Several years ago, Calhoun Sumrall, a 35-year veteran of the corporate fashion world (including 16 years as a division senior executive and creative director at Ralph Lauren), found himself primed for a new chapter, one which involved both a physical move and a creative shift. “The New York fashion scene is such a pressure cooker and I thrived in it, but I sometimes felt like everything was done by committee even just to pick a shade of pink,” he says with a laugh.
Sumrall first tried his hand at interior design by tackling his own apartment to such aplomb that it was published by Elle Decor 2017, and his decorating muse was awakened. A weekend home in Sharon, Connecticut provided additional opportunities to experiment. “It became a design laboratory for me; I renovated and decorated the whole place myself with some advice from Michael Trapp, a nearby antiques dealer and designer,” says Sumrall. During the learning process, he also had the great fortune of meeting British legend Robert Kime, and the two became fast friends. “He had such an influence on me. I love his aesthetic and his world of beautiful objects,” says Sumrall. “Every time I was with Robert, I felt like I was going to Oxford; he was a history major who fell into being an antique dealer and decorator, and his wealth of knowledge was endless.”
“I wanted the living room to be comfortable and engaging with an English country house meets New Orleans spirit,” says Calhoun Sumrall. The circa-1770 mahogany Georgian bookcase was one of his first big purchases for his home in Connecticut. “I measured over and over again before placing a bid at Christie’s and it still barely fit!” says the designer, who also found the tole pendant light via the auction house. Fabrics, sofa, ottoman, and antique mirror from Robert Kime.
Frank Frances-
A Howard & Sons ottoman in Robert Kime’s Karsamba fabric is tucked under an antique English 19th-century table that doubles as a bar when entertaining. The two paintings are by Lisa Di Stefano, a Louisiana-based artist and friend of Sumrall.
Frank Frances -
Sumrall (pictured) painted the living room in Farrow & Ball’s Light Blue. The Indian chik blinds are from Joss Graham in London.
Frank Frances
Sumrall’s experiences in his own homes, exposure at the “University of Ralph,” as he calls it, and first-hand schooling in Kime’s mastery gave him the pluck to change course from fashion. “The two disciplines share so many of the same processes; you have to do your homework and research and dig into the history to create something authentic, or at least a suggestion of the real thing,” he says.
So he packed his belongings into an 18-wheeler truck and set off for his home state of Louisiana, settling in an 1880s Queen Anne duplex in Uptown New Orleans, his sister just next door. With no clear next step, he started assisting Katie Koch, a maker of fine window treatments for over 20 years, with the retail portion of her atelier. When COVID happened, Koch was not certain if the business could remain open; in fact, it exploded, as everyone rushed to update their homes.
One of Sumrall’s all-time favorite finds, an antique mahogany Regency table fortunately slipped right into the dining room his new home. Louis XVI chairs from 1st Dibs upholstered in a Robert Kime striped linen; antique English brass lamp with a Robert Kime papyrus lampshade. The room is painted in Farrow & Ball’s Hay, a warm and dusty yellow that imparts a pretty glow in the evening.
Frank Frances-
In a book-lined passageway, Sumrall created a vignette that includes Chinese export plates, a 19th-century Italian portrait from Sud, a favorite local shop, and an 18th-century miniature portrait of a French soldier.
Frank Frances -
“New Orleans has a front porch culture says,” Sumrall. The designer filled his with furnishings from his prior home in Connecticut and added potted palm trees for a bit of Southern atmosphere. Janus et Cie wicker chairs and antique teak bench and stool from Michael Trapp Inc.
Frank Frances
Sumrall started handling the interior design side of things. “Katie is so generous and just let me run with it. It’s an ideal place to work from; the fabric room has swatches from everywhere, and anything can be made on the premises.,” he says. “I like the smaller footprint I’m working within. And I don’t have to please everyone in the corporate arena—I only have to please my clients.” The diversity of New Orleans’ culture, with its eclectic and colorful residents, made the city even more exceptional; the varying design styles create an aesthetic gumbo, with a little of this and a dash of that. (“It’s not like living in New England,” Sumrall quips.)
While Sumrall is comfortable when clients want high-octane decorating, his own home is on the quiet side, which suits not just him but provides an ideal backdrop for his exceptional collection of antiques and decorative arts. “I don’t want to come home to a bold, lacquered room,” says the designer. “I’d rather have something that fades into the background, that doesn’t show off.” The atmospheric palette reflects an eye for historic detail: “Before 1880, everything was colored with vegetable dyes; fabrics retained their color, but they become slightly faded over time, and I think these colors look really beautiful in textiles, prints, rugs, and embroideries,” he explains. An array of subtle Farrow & Ball hues fills the rooms—silvery Light Blue in the living room, shape-shifting Blanc de Chine in the primary bedroom, dusty yellow Hay in the dining room.
-
The exceedingly tall ceiling of the primary bedroom allowed for a towering four-poster bed from Peter Dunham through Hollywood at Home, which Sumrall had painted in Farrow & Ball’s Hague Blue. The custom-colored Indian dhurrie is by From Jaipur with Love.
Frank Frances -
Walls painted in Blanc de Chine by Farrow & Ball shift from white to a subtle blue throughout the day depending on the light. The antique Delft lamps, with marigold silk Robert Kime shades, are from Ann Koerner Antiques.
Frank Frances
Sumrall refers to his particular style imprint as Cotswolds-meets-New Orleans. Many of the pieces came from his English Country–inspired Connecticut cottage; others, he picked up other items from local purveyors. He covered much of the red pine floors (“typical of the era and hard to work with”) in seagrass and cotton dhurries that befit the more tropical location. Vintage indigo print pillows, an Indonesian teak bench, window treatments in a Robert Kime palm print, custom Ikat lampshades, and Indian split-bamboo chik blinds from Joss Graham London all contribute to the West Indies panache
“I love things that tell a story about their past and that’s what antiques do,” says Sumrall. “And if you don’t know the provenance or backstory, you can dream one up,” referencing the overhead light fixture in the living room that he purchased at a Christies’ auction that emptied the attic of Chatsworth House. “I have no idea where it came from, but it’s amazingly unique with a gilded swan pattern in a tole metal finish.” Sumrall always advises his clients to spend money on things they love that will last and to buy the best quality they can afford. “We live in such a world of mass-produced sameness and disposableness, and I don’t want any of that,” he explains. “Some pieces of mine are over 300 years old, and I feel like I’m just the custodian of them. Good antiques outlive generations. They usually teach me something—and I’ll aways be ready to listen.”
-
“I like the idea of bold color in a small space,” says Sumrall of his primary bath, painted in Breakfast Room Green by Farrow & Ball. The framed botanical prints are reproductions from the Historic New Orleans Collection archives. “They distract from the not-yet-renovated sink and tile floors!” laughs the designer.
Frank Frances -
“I wanted the guest bedroom to have a Mediterranean coastal feel,” says Sumrall, who selected Robert Kime’s Bergama linen for the bed canopy paired and Tynemouth Ticking for the headboard. A Robert Kime ikat shade tops the lamp on the French Directorie side table.
Frank Frances
