallas, a pair of faux-bamboo painted chairs are nestled into the curved stairway.
One side of a large living room in a historic Hal Thomson house in Highland Park, Dallas, with a lovely pair of brass-and-glass Louis XVI–style tables and a coffee table in bronze with an opaline top—all vintage from the 1940s—and the Paris Banquette from the Jan Showers Collection. The floor lamp to the right of the piano is the Capri from the Jan Showers Collection. Art by James Welling.
The Editor
In her debut book, Houston designer Marie Flanigan breaks down her top nine decorating tenets—from the importance of architectural bones and lighting to the beauty of layering and surprise details—using her own sophisticated, softly-hued portfolio as examples.
Julie Soefer
A chandelier brings undulating organic forms into a study featuring mossy-green suede wallpaper that wraps over the edges of the ceiling.
Julie Soefer
In a main bedroom’s sitting room, the layering of oak paneling over plaster and a tea-stained painting that floats behind the sofa turns one wall into a three-dimensional composition.
Julie Soefer
A study is clad entirely with gray-washed oak used for paneling with thin, horizontal reveals, minimalist cabinetry, and the vertical fluting of a recessed bookcase. Steel shelves and cabinet hardware and a bronze pendant light bring darker metal tones into the mix, balanced by the bleached oak of the desk, pale silk rug, and translucent drapery.
Julie Soefer
Strong geometric lines expressed through natural materials impart an atmosphere of graciousness in this living room. Great attention to detail was paid to the integration of hard materials—steel, wood, plaster, and stone—with the lustrous silk rug and velvet pillows contributing necessary softness.
A chandelier brings undulating organic forms into a study featuring mossy-green suede wallpaper that wraps over the edges of the ceiling.
In a main bedroom’s sitting room, the layering of oak paneling over plaster and a tea-stained painting that floats behind the sofa turns one wall into a three-dimensional composition.
A study is clad entirely with gray-washed oak used for paneling with thin, horizontal reveals, minimalist cabinetry, and the vertical fluting of a recessed bookcase. Steel shelves and cabinet hardware and a bronze pendant light bring darker metal tones into the mix, balanced by the bleached oak of the desk, pale silk rug, and translucent drapery.
Strong geometric lines expressed through natural materials impart an atmosphere of graciousness in this living room. Great attention to detail was paid to the integration of hard materials—steel, wood, plaster, and stone—with the lustrous silk rug and velvet pillows contributing necessary softness.
The Synthesizer
A master at mixing, New York designer James Huniford‘s latest book At Home illustrates his talent at blending pieces plucked from disparate cultures and centuries as well as turning a seemingly benign objet into a work of art—all while whipping up a space that feels at once refined and personal.
Nick Johnson
In a grand Bond Street apartment in Manhattan, Huniford designed an airy spiral staircase, inserting elements that are both sculptural and playful—like climbing up into a tree house. The petrified wood bench displays a collection of metal objects below a collection of black-and-white photographs by Peter Beard.
Robyn Lea
A handmade papier- mâché pendant lamp draped in fabric–inspired by Josef Hoffmann–hangs above a bluestone trestle table in the dining room of Walter Bobbie and David Frye in Watermill.
Max Kim Bee
n the living room of a Nashville house, embossed faux eel-skin wallpaper and
a carpet that evokes ancient Roman mosaic floors bring drama to the mix of furnishings.
Robyn Lea
In a Watermill guest bedroom, an assortment of nineteenth-century grain sieves scales the wall. On an early American drop-leaf table, more industrial equipment—a metal grain scoop and gear chain— and a Moroccan lamp.
Max Kim Bee
A nineteenth-century storage cabinet from a hardware store fills a long wall in the Marin County house. Italian wood and metal sconces, a series of elegant side chairs, and a simple, 20-foot-long farm table balance its mass, creating a uniquely beautiful multi-function area.
In a grand Bond Street apartment in Manhattan, Huniford designed an airy spiral staircase, inserting elements that are both sculptural and playful—like climbing up into a tree house. The petrified wood bench displays a collection of metal objects below a collection of black-and-white photographs by Peter Beard.
A handmade papier- mâché pendant lamp draped in fabric–inspired by Josef Hoffmann–hangs above a bluestone trestle table in the dining room of Walter Bobbie and David Frye in Watermill.
n the living room of a Nashville house, embossed faux eel-skin wallpaper and
a carpet that evokes ancient Roman mosaic floors bring drama to the mix of furnishings.
In a Watermill guest bedroom, an assortment of nineteenth-century grain sieves scales the wall. On an early American drop-leaf table, more industrial equipment—a metal grain scoop and gear chain— and a Moroccan lamp.
A nineteenth-century storage cabinet from a hardware store fills a long wall in the Marin County house. Italian wood and metal sconces, a series of elegant side chairs, and a simple, 20-foot-long farm table balance its mass, creating a uniquely beautiful multi-function area.
