Page 5 – Frederic Magazine

Man of Steel: Danish Furniture Designer Poul Kjærholm

Posted on February 6, 2026 by Jill Simpson

One of the real terrors of our “age of information” is the stream (or should I say barrage?) of images, ideas, and products that we’re served daily. The onslaught makes my eyesight blurry, and I find myself having trouble digesting anything. But, every once in a while, something will break through that confusion and make a real impact. I had that experience with Poul Kjærholm’s furniture designs.

Kjærholm at his desk.

Courtesy of Fritz Hansen

Kjærholm's living room is furnished with his PK31 sofas, PK65 coffee table, and PK33 stool.

Courtesy of Fritz Hansen

On a recent trip to Copenhagen with Fritz Hansen, I learned all about Kjærholm’s life. He was born in 1929 in Østervrå, a small town in northern Denmark. He trained first as a cabinetmaker before enrolling at the Danish School of Arts and Crafts in Copenhagen. While his early education grounded him in the traditions of woodworking, it was here that Kjærholm’s philosophy began to diverge from the prevailing Danish design ethos.

His contemporaries—Hans Wegner, Arne Jacobsen, Finn Juhl—were all focused on natural materials like wood, leather, and textiles to create simple, warm furniture. These designs are the visual language of Danish modernism that we know today. But Kjærholm had a different material interest: He was obsessed with metal. To him, steel was not cold or mechanical—it allowed him to create delicate, light pieces that had sculptural appeal. This conviction became the defining thread of his career.

PK15 wood and cane armchairs sit in perfect harmony in Kjærholm’s dining room.

Courtesy of Fritz Hansen

After graduating, Kjærholm quickly gained recognition. His PK22 chair (my favorite), earned him the prestigious Lunning Prize and placed him on the international stage. By the 1970s, he was a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, influencing a new generation of designers.

His pieces are deceptively simple: a coffee table with only a couple materials, an armless bench that seemingly floats on the wall, a chaise of just one swooping line. But within this simplicity lies an extraordinary refinement: Poul designed everything, down to the screws and bolts in his work, showing his pursuit of perfection.

The PK22 Lounge Chair in wicker and steel, designed by Poul Kjærholm in 1956.

Courtesy of Fritz Hansen

The PK11 Armchair in steel and ash, designed by Poul Kjærholm in 1957.

Courtesy of Fritz Hansen

Today, his pieces—still produced by Fritz Hansen—remain as coveted as ever. More than four decades after his death, Poul Kjærholm’s vision feels very contemporary: His designs are not relics of the past but as relevant as ever.

The Cozy Kitchen of This Brooklyn Carriage House Hides a Secret Pantry

Posted on February 3, 2026February 6, 2026 by Emma Bazilian

Even by the standards of Britt and Damian Zunino, the problem-solving husband-and-wife team behind Studio DB (he’s an architect, she oversees interior design), the Brooklyn carriage house project was a tough nut to crack. First, there were the permits (renovating a home in the borough’s historic district necessitated lots of paperwork), then a change of ownership (the new clients, smartly, kept the Zuninos onboard), and even the surprise discovery of bones during the excavation phase (luckily, they were of the equine variety, not uncommon for these former stables).

Hidden behind faux-cabinet doors, this walk-in pantry strikes the perfect mix of utility and charm. Unlacquered brass door pulls by Rejuvenation and shelf hardware by HRL Brass will develop patina with time. The walls are coated in a soft limewash by JH Wall Paints.

MATTHEW WILLIAMS

A wall-spanning mirror creates the sense of an additional window above the dining area, which is outfitted with vintage-inspired lighting (including a McGee & Co. pendant and Robert Gordon Interiors ceramic sconces) and leggy seating (the chairs are by Matter and the bench is from Good Colony). The Heather Taylor Home tablecloth is from Nickey Kehoe.

MATTHEW WILLIAMS

The Zuninos, ever optimists, took it all in stride. “This house wanted to be charming and beautiful, with its exposed beams and old fireplaces— we knew it could be incredibly warm,” recalls Britt. “But it also wanted central AC and all the modern amenities in a tiny space. We’d just stop and ask ourselves, ‘Where is this all going to go?’”

The answer required some creative workarounds, especially when it came to the dark, low-ceilinged ground floor that holds the combined kitchen-dining-living room. The timber ceiling made it near impossible to conceal pipes and mechanicals, and soffits were out of the question—they’d kill the mood. So the Zuninos designed a multitasking addition, bumping the kitchen wall out seven feet to provide more square footage, a much-needed wall of windows, and a separate walk-in pantry with a drop ceiling where ductwork could be tucked out of sight. The remaining mechanicals were moved to the cellar, which reclaimed an extra foot of ceiling height after Damian removed decades’ worth of concrete poured to address the sagging floor.

The rear garden sets a verdant tone for the kitchen-slash-dining area, anchored by an island painted in Farrow & Ball’s Green Smoke. Damian and Britt preserved the space’s original wood beams and were even able to salvage additional matching ones from a neighboring house also undergoing a gut renovation. Counter stools, CB2; faucet, Waterworks.

MATTHEW WILLIAMS

The pantry, hidden behind what appears to be a tall cabinet to the right of the stove, also provides storage for kitchen-cluttering items like countertop appliances and tools. “Functionally, it allows the main kitchen to remain more open and tidy, but we also liked that it created this play of scale and a fun element of discovery,” says Damian. The kitchen’s lack of upper cabinets meant that under-counter storage had to be especially hardworking, too. In the main room, drawers are fitted out with peg systems to hold dishes and glassware; in the pantry, a skirt hides lower-level clutter.

Aesthetically, Britt balanced cozy, old-fashioned materiality with a sense of lightness. “Because it has this great view of the backyard, we didn’t want anything to feel too heavy,” she says, pointing to the leggy seating, vintage-feel lighting, and colors drawn from the garden. With its sun-dappled limewash walls, cushy window seat, and herbs growing by the pantry sill, it all looks so serene, you’d never guess the folks behind it were put through their paces.

See More of This Brooklyn Home

In the primary bedroom, a clawfoot soaking tub by Victoria + Albert (with Riobel wall-mounted hardware) evokes the feeling of a stylish boutique hotel suite. Book-filled shelves, a West Elm drinks table, and Nickey Kehoe armchair ramp up the charm.
Matthew Williams
Rather than fight the room’s low ceiling height, Britt and Damian leaned into the cozy factor, choosing tactile materials like limewash by JH Wall Paints, heavy Pottery Barn linen curtains, and a mohair blanket by Quarters.
Matthew Williams
Giraffes Stroll Wallpaper by Tess Callervik for Rebel Walls wraps the kids' bedroom.
Matthew Williams
Damian and Britt Zunino of Studio DB.
Matthew Williams

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN VOLUME 19 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!

Why Designers Love Humble, Hardworking Cork

Posted on February 1, 2026February 3, 2026 by Isabel Molster

Though it’s been around (literally) forever, cork is being appreciated anew for its myriad fine qualities—rapidly renewable (it’s made from the bark of the cork oak), durable, insulating, sound-dampening—not to mention its honeyed warmth and textural richness. It’s been in the spotlight at recent design shows, but even Proust was onto its benefits with his cork-lined bedroom over a century ago. Here’s how designers are artfully employing it in new ways.

In Tatyana Miron Ahlers’s foyer in Manhattan, a deep tobacco cork wallcovering mutes sound while amping up tactility. “I love the texture, depth, and color—almost like burled wood,” says Ahlers. “It’s casual and elegant at the same time.”

Stephen Kent Johnson

Cork’s resilience and water-resistance make it ideal for high-traffic, hard-working spaces like this Oliver Furth–designed kitchen.
Roger Davies
Adam Charlap Hyman transformed this Miami bedroom into a modern-day homage to Proust’s famous cork-lined room, swathing the walls, bed, and even nightstand in a Phillipe Romano wallcovering.
Chris Mottalini
An avid cook, Thomas O’Brien chose a white cork floor in his own kitchen for its softness underfoot as much as for its light-as-air look.
Laura Resen
Miles Redd wrapped this Connecticut playroom’s walls and ceiling in dappled cork, imbuing the vaulted space with warmth and creating cohesion among its varied planes.
Miguel Flores-Vianna
A niche draws the eye when lined in cork, forming a textured backdrop for pottery in a modern sitting room designed by Veere Grenney.
Cristopher Horwood
In a powder room with limited wall space, David Netto turned the doors into a focal point with faux- tortoiseshell paint and cork panels framed in high-gloss cream molding.
Roger Davies

Shop the Look

Vitra Cork Stool by Jasper Morrison

$725, dwr.com

Burnt Cork Table by Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance for Made in Situ

Price upon request, demischdanant.com

Cork Ice Bucket by Mort N. Marton

$500, chairish.com

Brass Plug-in Sconce with Cork Shade

$310, cousinhome.com

Sobriero Armchair by the Campana Brothers

Price upon request, hgallery.com

Obscura Wallcovering with Golden Flecks by Schumacher

$816 per panel, chairish.com

Cork Herringbone wallcovering by Schumacher

$1,008 per set, chairish.com

Large Cork Urn by Matilda Goad

$350, us.matildagoad.com

Everything on our website was hand-picked by a FREDERIC editor. We may earn commission on items you purchase.

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN VOLUME 19 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!

Visit an Anglophile’s Charm-Steeped, Collection-Filled Texas Home

Posted on February 1, 2026February 3, 2026 by Christina Elliston

At first glance, it would be easy to mistake the home of stylist, illustrator, and art director Jimmie Henslee and his partner, Kurt Rowe, for a quaint English cottage rather than a 1960s take on a Cape Cod clapboard-meets-Chicago brick house located halfway between Fort Worth and Dallas. “I’m such an Anglophile at heart,” says Henslee of rooms filled joyfully to the brim with antique chairs swathed in florals and stripes, walls hung with 18th- and 19th-century paintings and engravings, and jugs filled with flowers picked fresh from the garden on every surface.

A menagerie of animals both real and decorative fills the Texas home of Jimmie Henslee (pictured with Hamish the rooster), a stylist, art director, and passionate collector.

Melanie Acevedo

In the primary bedroom, a chinoiserie bookcase is laden with 19th-century European ceramic hens.

Melanie Acevedo

Bought 14 years ago, the house has been a restoration project-in-progress ever since. As it was devoid of heritage details (unlike the couple’s previous 1930s cottage), Henslee’s aim was to give it character by “taking it out of its 1960s suburban feeling with a range of Anglo-
American design not caught in one era,” he explains. “It also needed to reflect our love of travel and historic homes without feeling like a museum. We love antiques, handmade items, different cultures, plus we wanted it to reflect our admiration for animals, birds, flowers, and gardens.”

Henslee turned a closet into a walk-in pantry, adding floor-to-ceiling shelving painted in Yellowcake by Farrow & Ball—“a happy color for a well-loved collection.”

Melanie Acevedo

A 19th-century Asian offering plate sits atop a stack of English transferware. “Some of our platters are over 200 years old—I often think about how many meals have been eaten off them since.”

Melanie Acevedo

Across every inch of the three-bedroom, two-and-half-bath bungalow, Henslee has played out his affection for the cluttered, cozy chic of English interiors, first sparked as a child when he visited antiques shows with his parents and watched old films like Doctor Dolittle. A high school trip to London during the Queen’s Silver Jubilee piqued a lifelong passion for travel as well as a thirst for learning all he could about British history through its crafts, especially pottery. He was encouraged by mentors like the Texan antiques dealer Elizabeth LeConey, who took the curious Henslee under her wing, giving him books to read on 18th- and 19th-century ceramics when he visited her shop every Saturday. “She really educated me—it was one of the greatest gifts anybody has given me,” he recalls.

The “keeping room,” painted in Desert Coral by Behr, plays host to collections of antique Staffordshire platters, gallinaceous paintings, and needlepoint pillows.

Melanie Acevedo

In an upstairs den, hand-painted striped walls unify a collection of dog-themed art; paisley, floral, and ticking fabrics; and a Moroccan table.

Melanie Acevedo

Against walls painted in cheerful shades of dusty coral, egg-yolk yellow, apple green, and linen white, or papered with romantic 18th-century toiles reproduced by his friend Christopher Moore, Henslee has brought together historical, antique, secondhand, and found treasures in the most charming way. Staffordshire dogs and historical figurines, never bought as a pair because “they can otherwise be very twee and kitsch,” are more interesting grouped together. The antique English transferware dotted everywhere, vividly printed with motifs of birds, gardens, architecture, and flowers, pays homage to famous English country homes, estates, and churches—“now long gone,” adds Henslee.

An English-style picture wall in the keeping room features various 18th- and 19th-century portraits of British royals and aristocrats, country watercolors, pastoral oils, and military engravings.

Melanie Acevedo

Constrained by space limitations and budget, the couple cleverly customized existing spaces to better suit their lifestyle. Vintage porcelain subway tiles, stainless-steel counters, and painted pine floorboards lightened the tight galley kitchen once heavily sheathed in gold Formica and stained-oak French provincial cabinets; an existing closet was adapted
with floor-to-ceiling shelving to create a walk-in dish pantry. The look and feel of the keeping room—a comfortable lounge space adjacent to the kitchen—was inspired by the homes of two of Henslee’s favorite 20th-century decorators, Sister Parish’s summer house in Dark Harbor, Maine, and Keith Irvine’s Manhattan apartment. “There’s a tradition of ‘keeping rooms’ in American Colonial-era homes as a less formal center of home life,” he explains of the intentionally TV-free space, used for reading, needlepointing, or enjoying drinks by the fireplace. “It’s an easy room to flop down in and entertain casually.”

Henslee and Rowe’s three beloved Westies—Apple (named after Sister Parish’s daughter), Pitty Pat (for Scarlett O’Hara’s Aunt Pittypat), and Bunny—lounge in comfort atop an antique ticking mattress on the sofa in the guest-room-turned-den.

Melanie Acevedo

Their Staffordshire counterparts stand guard in front of a midcentury Friedman Brothers convex mirror.

Melanie Acevedo

The library, fashioned from a former garage, was enclosed and lined with shelves to house the couple’s hundreds of books. The space also echoes the spirit of two more design heroes, the late antiques dealer Stephen Long and his flat and shop on the Fulham Road in London—“so layered, so full”—and collector Dennis Severs’ Georgian house in Spitalfields. “They made definite decisions to live the way they lived, and they didn’t apologize for it. They created atmospheres,” says Henslee.

The couple’s primary bedroom, decorated with four decades’ worth of collected textiles (mostly tickings and 18th-century French toiles), sits at one end of the upstairs hallway. “It is a very personal room, paying homage to the world of nature and travel,” says Henslee. The chinoiserie shelf filled with ceramic hens nods to another passion: Henslee has kept chickens since he was three, from common egg-layers to rare and heritage breeds. At the opposite end of the hall is another bedroom, now used as a TV room, its hand-painted striped walls covered in dog portraits “from masterworks to naïve.” A collection of 19th-century English Staffordshire dogs continues the theme; nearly all are white, like the couple’s own canine companions, a trio of rescued West Highland white terriers.

The primary bedroom is swathed in a patchwork of patterns including Christopher Moore’s L’Offrande à l’Amour toile on the walls, curtains in a Ralph Lauren stripe, and a bedspread made from a vintage Williamsburg for Schumacher resist-print fabric.

Melanie Acevedo

In a downstairs bath/utility room, navy check wallpaper by Anna French forms a crisp backdrop for penny tiles, a vintage porcelain sink, antique trumeau mirror, watercolors, and more.

Melanie Acevedo

“It’s a big commitment to live with this much stuff,” says Henslee. “Sometimes if something looks really great in a particular spot, but it might not be the most convenient place for it, I’m willing to move around and accommodate it,” he laughs. “I know that’s not practical for everybody, but it’s how I like to live.” Henslee sees his decorative style as a continuation of all those who have guided him along the way: “Their memories live on with me, and hopefully I’ll influence somebody else so they will pass it on to another generation.”

Henslee turned a former garage into a library, lined with built-in bookshelves and layered with art, inspired by the home and shop of English antiques dealer Stephen Long. The custom camelback sofa is slipcovered in his favorite floral, Bennison’s Roses in blue on beige.
Melanie Acevedo
Hand-painted stripes on the ceiling foster a tented effect. The bedside demilune was salvaged from the end of a Louis XV–style carved dining table; the faux-bamboo bed was found at Ceylon et Cie.
Melanie Acevedo
Classic subway tile and sleek stainless steel counters play host to shelves laden with English transferware, silver, and Mexican pottery—the fruits of decades of collecting.
Melanie Acevedo

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN VOLUME 18 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!

Designer Tom Scheerer Has a Way With Walls

Posted on January 23, 2026January 23, 2026 by Jill Simpson

When faced with a blank wall, designer Tom Scheerer has a knack for devising novel treatments. We asked the celebrated designer (whose third book, Tom Scheerer: Still Decorating, was recently released) to spill the beans on his favorite techniques for embellishing surfaces that are anything but superficial.

Francesco Lagnese

IN THE ROUGH

For this grand Palm Beach dining room with 14-foot ceilings, he looked to the Fortuny damask-covered walls of Venetian palazzos for inspiration, then reimagined the opulent look with his own signature brand of relaxed elegance. First, he covered the walls in paper-backed burlap to temper the room’s stately scale, then turned the volume back up by having decorative painter Brian Leaver stencil a classic English Arts & Crafts pomegranate pattern on top.

Francesco Lagnese

A NEW LEAF

Channeling Carl Linnaeus’s iconic 18th-century bedroom papered with botanical prints, Scheerer wrapped this New York City breakfast room with digital prints of watercolors by João Barbosa Rodrigues, a 19th-century Brazilian botanist Scheerer’s been collecting for years. He chose about a dozen images from his portfolio (for a subtle repeat), had them resized to fit five prints high on the wall, and had his paper- hanger apply them individually for a collaged effect.

Adam Macchia

FRAMING DEVICE

For a card room in a Connecticut manse that connects two lushly patterned rooms, Scheerer chose a neutral grasscloth wallcovering but gave it presence by adding trompe l’oeil bamboo fretwork to frame a series of bird prints, for the feel of a sophisticated aviary.

Francesco Lagnese

CLOUD ATLAS

Scheerer adorned the walls of a child’s room with enlarged antique etchings of clouds, “inspired by the well-known Fornasetti wallpaper, but also by my own childhood memories staring out the window at the sky,” he says. The clouds were tinted in shades of gray-blue and periwinkle, printed at different scales, and arranged in a random patchwork.

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN VOLUME 18 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!

How David Kaihoi Hosts a Magical Winter Soirée at Home

Posted on January 23, 2026January 23, 2026 by Jill Simpson

In 2024, my wife Monique and I threw a New Year’s Eve party at our house in upstate New York. It was an intimate conspiracy of close “neighborhood” friends—the kind of night that feels effortless even when it’s not. This particular circle hosts easily and often throughout the year, a core cast in a movable feast. Hosting duties for New Year’s Eve happened to be an open card, and so Monique and I took it. We all put on black tie and had a blast. The post-party banter foreshadowed the inevitable: a 2025 sequel, same time, same place.

The couple’s stately 19th-century Federal home, dressed to the classic nines for the holidays.

James Barker

The house plays provocateur, an 1810 Federal with Egyptian Revival updates in satisfying classical proportions: generously scaled rooms, rhythms of wavy glass windows, and fireplaces that roar. It begs for buzzy winter occasions. So, for this year’s bash, we mined our inspiration from the year, amped up the group chatter, and considered a larger invite list, including friends of our college-age daughter. The optimism and energy of youth have a way of elevating an evening like a coupe of chilled champagne.

Kaihoi draped the living room walls in red linen for rich, festive glamour, and opened up the rooms by moving out much of the furniture and lining them with simple red-cushioned pine banquettes and side tables he built himself, inspired by Swedish design.

James Barker

For decor, a stylish impression had been resonating from a spring trip Monique and I took to Sweden, where we toured country houses with rooms draped in fabric and outlined in low banquettes. “I love that, let’s do that somehow,” Monique said back then, and I knew she meant it. She is my wife, sure, but also my muse, and often my client—which I never felt more than when I found myself constructing furniture in the garage over Christmas break to complete this look we’d been conjuring.

The Kaihois’ friend Claudia Benvenuto in front of the fire, with candlelight and up lights providing dramatic illumination.

James Barker

Even the powder room received the red-carpet treatment, with linen draped on the walls and swagged across the ceiling.

James Barker

Our main accomplice was Maggie Marinaccio, co-owner of Naga Antiques with her father, Jim, and one of last year’s original crew. Maggie has an extraordinary eye and a generous spirit and offered the idea of hanging a couple of Japanese screens from their shop. The star of the show was a bold and expansive screen depicting horses against a billowing red awning. It’s an arresting composition in an exuberant, confident palette. It became the keystone we’d build around—cue the red linen, the red carpet, the red lanterns. The decorative screens brought an elegance and refinement to the loosely-draped, campaign-style rooms, a visual connection of East and West that made the spaces feel layered, less predictable, even casual. Only later did we realize, with delight, that this happens to be the Year of the Horse. What serendipity!

Maggie Marinaccio, co-owner of Naga Antiques in Hudson, loaned a stunning Japanese screen that was the genesis for the red-letter design of the party, from draped walls to hanging lanterns. (The color scheme would work equally well for a Chinese New Year or Valentine’s bash.) Artist Tom Meacham’s light sculpture can be seen in the back of the dining room, at left.

James Barker

Maggie’s partner, Jason Reilly, a former lieutenant for the New York Fire Department, delivered outdoor drama, concocting an enormous six-foot Viking-inspired bonfire that only he would have the expertise and confidence to build. The fire blazed at a distance in the backyard, visible the moment you walked through the front door—a massive beacon of flame drawing you straight through the house.

Inside, our friend Tom Meacham—a Hudson-based artist—lent an amazing example of his recent work: a sculpture in cedar and fiberglass with interior lighting which responds to the bass levels of music. The sculpture is a rebellious Brancusi descendant, and the contrast gave rousing modernity to an otherwise more classically appointed scene.

Kaihoi chats with a guest at the bar, set up on a console table in the breakfast room. The Japanese parasol was from Naga Antiques.

James Barker

Kaihoi and Monique take in the bonfire outside as the clock ticks to midnight.

James Barker

Luciano Valdivia, a Hudson Valley restaurateur (and also an original cast member), orchestrated the spread and bar with vintage swagger. Luciano understands that even a black-tie affair needs to feel abundant and unstudied—nobody wants to worry about whether there’s enough of anything. His approach is to make sure the answer is always yes, and to make it look easy in the process.

In a final bit of kismet, we connected with James Barker, a local artist/photographer/ furniture maker and now friend, who beautifully folded into the day and captured the occasion. It goes to show that it’s fun to honor the effort, to have an extra something to reflect on and share beyond the happy hazy memories.

In the backyard, a towering bonfire, created by Jason Reilly, a former New York fire lieutenant, provided a dazzling send-off to 2025.

James Barker

Late in the evening, as the disco ball turned and the fires crackled, one guest remarked how amazing it was to get dressed up and feel like they were a piece of an art installation. That sentiment landed. It’s a warm concept and described the party exactly—an ethereal experience collectively built into being.

The linen drapery and the banquettes will stay through the winter. Dinners tend to happen spontaneously, and we’re looking forward to experiencing the rooms in a completely different way—a few friends around the fire instead of dozens, intimate and quiet where it was once festive and packed. For us, that’s the real pleasure of a house like this: You can keep reshaping it, keep finding new ways to use the same bones for different experiences. And then, when the time is right, move on to the next thing—which will certainly be New Year’s Eve 2026, and knowing us, a few unexpected occasions in between.

Timothy Whealon Designs a Warm, Sophisticated Home for a Client’s New Chapter

Posted on January 21, 2026 by Penelope Riley

When Lynn Gilbert let go of the Upper East Side apartment she’d called home for more than 20 years, she assumed she’d end up somewhere new—downtown in Tribeca, maybe, or further uptown in Carnegie Hill. Instead, she landed in a classic eight within sight of her old building. Living in such proximity to a place she was trying to leave behind could’ve felt like defeat, but here’s the truth: She now starts her mornings ensconced in her kitchen window seat, looking out onto gobs of open sky above the tops of the landmarked townhouses on 73rd Street, and knows she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Brass-shaded lamps by Kelly Wearstler for Visual Comfort shine against antiqued mirrors by Martyn Lawrence Bullard. Panels of Guy Goodfellow’s Javan Weave fabric were painstakingly mitered to fit the ottoman’s hexagonal shape. Brass drinks tables by KRB; rug by Patterson Flynn. Spencer Finch’s Yellowstone Hike (Clear Lake Trail) hangs above the fireplace.

Max Kim-Bee

What prompted the move, as circumscribed as it was? “I got divorced. It wasn’t a tricky divorce,” says Gilbert, “but you want a fresh start, a place that’s about you and your life, a place where there are no ghosts in the walls.” Something about the way sunlight flooded in through the southern exposure in the living room spoke to her the first time she saw the apartment, but the interior, untouched for decades, needed someone with vision to make it shine again.

In stepped designer Timothy Whealon and architect David Hottenroth, who reimagined the floor plan to make the rest of the apartment feel as airy as the sun-soaked living room. A window in the kitchen was enlarged to create Gilbert’s aforementioned roost, the dining room converted into a library (“a dining room is just a space I’d walk through, but I actually spend time in the library,” says Gilbert), and the home’s 1928 period details brought back to the forefront. “We saved the things that were original and beautiful, and let go of everything else,” Whealon explains.

The library’s high-gloss finish bounces the limited light around the moody space. The custom millwork is built around a sofa that belonged to Gilbert’s grandmother and has been in every apartment she’s ever lived in. The vintage Ward Bennett swivel chairs are in a Fermoie linen. Art, Uta Barth.

Max Kim-Bee

Whealon then set about creating a restful environment that reflected Gilbert’s desire for a sunnier new outlook. He cast off the heavy possessions—oriental carpets, brooding landscapes—that filled the dark rooms of her old apartment in favor of a lighter, edited classicism. The original pine boiserie that lined the walls of the living room was brightened with coats of a chalky milk paint that makes the nutmeg-colored velvet sofa, aubergine linen armchairs, and abaca and antique Turkish rugs feel all the richer. The library—the apartment’s one dark room—was slicked in a custom blue-green lacquer that played well with the deep green of the original verde antico marble floor that’s visible in the barrel-vaulted foyer. In Gilbert’s bedroom, soft pink strié walls and a high-gloss white lacquered ceiling make the canopied bed feel extra cosseting.

A set of Miró lithographs bridges the gap between the entry’s 1928 marble floor and the modern lines of the custom console. At night, Jamb Pavilion Globe lights and sculptural cast bronze lamps from Victoria
Stainow gallery set the space aglow. Chairs in Tashkent linen by Robert Kime.

Max Kim-Bee

A series of Andy Warhol drawings from his 1957 book 25 Cats Name Sam and One Blue Pussy are beloved by Gilbert, whose son is named Sam. The vintage Warren Platner dining table seats four; a different top expands to fit eight, negating the need for a dining room. Custom picture light, Ann-Morris.

Max Kim-Bee

The otherwise reserved Gilbert turns effusive when describing the result—the word “love” comes up a lot, often repeated in threes. “I was thrilled to have a pink bedroom after years of compromising with my husband on a gender-neutral color, but the light coming off the ceiling is just spectacular,” she raves. “And I’m surprised how much I love the marble floor in the entry, and the way it leads perfectly into all that color in the library. And the abaca rugs in the living room, which Tim had to talk me into. Love, love, love.”

The kitchen is a clean slate, with a softly polished Calacatta marble counter and backsplash and putty gray walls and cabinets (Ammonite and Wevet, both from Farrow & Ball). A whisper of pattern plays out in the linen shades and matching throw pillows done in Robert Kime’s Pea Pods pattern.

Max Kim-Bee

Finding the art, which took two years, was a joint adventure that Whealon—an astute art advisor who studied art history and trained at Sotheby’s—shared with Gilbert and her mother, Gail. Whealon praises the discernment of both women: Lynn, a docent at
the Metropolitan Museum of Art who spends her days surrounded by some of the most remarkable art ever produced, “really took her time and responded to things,” he explains. Gail, meanwhile, is an experienced collector in her own right—in fact, it’s her folio of Miró prints, formerly stashed away in a closet, that now hangs in her daughter’s entry, a magical pairing with the 1920s marble floor.

The four-poster is covered in Robert Kime’s Seychour linen. Streamlined bedside tables from John Rosselli Antiques are topped with Roy Hamilton ceramic lamps.

Max Kim-Bee

Subtle lavender-toned wallpaper (Fairfield by Anna French) creates a soft, relaxing backdrop in the bathroom. The vanity is outfitted with Waterworks fixtures.

Max Kim-Bee

Further into the apartment, the mood becomes more hushed. In the bathroom, says Gilbert, “I wanted something quiet and clean. Not spa-like, just calm, a place where I can relax, and not worry about anything.” When Whealon suggested hanging the antique Baguès rock crystal sconces that flanked the fireplace in her former apartment above the vanity, “I was very skeptical, but he nailed it,” she says. That’s a single vanity, by the way: “The architect asked if I wanted a double sink, and I said, ‘No—I don’t need a second sink mocking me,’” she laughs. Now she has acres of counter space, and rooms that fit her life exactly. And when she passes her old building? “I just wave and keep walking with a very satisfied feeling.”

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN VOLUME 18 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!

These Sculptural Toilets Are Surprisingly Chic

Posted on January 21, 2026 by Penelope Riley

Though they’re often thought of AS purely functional—maybe there’s even the thought that any standard white one will do—the humble toilet can be more than just an afterthought. For proof, we’ve rounded up a new wave of design-forward versions. Icons like Tom Dixon and Patricia Urquiola have taken on this neglected seat and applied their signature nuanced touch. And some firms, like Paris-based Trone (“throne” in French!), have reimagined and elevated the most utilitarian detail in an interior to a statement piece. Here’s a look at some of our favorites.

Contour Stainless Steel Toilet by Neo Metro

Price upon request, neo-metro.com

Lalita Back to Wall WC by Globo

$1,200, tattahome.com

Ilbagnoalessi Toilet by Laufen

$1,894, tattahome.co m

Luna Compostable Toilet by Harvest Moon

Price upon request, harvestmoon.se

Everything on our website was hand-picked by a FREDERIC editor. We may earn commission on items you purchase.

Jessica Summer Puts a New Spin on Ancestral Antiques for a Young London Couple

Posted on January 13, 2026January 13, 2026 by Penelope Riley

When you’re the son of an earl and in line to inherit the family estate, it can be tempting to lean into a life of grandeur. But Alexander and Eliza Newport—also known as Viscount and Viscountess Newport—wear their titles lightly. The young couple recently welcomed their son Archie, and their modern, unfussy sensibility is evident in their newly restored Victorian terraced house in London. Done in collaboration with designer (and 2023 FREDERIC It Lister) Jessica Summer, it’s a wonderful merging of youthful freshness, period details, and ancestral antiques.

Interior designer Jessica Summer.

ANDREW FARRAR

Summer took care to source dining room furniture—like the William IV dining table from Max Rollitt and Louis XVI cane dining chairs from Erin Lane Estate—that would fit in with the clients’ existing antiques.

DEAN HEARNE

The circa-1860 house, which miraculously survived London’s postwar penchant for carving up buildings into smaller apartments, still retained many of its original period details including wide pine floors, ornate plasterwork, and seven fireplaces. “It took a lot of effort to make good the existing features,” says Summer. “The floors, for example, were very uneven and gappy, and they had to be sensitively restored without looking either too new or like a patched-up job.” Summer also took great pains to create a suitable framework for Alexander’s collection of historical artwork and 18th- and 19th-century antique furniture brought in from Weston Park, his family estate in Shropshire.

The dark oak lower cabinets in the kitchen complement the original wood floor and rich antique furniture throughout the rest of the house.

DEAN HEARNE

The “striking green” of the James Hare silk curtains are the only strong color on the floor, notes Summer, who used the hue to unite kitchen and dining room

DEAN HEARNE

Heirloom oil paintings are the stars in the hallway and dining room galleries.

DEAN HEARNE

While Weston Park is awash in florals from venerable English design firms like Colefax and Fowler, the Notting Hill home is the ultimate in restraint—there’s nary a pattern in sight. “I set out to keep the palette light,” says Summer, who opted for cream-colored walls and solid fabrics to balance rich wood antiques. That’s not to say things are austere: There’s real glamour in the sitting room, with its antique Genoese chandelier, heirloom armchairs covered in a deep cobalt mohair velvet and paneling that Summer designed to bring integrity and detail to the room.

Summer “wanted the bedroom to feel soft but atmospheric,” with a “transformative” custom peachy-pink wall finish setting the scene for more family antiques and a bed upholstered in wine-colored Rose Uniacke velvet.

DEAN HEARNE

A fireplace and wood floor make the open bath feel more like a chic drawing room; the soaking tub is from Albion Bath and the sink is by The Water Monopoly.

DEAN HEARNE

Eliza asked Summer to design the wardrobe doors around a pair of sculptural bronze sconces made by her friend Jess Wheeler; the antique chair from Retrouvious is in Schumacher’s Wellfleet Ticking.

DEAN HEARNE

That same artful elegance infuses other rooms: The triple panel details on the kitchen cabinets are as fine as the Secessionist furniture that inspired them, while the beautifully veined Arabescato Verde marble counters pick up the color in the floor-length green silk curtains. Another antique Italian waterfall chandelier graces the dining room, which shows off beneath an ornate plaster rosette.

In son Archie’s nursery, hand-painted vines by Kayla Pongrác climb the walls.

DEAN HEARNE

Upstairs in the primary suite, ingeniously designed closet doors open around a pair of bronze fig-leaf sconces, while Archie’s nursery, with its magical jungle of hand-painted vines, upends expectations for a prim and proper child’s room. All in all, it’s a home that takes heritage seriously—but still leaves plenty of room to grow for a new generation.

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN VOLUME 18 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!

A New Exhibit Celebrates Schumacher’s Storied Role in American Design

Posted on January 8, 2026January 8, 2026 by Jill Simpson

There are myriad different lenses through which to examine the past, but few are as intimate—or illuminating—as the story of the home. In honor of the United States’s semiquincentennial, the Washington Winter Show returns to the Katzen Arts Center at American University from January 9–11 with a focus on “Celebrating 250 Years of the American Home, Here and Abroad.”

In concert with the show, legendary design brand Schumacher is exploring its own key role in the story of American textile and interior design—from the homes of the country’s most celebrated architects and authors to the halls of the White House— in a can’t-miss exhibit called “The Fabric of America.”

This George Washington Toile dates from the 1920s–1930s and was produced by Schumacher around America’s 150th anniversary. The textile is based on a circa-1790 copper-printed original at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

courtesy of schumacher

Designed by Mamie Eisenhower, decorator Elisabeth Draper, and illustrator Katherine Sturges Knight, the Eisenhower Toile was created during President Eisenhower’s campaign for a second term. Mamie wore a dress made from the toile for the couple’s 40th anniversary celebration.

National Parks Service

Based in Massachusetts, the Folly Cove Designers (active 1938–1969) were a mostly female block-printing collective of primarily Finnish immigrants, known for designs that celebrated Americana and native flora and fauna—like Polka Dot Pony, which was used on the set of I Love Lucy.

courtesy of schumacher

From Schumacher’s founding in New York City in 1889 amid the grandeur of the Gilded Age to the Roaring Twenties to the hardships of the Great Depression and two World Wars to the technological advances of the 21st century, the story of the nation is echoed in many of Schumacher’s fabric and wallpaper designs, says company archivist Kristen Robinson. Over the course of a year, she combed through the company’s collection of more than 40,000 pieces to select documents that evoked, contributed to, or commented on historical events in intriguing ways. “We have such a legacy over 137 years that we really are able to tell the story of American design through our archives,” she says. The Winter Show exhibition, she adds, “is a special opportunity to see pieces from our archives that are not usually available to the public.”

Published for Schumacher’s 75th anniversary in 1964, this advertisement highlighted the many iconic places where Schumacher textiles could be found.

Courtesy of Schumacher

The Schumacher story is one of creative collaboration, American ingenuity, European influences, and the vital contributions of immigrants like founder Frederic Schumacher, who himself emigrated to the U.S. from France. From a first-of-its-kind collaboration with French couturier Paul Poiret in 1930 to ongoing collections with Colonial Williamsburg starting in 1942, a partnership with Frank Lloyd Wright in 1955, and even a toile designed for Dior’s 50th anniversary in 1997, Schumacher has engaged the culture’s leading creatives in a wide range of fields.

During their research, Robinson and her team also learned more about some of the women artists whose contributions to the Schumacher library had gone largely uncredited until recently. “The Folly Cove designers, for example, were a group of largely female weavers, many Scandinavian immigrants, working in Folly Cove, Massachusetts, whose designs are still a part of our collections,” she explains.

This illustration by George Barbier depicting fashion designs by Paul Poiret, one of Schumacher’s first collaborators, was featured in Les Modes magazine in 1912.

courtesy of schumacher

This 1949 ad featured a collection by Dorothy Draper celebrating the Hawaiian Islands (which had not yet gained American statehood) and the significant role they played during World War II.

courtesy of schumacher

Since its founding, Schumacher has also designed fabrics, wallcoverings, and more for some of America’s most iconic residences and public places, from the gold-and-blue lampas that Stanford White commissioned for the Blue Room at the White House in 1902 (and later showcased in Jackie Kennedy’s televised tour in 1963) to the commemorative toile designed by First Lady Mamie Eisenhower with decorator Elizabeth Draper in 1956 to a Matisse-inspired stage curtain woven for the Metropolitan Opera’s debut at Lincoln Center in 1966.

Schumacher’s artistry has long been showcased on the silver screen and the small screen, from Hollywood classics like Gone With the Wind (where Hobe Erwin’s beloved Hydrangea Drape wallpaper made its debut) and I Love Lucy (which featured the Folly Cove–designed Polka Dot Pony) to modern-day favorites like …And Just Like That.

For this bedroom in And Just Like That . . . , set designer Carolyn Silverman selected Schumacher’s lyrical Toile de Femmes wallpaper, created in collaboration with Peg Norris, featuring women socializing, horseback-riding, and playing musical instruments, as a nod to the main characters’ unique female friendships.

Craig Blankenhorn/HBO Max

This year, Schumacher will be introducing three collections honoring America’s legacy featuring both archival designs reimagined for today and brand-new introductions. Be sure to look out for them this summer. “The collections underscore how Schumacher is grounded in tradition, but always looking forward,” says Robinson.

Also at the Washington Winter Show, don’t miss the Saturday, January 10th panel with designer Amanda Lindroth and architect Russell Windham, moderated by FREDERIC Style Director Eugenia Santiesteban Soto, on “Cultivating Spaces: The Art of Design, From Coastal to Classic.” Tickets for the panel and show are available here, and the Schumacher exhibit is free of charge.

Fernando Martos Designs an Effortlessly Eco-Friendly Garden in Marbella

Posted on January 6, 2026 by Jill Simpson

In southern Spain, where verdant, sprawling, sprinkler-dotted lawns are de rigueur, the landscape surrounding one newly built modern house stands apart. There is no lawn here—just masses of perennials (salvia, fountain grass, mastic), planted closely together to deter weeds from taking root, intercut by gravel pathways and herbaceous borders. Cork trees—once a fixture of the region but now fewer and farther between—preside overhead alongside palms and cypress.

This unorthodox approach has become a signature of Madrid-based landscape designer Fernando Martos. It started more than two decades ago when, as a recent graduate, he spent three months working in the 40-acre garden at Newby Hall, a grand estate in North Yorkshire, England. “Back then, gardens in Spain were very formal, and the plants were more limited,” he recalls. “I fell in love with English gardens—the structure, the perennials, the number of plants—and wanted to bring that back with me, but adapted to a Mediterranean climate.”

White gaura flowers and salvia line the path to the house. “The sun is very bright in Spain, so I tend to use soft colors. Deeper shades like red can look too aggressive,” says Martos.

Mimi Connolly

The landscapes he creates aren’t just beautiful—they’re also consciously sustainable. Unlike those nearby lawns, which require daily watering, this garden needs water just once a week; the height of the plants shields the soil from the sun, reducing evaporation. There’s no need for chemicals, either: Martos intentionally selects pollinator-friendly, pest-resistant varieties and groups them closely so weeds don’t have space to take root.

Another area of the garden is “more typical of Southern Spain,” Martos notes, with its date palms, Mexican fan palms, and cypress trees; Martos chose a mix of looser and more compact perennials to create textural contrast.

Mimi Connolly

Thanks to the region’s microclimate, the garden’s tender perennials will maintain their blooms for 10 months out of the year, then return the following season with gusto. Martos, though, is already looking further ahead: “It’s important to me that I’ve created a structure that will survive with time, one that will come back bigger and better every year,” he says. “It’s a continuous process.”

The limestone pool is surrounded by bushes of trailing rosemary and orange jasmine, which blooms in the autumn; in the spring, the lollipop orange trees come to life, ensuring that the garden remains fragrant year-round.

Mimi Connolly

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN VOLUME 18 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!

John Dransfield Conjures Light and Air in a 16th-Century French Home

Posted on January 5, 2026March 17, 2026 by Penelope Riley

For most expats, living the French dream typically translates to a place in Paris or Provence, but for a British couple who live Stateside, it was Tournon-d’Agenais—a tiny, fortified medieval village in the Nouvelle Aquitaine region of southwestern France—that struck a chord. Maybe it was the town’s location, perched as it is like a crown on a hilltop with views for miles of the valley below. Or possibly it was the genius of 13th-century French urban planning: Limestone houses built over arched stone arcades ring a central square, where residents routinely gather to socialize and do their shopping. For a town of merely 1,000 people, Tournon-d’Agenais is a vital place. In other words, it is a place to look both inward and out.

Minimalist forms feel of a piece with the 16th-century architecture. A mixed-media collage by Richard Giglio and Room & Board center table create stark contrast against the whitewashed front entry hall.

Francesco Lagnese

Belgian linen curtains with French metallic embroidered passementerie flank the front door.

Francesco Lagnese

An existing half-timber and brick wall separates the powder room just off the entry.

Francesco Lagnese

“You see the wonderful patchwork of farms in the landscape beyond the village walls and get to meet the most interesting people in the square. It knocks your socks off,” says designer John Dransfield, who was enlisted for the project after its owners—existing clients he’d worked with on two previous homes—attended the opening party for his boutique, Pottersville and Main, in Gladstone, New Jersey. “The wife said she wanted her house in France to look like the shop,” Dransfield recalls.

Said house, a series of three 16th-century dwellings cobbled together in a way that gives it the scale of a castle, had what Dransfield describes as an “ecclesiastic feel.” Though the couple appreciated the two-foot-thick limestone walls, Gothic arches, and heavy oak beams, taken together, they added up to dark and gloomy rooms. “My goal was to lighten it up and make it bright and pretty,” says the designer.

The dining room is filled with unexpected objects, like the pair of Vietnamese fish traps that were turned into pendant lights and an American antique grain bin that acts as a sideboard.

Francesco Lagnese

The clients collect works by Delhi- and Goa-based photographer Rohit Chawla; one of them hangs above an Ethnicraft table and chairs in the breakfast nook.

Francesco Lagnese

“I wanted minimalist cabinetry to contrast with the textured stone walls in the kitchen,” says Dransfield, who used a sleek set by Poliform. “It’s streamlined, but there’s a place to store everything.”

Francesco Lagnese

The austere facade on the street side of the house, which remained untouched, offers no hints of the magic beyond its front door. Inside, Dransfield managed to create the low-maintenance, serene home his clients wanted without compromising its essence. “My clients wanted light and air, and the obvious way to achieve that is to knock down walls and change windows, which, of course, we were not about to do,” he says. “Every room has windows that pull you to views of the valley. Those views haven’t changed. They’re like framed works of art.” (In fact, those views are among the reasons that Tournon-d’Agenais has been deemed one of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France—or The Most Beautiful Villages of France—a designation assigned to tiny rural French villages where a rich cultural heritage prevails.)

The guest room boasts “the best view in the house”; the side table is 19th-century English Arts and Crafts.

Francesco Lagnese

Dransfield outfitted the room with custom seating, vintage lighting, and a pair of Thai rain drums that double as coffee tables. “People are so hesitant to paint dark wood,” says Dransfield, “but it transformed this house.”

Francesco Lagnese

And so Dransfield began by using one of a decorator’s most reliable weapons—a coat of white paint. He bathed the whole place in Farrow & Ball’s Skimming Stone, “which mimics limestone so perfectly. It transformed the house,” says Dransfield. While it took guts to suggest painting over centuries-old oak beams, he admits—“It’s very atypical in a traditional French house, but all of that darkness overhead just weighed down the rooms”—he didn’t erase them entirely, leaving the ceilings untouched in the dining room, kitchen, and primary bedroom to maintain a sense of warmth and rusticity.

Respect for the home’s bones didn’t stop Dransfield from doing a little shuffling within its walls, either. The original kitchen, now a minimal, pretty breakfast room, was too small to suit his clients, who cook every day with ingredients from markets around the region. What was once the grand dining room is now a cook’s dream, fitted out in sleek, cool Poliform cabinetry that makes for a striking contrast to the stone walls and floors.

In the upstairs sitting room, a side table from Dransfield’s shop, Pottersville and Main, mimics the shape of the carved limestone window seats. Vintage chair, Laurin Copen Antiques.

Francesco Lagnese

An engineered stone vanity with chrome Dornbracht fixtures floats in the center of the primary bathroom. The back wall is lined with simple flat cabinets; the other walls are coated in tadelakt, a traditional Moroccan lime plaster with a soft sheen and waterproof finish.

Francesco Lagnese

Soft linen bedcurtains and bedding strikes a textural contrast with the bedroom’s stone walls.

Francesco Lagnese

Dransfield was equally untethered to tradition when it came to furnishing the 4,000-square-foot home. The clients are inveterate travelers, and their tastes run global: There are handwoven rugs from Morocco, pendants made from Vietnamese fish traps, French and American midcentury furniture and lighting, Belgian linens, and a collection of photographs by Indian artist Rohit Chawla hanging throughout the house. Here, with those hefty arches and breathtaking views stealing all the attention, their differences are barely discernible. This is a home as sure of itself as its 500-year-old walls. It doesn’t get any more French than that.

Dransfield left most of the house’s centuries-old façade untouched.

Francesco Lagnese

Archie, the clients’ English Springer Spaniel, surveys the courtyard just off the breakfast room.

Francesco Lagnese

The house overlooks Tournon-d’Agenais, a small village that dates back to 1270.

Francesco Lagnese

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN VOLUME 18 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!

How Clásicos Mexicanos Is Reviving the Work of Midcentury Mexican Architects

Posted on December 31, 2025January 4, 2026 by Jill Simpson

Since 2018, Mexico City–based Clásicos Mexicanos has sought to preserve and celebrate the country’s artistic legacy by reissuing furniture designed by a cadre of influential 20th-century Mexican architects. Those pieces feel as fresh today as they did in the beach hotels and Brutalist dreamscapes they were made for over half a century ago—and they still hum with joy, presence, and a captivating sense of place.