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While walls have been draped in fabric panels since ancient times, it wasn’t until the early 19th century that the yen for “antique drapery” hit the decorating zeitgeist. For that, we can thank Napoleon’s preferred architects, Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine, whose fabric-swathed rooms nodded To the empire’s obsession with neoclassicism—and military campaigns. Today, their decorating successors still turn to draped walls (and their trompe l’oeil interpretations) to evoke the era’s elegance.
Iconic Impression
Panels of subtly striped muslin cover the walls of Napoleon’s bedchamber at Malmaison, the country estate near Paris that his wife, Josephine, acquired while the future emperor was away fighting the Egyptian Campaign. Its original interiors, devised by Percier and Fontaine, were restored beginning in the 1900s; today, the château is a museum.
Wallpaper Wonder
For a client’s Park Avenue apartment, designer Rachel Chudley used Zuber’s Draperie Napoleon III wallpaper to create a “modernist baroque” backdrop for a mix of contemporary elements and patinaed antiques.
Humble Material, High-Style Execution
Art advisor and decorator Audra Kiewiet de Jonge used a simple red-and-white ticking to temporarily transform her Richmond living room into a neoclassical salon.
Marvelous Mosaic
Leave it to Renzo Mongiardino to up the ante on an already dramatic design move: Drawing inspiration from the Byzantine Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy, he worked with mosaic artisans to create wall-spanning tile “curtains” for an opulent bathroom in a château near Paris.
Wall-to-Wall Curtains
Spanish architect Paloma Cañizares used slate-blue linen to turn her own Menorca guest room into a cozy (and quiet—the fabric provides a sound-muffling effect) oasis of calm.
Quiet Focal Point
A wall draped in solid beige fabric anchors the headboard in this monotone bedroom designed by interiors stylist Linnéa Salmén, creating tone-on-tone drama while also tempering the soaring ceiling height.
THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN VOLUME 20 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!
