Page 6 – Frederic Magazine

See the Design Books on Our Fall Reading List

Posted on October 2, 2025 by Jill Simpson

With the crispness in the air comes that back-to-school energy, when we’re excited to delve into new books, take on new projects, or curl up with a great read. This fall offers many enticing options, with new books by some of our favorite designers and captivating volumes on everything from fashion icons’ homes and gardens to intriguing tales of artisans and innkeepers. Here’s what our editors are most looking forward to reading.

Everybody Loves Stripes: Decorating Between the Lines
by Alexandra Flint and Emma Bazilian

As the title avows, who doesn’t love stripes? This book by FREDERIC’s Content Director Emma Bazilian and contributing editor Alexandra Flint is bound to convert any holdouts. Filled with creative ideas for employing this timeless and versatile pattern—from tented ceilings to upholstered stripes on the bias to painted floors—the wide range of rooms by designers shows you why and how to do it well. Get in line to add this chic and cheerful must-have to your design library.

$55, Monacelli (October 29)

Tom Scheerer: Still Decorating
by Tom Scheerer

Tom Scheerer says this is his last volume in a “tidy trilogy” of monographs, celebrating a career we’ve loved following—not just for Scheerer’s talent, but also for his ability to articulate what makes a room work and how he comes to his seemingly effortless but always creative ideas. As he says, “The goal is always something easygoing and livable, even in the grandest houses,” which is what makes his work so approachable yet special.

$75, Vendome

Sims Hilditch: Beautifully British Interiors
by Giles Kime

If you subscribe to the Inigo real estate emails, if you rewatch Downton Abbey for the decor—in other words, if you’re one of the many people who fantasize about owning a British country house, designer Emma Sims-Hilditch is likely already on your radar and you will thoroughly enjoy this, her second book. Leafing through its pages, you contemplate the glories of having a flower arranging room, a pantry, a boot room. Sims-Hilditch specializes in sensitively adapting centuries-old homes for modern-day families, from a Jacobean manor house to a Cornish coastal estate, with an emphasis on function and comfort woven into her beguiling designs.

$60, Rizzoli

Ray Booth: The Expressive Home
by Ray Booth with Judith Nasatir

In his second book, Booth, a partner in McAlpine, shares projects that orchestrate tranquil symphonies in neutrals layered with texture, contrast, and artfully crafted elements that feel deeply luxurious, never boring. His carefully considered, nuanced work, including his own home in Provincetown, is always inspiring.

$60, Rizzoli

My Life in Colors
by Martin Brudnizki

Surprisingly—given his storied 25-year career as the acclaimed designer for such glam, jet-setter spaces as Annabelle’s in London, the Hotel Splendido in Portofino, and the Beekman Hotel in New York—this is Martin Brudnizki’s first book. With more than 40 projects to share, he decided to organize both his work and his thoughts on design around specific hues. Weaving a tapestry of art, history, and design references, Brudnizki delves into the meaning of colors as well as how to use them in interior design. His theatrical projects incorporate “escapism and a large dose of imagination,” qualities this book has in spades.

$65, Rizzoli

Robert Stilin: New Work
by Robert Stilin and Sam Cochran

From his own expansive loft on the Brooklyn waterfront to clients’ homes across the country, Robert Stilin’s second book refines a distinctive voice in American design who juxtaposes the muscular, industrial, and gritty with time-polished midcentury wood and soulful antiques, surprisingly luxurious fabrics, and cutting-edge contemporary art. As writer Sam Cochran notes, his work “defies tidy categorization,” but that element of surprise leads to “the thrill of experiencing the work of Robert Stilin.”

$75, Vendome (October 21)

Nicola Harding: Homing Instinct
by Nicola Harding and Busola Evans

In British designer Nicola Harding’s first book, she shares her fearless yet inviting approach to color, employing it—along with pattern, texture, antiques—to bring a welcoming warmth and engaging beauty to the wide range of homes she’s designed, from a Tuscan retreat to a handsome Georgian townhouse to a new build. This beautifully written book explores what Harding describes as the alchemy of home, and reveals how she deftly devises each element to “unlock the soul of place.” It’s as lovely to read as it is to pore over.

$60, Rizzoli

Jacques Grange: New Projects
by Pierre Passebon

One of the most esteemed interior designers of our time, Jacques Grange is now entering his ninth decade—and seems to show few signs of slowing down. This, his third monograph, showcases 30 projects as impressive in their range—from an iconic Edwin Lutyens house in England to the venerable Mark Hotel in New York to a Cocteau-adorned villa to a luxury yacht—as in their exquisite balance of classicism and modernity. Grange has a special talent for designing interiors in dialogue with remarkable art collections, on dramatic display in this stunning volume.

$85, Flammarion (November 18)

Studio Sofield: Works
by William Sofield and Emma O’Neill

This monograph covering more than three decades of Studio Sofield’s work is itself a work of art, befitting the extraordinary care, scholarship, creativity, and craftsmanship that the Studio has imbued in each of its many noteworthy projects. This 664-page tome covers a broad swath of projects, from private townhouses and homes to hotels, boutiques for Tom Ford, Yves Saint Laurent, and Gucci to an entire residential building on the Upper East Side stunningly detailed with old-world artisanry. The book interweaves gatefolds, sketches, textiles, and more into one beautifully bound volume with slipcase.

$250, Rizzoli (October 14)

Comforts of Home: Tailor-Made, Family-Friendly Interiors That Feel Just Right
by Andrew Howard

No one could ever accuse Andrew Howard of being color- or pattern-shy. In his second book, he shares a dozen projects—many for young families, including his own—proving that children and great design are not mutually exclusive. (Pattern is forgiving! And indoor/outdoor fabrics are key.) And though family-friendly, the projects are brimming with creative custom details that take them to the next level.

$50, Abrams

Distinctly American: Houses and Interiors by Hendricks Churchill
by Heide Hendricks and Rafe Churchill

Partners in life and work, architect Rafe Churchill and interior designer Heide Hendricks’ first book shares two decades’ worth of projects, many rooted in a rural vernacular, where a Shaker-like purity and restraint meets often-exuberant color and pattern. From a new-old farmhouse in Litchfield, Connecticut, to a whimsical Carnegie Hill apartment in Manhattan, their through line is authenticity, natural materials, individuality, and soul.

$75, Rizzoli

A Screaming Blast: Exceptional Entertaining
by Rebecca Gardner

If anyone knows how to throw an imaginative, witty, wonderful party, it’s Rebecca Gardner of Houses & Parties. Gardner’s MO is best summed up in one of her chapter titles: “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing.” This romp of a book (with a foreword by Sofia Coppola) will get you in the party mood, and inspire you with whimsical, sometimes wacky, always lively ideas to ensure your party is a blast, with engaging themes—from a pink poodle party to a circus caravan to the Napa wine train—carried through from invitations and ice-breakers to elaborate decor and entertainment with aplomb.

$45, Rizzoli

The Inn Crowd: Artistic Getaways and the Modern Innkeepers Who Crafted Them
by Jackie Caradonio

If you love staying at boutique hotels and inns as much for the decor as the locale, you’ll enjoy Jackie Caradonio’s in-depth stories and photographs of 16 one-of-a-kind properties throughout New York and New England. Reading about the often-circuitous paths these passionate proprietors took to becoming innkeepers (often after very successful careers in other fields), you might even be tempted to become one yourself—or at least add some of these special places to your must-visit list.

$60, Monacelli (October 8)

Lives of the Great Makers
edited by Rebecca Knott and James Robinson

This lively compendium from curators at the V&A Museum in London is a fascinating anthology of the most revered craftspeople in the museum’s collection, from the Renaissance and Enlightenment through the Arts & Crafts movement to the present day. It celebrates the remarkable work of such headliners as Thomas Chippendale, William Morris, Eileen Gray, and Dale Chihuly, but also many lesser-known artisans whose work should enjoy equal appreciation, and is filled with beautiful photographs and illustrations throughout.

$50, Thames & Hudson (October 14)

Francois Halard: Art & Flowers
by Francois Halard

Confined to his home in Arles after a shoulder injury in 2024, interiors photographer François Halard made the best of a lousy situation. He started photographing flowers with his Polaroid camera while also altering past “flawed” Polaroids—many depicting ancient statuary and classical art—with paint and wax to create new works of art. The result is a lush, two-volume compilation of these dual artistic explorations—one examining the ephemeral transcendence of flowers, and the other, the mutability of time and artistic fragments.

$175, Rizzoli

Elements of Timeless Style: Creating a Forever Home
by Erin Gates

Well-known for her popular blog, Elements of Style, designer Erin Gates is back with a third book, inspired by the purchase of her own “forever home”—an enchanting Second Empire–style house in Massachusetts. She shares the process and specifics of decorating this and eight other projects in delightful detail, with “project takeaways,” paint colors, and many helpful design lessons along the way.

$40, Simon Element

The Glamorous House
by Jan Showers

This is the prolific Dallas designer Jan Showers’ fourth book, but it is no less captivating than her others, presenting ten elegant projects in abundant detail, including paint colors, fabrics, and sources. Luxe scenic wallpapers, lacquered walls, chic midcentury furniture, and mirrors abound, all set against very pretty yet sophisticated palettes.

$65, Abrams (October 14)

PowerHouse
by Penny Drue Baird

A powerhouse herself in the design world, in her fifth book, Baird here is referring to the way that the right house, well-designed and decorated, can make us feel grounded. With a Ph.D. in psychology, she is particularly well-equipped to listen to her clients’ wishes and needs, and in a dozen projects across the country in a wide range of settings, she displays her fine-tuned ear—and eye—with luxurious, artful environments that give her clients a place to shine.

$60, Schiffer

A Welcome Home: Inviting Interiors
by Alexandra Kaehler

Like Baird, Chicago-based designer Alexandra Kaehler, the child of a therapist, takes a psychological approach to design, working closely with clients to understand how they live and what they love in order to create a space that suits them to a T. Her book features eight family homes, including her own, that balance traditional architecture with modern-day needs, with lots of pretty patterns and palettes inspired by nature.

$60, Monacelli

AD at Home: Architectural Digest edited by Amy Astley

When Amy Astley arrived at Architectural Digest nearly 10 years ago, she sought to bring fresh life, improvisation and irreverence, and above all, celebrity glamour to the hidebound interior design magazine. This compilation of the past decade under her tenure is a who’s who of actors, musicians, designers, artists and other bold-type names, from Lenny Kravitz to Julianne Moore, Cara Delevingne to Kendall Jenner, in their ultra-luxe private lairs from L.A. to the Cotswolds to Copenhagen.

$100, Rizzoli

La Pausa: The Ideal Mediterranean Villa of Gabrielle Chanel
by Montse Aguer Texidor, Laura Bartolomé, and Philippe Collas

This handsome volume explores all facets of the French Riviera villa that Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel designed and built in 1928, and the life she led there, entertaining a legendary circle of artistic and society friends, including Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau, and the Duke of Westminster in the 1930s and ’40s. Almost monastic in its simplicity (influenced by the monastery and orphanage where she spent part of her youth), the villa was very much a reflection of Chanel’s taste, surrounded by naturalistic gardens and the wild coastal landscape.

$160, Flammarion

Dior: Enchanting Gardens
by Jean-Paul Claverie

A confection of fashion, flowers, and fragrance, Dior: Enchanting Gardens examines the couturier’s love of flowers in every form. With its roots in the gardens of his childhood home in Granville, on the Norman seaside, this passion revealed itself in exquisitely embroidered flowers on couture dresses, floral perfumes, and Dior’s homes, and has been reinterpreted by subsequent designers for the label, from Gianfranco Ferré to John Galliano to Maria Grazia Chiuri.

$45, Rizzoli

Country Life’s Book of Dogs
by Agnes Stamp

For the many dog lovers in your life, it’s hard to imagine a more welcome gift. Throughout its 125-year history, the British magazine Country Life has celebrated hunting dogs and working farm dogs, the Queen’s corgis and commoners’ collies alike. This volume features profiles of 70 different breeds, illustrated with winsome photographic portraits, paintings, and images culled from the Country Life archives. Just try to read it without wanting to adopt a dog of your own.

$65, Rizzoli

The London Club: Architecture, Interiors, Art
by Andrew Jones and Laura Hodgson

Come along for a rare sneak peek inside 46 of London’s most illustrious private clubs, from 18^th– and 19^th-century classics like Boodle’s and the Athenaeum to the recently opened House of KOKO. This richly illustrated volume focuses on the exquisite architecture, design, libraries, art collections and more hiding behind the facades. There’s even a glimpse inside the most noteworthy loos, along with whimsical design details like the propeller light switches at the Royal Air Force Club.

$75, ACC Art Books

Process
by Ralph Pucci

Ralph Pucci may be known for high-style furniture and lighting designs, but the firm actually began as a mannequin business. Pucci, the founders’ son, eventually opened a sculpture studio, working with Vladimir Kagan, Patrick Naggar, Elizabeth Garouste, Lee Mindel, and other design luminaries to craft sculptural lighting, chairs, and tables. This book celebrates the creative process, sharing sketches, notes, maquettes, and models, underscoring the importance of the hand, the medium, and the imagination in a technological world.

$110, Ralph Pucci

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

The Iconoclastic Style of Geoffrey Beene

Posted on October 2, 2025October 13, 2025 by Isabel Molster

Geoffrey Beene was a designer of enormous talent—and enormous contradictions. For nearly four decades, beginning in the 1960s, he was at the forefront of American fashion, yet he always remained something of an outsider. His clothing was refined, elegant and intricately structured, but also embraced popular culture. He designed sparkly, feather-bedecked outfits for the Supremes, and in one of his most memorable statements, in 1967, he sent down the runway full-length sequined dresses inspired by football jerseys—emblazoned with players’ numbers—perhaps the ultimate proclamation that American sportswear was high fashion.

The designer at home.

HORST P. HORST/CONDÉ NAST VIA GETTY IMAGES

Beene had Southern charm but could be famously persnickety. His long-running feud with Women’s Wear Daily publisher John Fairchild—sparked when the paper broke an embargo and printed a sketch of Beene’s wedding dress for Lynda Bird Johnson on the front page—would prove detrimental to his career, but he didn’t care. He liked to be referred to as Mr. Beene, but he was not a snob—in the late 1980s, he would take the staff of the upstart downtown magazine Paper out for dinner every month.

Blending high fashion with Pop art, Beene’s iconic sequined football jersey–inspired gowns graced the cover of Harper’s Bazaar in 1967.

A structured Geoffrey Beene dress from the early 1960s displays his love of graphic black-and-white pattern.

BEENE BY BEENE (VENDOME)

His atelier had the skills of a couture house (perhaps only Galanos, a close friend, could rival his workmanship), yet Beene was one of first American designers to license his name for fragrances and menswear, and he was early in launching a diffusion line, produced in the same factory as his flagship label but using more affordable fabrics like cotton muslin and seersucker.

“He was a nonconformist—he didn’t follow anyone, was never a slave to trends,” says Russell Nardozza, who worked closely with the designer for over 25 years as vice president of Geoffrey Beene Inc. “I think that’s why he was so embraced, especially by the fashion editorial community. They were invigorated by what they saw from him and how new it felt.”

Philip Haight provided the architectural design for Beene’s New York duplex apartment, photographed in 1979.

JAIME ARDILES-ARCE

An oversize wire sculpture by Ron Opferkuch balances large-scale Scarpa seating in New York, 1979.

JAIME ARDILES-ARCE

His Fire Island house, featured in Vogue in 1977, was a monochrome masterpiece.

HORST P. HORST/CONDÉ NAST VIA GETTY IMAGES

Born Samuel Albert Bozeman, Jr. (he later changed his name to Beene after his grandmother Lillie Beane Walker) in Haynesville, Louisiana, in 1924, Beene was expected to become a doctor, but dropped out of Tulane University after three years. (The story goes that he was reprimanded by a professor for sketching gowns during class.) A stint doing window displays at I. Magnin in Los Angeles followed; then New York and Paris, as a fashion student and tailor’s apprentice; in 1951, he returned—for good—to New York, a city now deeply intertwined with his legend.

For his Oyster Bay Cove, Long Island, country house (seen here in 1989), Beene hired decorative artist Jack Plaia to paint the dining room walls to match the Brunschwig & Fils window treatments.

OBERTO GILI

Beene had a passion for black and white, polka dots, and intricate appliqués and handwork. Early on, he embraced the upbeat aesthetic of the ’60s, but even then, he brought an almost Japanese purity to his line. Over the years, his clothes became less structured and more sinuous, reflective not only of women’s changing lives, but also his own love of dance. (He even hired dancers to walk his runway.) Richard Lambertson, who served as Beene’s right hand for more than a decade, says of the designer, “He piped and outlined virtually everything he made, as if to accentuate the design.” When minimalism became the rage in the late ’80s, Beene said, “Most designers don’t understand that to make something simple is much harder.” Adds Lambertson, “His response was to do minimalism in double-face cashmere.”

For Spring 1986, he paired intricate cotton lace with raffia-embroidered tulle.

ALEX CHATELAIN, COURTESY OF BRITISH VOGUE

Graphic silk appliqués embellish a fluid wool and charmeuse dress in 1983.

JACK DEUTSCH

“Taking things out of context makes them so much more interesting and unpredictable,” Beene told Architectural Digest for a story on his recently redesigned duplex in 1988.

JAIME ARDILES-ARCE

Beene’s homes were exemplars of his style. In his Manhattan duplex, the rooms were graphic, high contrast, and glamorous, full of mirrors and shine, lacquer and glossy woods. At his country house on Long Island, French Provincial furniture mingled with Chinese antiques, snow-leopard spots, and red lacquered walls. And in his Hawaiian vacation retreat, gleaming white surfaces were punctuated with his signature stripes and dots. “In the end, graphics, particularly black and white, are what I relate to most,” he told House & Garden in 1989. “They have a clarity and balance that always works.”

His vacation home in Hawaii, photographed for House Beautiful in 1997 by our very own editor-in-chief, Dara Caponigro, featured a lighter take on his signature palette.

Scott Frances

“I love these steps because they look like pleats,” said Beene of the entry hall in Hawaii.

Scott Frances

Cow-print canvas chairs in Hawaii are a playful spin on Beene’s preferred motif.

Scott Frances

Lambertson, who himself went on to become a successful designer and retailer, points out that Beene was also a great mentor. Alber Elbaz, Issey Miyake, and Michaele Vollbracht all worked in his studio at various points, and the influences went both ways. Beene would absorb ideas from the talents and the culture around him even as he pursued his singular vision. “He had such a strong moral compass,” says Lambertson. “He was always his own person.”

A look from Spring 1992 matches the era’s minimalist tone.
Andrew Eccles
Beene’s Spring 1993 presentation featured dancers from the School of American Ballet.
Andrew Eccles
The “Mercury Dress” nods to Beene’s Art Deco obsession in Fall 1994.
Christin Losta
A pop of red on the Spring 1992 runway.
Jack Deutsch
Piping, seen on a Spring 1992 look, was a signature detail.
Charles Gerli

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN VOLUME 17 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!

Alexandra Kaehler Refreshes a Century-Old Chicago Home for a Young Family

Posted on October 2, 2025October 2, 2025 by Jill Simpson

In the American Midwest, a hundred-year-old house is pretty much as historic as you’ll find. When these clients tapped me to design their 1924 home in the suburbs of Chicago, I was elated. The couple, who have three children under the age of five, both grew up in the area, and when this house came on the market, they jumped on it. It’s easy to see why: The home has incredible bones and, thankfully, had been beautifully restored through previous renovations, retaining its original charm.

Kaehler wanted to personalize the house without competing with it. That meant using soft textiles in natural tones, like the antique rug in the entry. Roman shade, Chelsea Textiles. Runner, Roger Oates.

Aimée Mazzenga

Since the entry vestibule is completely closed off from the foyer, Kaehler wanted to give it its own personality. The leafy wallpaper provides the perfect transition from outdoor foliage to the color palette inside.

Aimée Mazzenga

The structure of this house was formal and traditional, but with a young family moving in, we were tasked with respecting the history of the house while making it feel fresh. As the wife put it, “We love the bones, but we want it to feel lighter, brighter, and more youthful.” As with many of my projects, we began with the question, How do you want to live in your house? Even though this family has young children, they entertain a lot. Since they are both from the area, they—like me—frequently host large family gatherings, everything from football game viewings to traditional Thanksgiving dinners.

In the living room, two sofas laid out in an L shape function almost like an elongated sectional, with plenty of seating for a large group to watch football while maintaining a note of formality. Kaehler pulled the overall palette for the room from Schumacher’s Betty chintz on the armchairs, which incorporates the perfect forest greens, soft blues, and neutrals.

Aimée Mazzenga

A big part of our strategy, then, was to embrace the history of the space while rethinking how it could best be used. For example, the home has a large, formal living room, and while we didn’t want to diminish that, we wanted to reimagine it in a way that invites people to really use it. The wife had grown up in a house with a living room that she never went into, and she was adamant that she didn’t want that in her own home. That said, long, formal living rooms are tough. People sometimes struggle to arrange them in a way that’s conducive to informal entertaining.

In the dining room, deep, paneled doorways —original to the house—are an architectural counterbalance to the elegant wallpaper. I love how the de Gournay paper reinterprets the blue, green, and neutral palette in a way that nods to tradition but feels fresh, especially when paired with a bold, velvet-upholstered mirror.

Aimée Mazzenga

We probably tried 15 different arrangements. We presented several options to the homeowners that were nice enough, but none quite clicked. Then we went to my grandmother’s house in Michigan for the weekend. Her great room was a similar size and shape to the clients’. We were a big group that weekend—six adults and nine kids—and it worked so perfectly. We could all get comfortable. I came home, drew up a floor plan that matched my grandmother’s—two sofas and a pair of chairs surrounding a large ottoman—showed it to the clients, and they immediately, excitedly, approved it.

The antique dining chairs are upholstered in a hard-wearing, worry-free Perennials fabric. The chest is antique, from Projet Privé; Murano lamp.

Aimée Mazzenga

Kaehler wanted the sunroom to feel like an extension of the beautiful garden just beyond the windows, but also be usable every day for their family. Trellis by Fuller Architectural Panels.

Aimée Mazzenga

With the living room layout settled, we wanted a fresh color palette to perfect the space. The walls were previously plastered in a deep, dusty blue, which made the room feel dark and serious. The clients love blues, however, and told me that, left to their own devices, everything would be a nautical blue-and-white scheme. While that didn’t feel entirely appropriate for this house and its decidedly noncoastal location, it served as a great jumping-off point for me. Pairing their beloved blues with rich browns and mossy greens gave us the ability to reflect the beautiful landscape outside, which is visible from most rooms of the house.

The sitting room opens onto the kitchen, which was designed for a previous owner. Kaehler's clients loved it, so she didn’t change a thing.

Aimée Mazzenga

This nature-inspired influence was the impetus for the de Gournay wallpaper in the dining room —a forest of delicate flowering trees. It is a perfect example of a new, timeless take on a classic pattern. We added a playful starburst mirror upholstered in pink velvet—underscoring the successful juxtaposition of the classic, the elegant, and the fun.

The dining room leads into the family room and, just outside, the pool. In the family room, we wanted to create a beautiful space that would also stand up to wet kids passing through. Enter durable rug and performance fabrics. In this room, which is full of furniture in traditional shapes, we had a ton of fun layering colors and patterns.

The family room opens onto the white kitchen so we wanted to balance this space with lots of saturated color. The mix of color and pattern was both an aesthetic and a functional decision; every element—including the sectional and ottoman upholstered in Perennials indoor/outdoor fabrics and the Fibreworks rug—is super forgiving of tiny feet running and climbing through it.

Aimée Mazzenga

I always think that given the choice, people gravitate to small, cozy rooms. The sunroom, off the living room, was previously a forgotten space, but it opens onto a quiet courtyard on the side of the house where their kids play. It needed to be something really special to encourage its use. I wanted it to feel like part of the garden, so the treillage was a perfect choice for the space. The lattice also complemented the room’s beautiful barreled ceilings We added a mix of antiques and new pieces (a custom backgammon table paired with two-hundred-year-old prints)—which is really the theme of the house. I didn’t want anything to feel so old or so new; it was a constant balance.

This laundry room is just off the kitchen and pool bath and highly utilized. Although it is functional, Kaehler wanted it to also be beautiful. The skirted console (in Schumacher's Cabanon) conceals extra clothing for the kids to change in the mornings.

Mazzenga

The family spends a lot of time outdoors in the warmer months, so Kaehler extended the livability of this house by arranging areas for lounging and dining beneath the long pergola. An outdoor fireplace and upholstered furniture from RH make it inviting.

Mazzenga

The final element for freshening up the home was adding contemporary art. The couple’s sister-in-law is an art consultant, and they loved the experience of working with her to bring their dream home to life. The wonderful pieces we sourced with her assistance became key visual and personal additions to the project, and the design encourages the family to carry on their collecting. You’ll notice that not every shelf or wall is filled in; I wanted to ensure that the family has ample space to layer over time, giving them the backdrop to build their own history into their home.

In the primary bedroom, the wallpaper pattern, which Kaehler designed with Merida, a local firm, presents a more graphic, modern take on a vine motif, striking a balance between classic and contemporary.

Aimée Mazzenga

Excerpted from A Welcome Home: Inviting Interiors by Alexandra Kaehler with Hadley Keller, and photographs by Aimée Mazzenga; styled by Cate Ragan. Reproduced by permission of the Monacelli Press. All rights reserved.

Editor’s Obsession: Egyptian Revival

Posted on September 25, 2025October 13, 2025 by Penelope Riley

Egyptomania has taken hold at various points in history, spurred by Napoleon’s Egypt campaign in 1798 and the unearthing of King Tut’s tomb in 1922. With the recent discovery of Thutmose II’s tomb and opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo, our fascination with this ancient civilization is ascendant once again.

The F.W. Woolworth Mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York, was built in 1921 by Farrington, Gould and Hoagland in the Egyptian Revival style.

Francesco Lagnese

Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo dazzled in the title role of Philip Glass’s opera Akhnaten at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Glass: Akhnaten Met Live in HD DVD, $30, metoperashop.org.

KAREN ALMOND, MET OPERA

Shop the Look

Grenville limestone fireplace by Jamb

Price upon request, jamb.co.uk

Rêves du Nil teacup and saucer by Haviland

$503, us.haviland.fr

Snake Magnifying Glass by L’Objet

$195, l-objet.com

Thebes Stool by Madeline Stuart

$2,995, madelinestuart.com

Luxor linen by Lisa Fine Textiles

Price upon request, lisafinetextiles.com

Hand-Painted Marquetry Eye of Horus Clutch by Silvia Furmanovich

$6,160, greenleafcrosby.com

Scarab Mammoth Ring with green tourmaline by Bibi van der Velden

$25,750, bibivandervelden.com

Porphyry wallpaper by Miles Redd for Schumacher

Price upon request, schumacher.com

Regency Tub Chair by Baker

Price upon request, bakerfurniture.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 17 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!

Erin Gates Imbues a New Colonial With Age-Old Character and Warmth

Posted on September 24, 2025September 24, 2025 by Jill Simpson

When my firm was contacted by a young family to help them build a family homestead in the town of Essex, Connecticut, I jumped at the chance. Having spent summers in a nearby coastal Connecticut town, I knew the charms of Essex well, and I had a feeling that this project would remind me of my home growing up.

With its wood paneling, rich velvets, and leathers, the formal living room is the most traditional space in the house. A custom fireplace fender adds an English accent, while the outdoor-grade Stark carpet is durable enough to stand up to children. Soane Britain curtains provide a light counterpoint to the darker tones of the walls. Highland House sofa. Currey & Company chandelier.

Kirsten Francis

A tiny powder room off the foyer holds a surprise surprise inside—an Iksel mural wallpaper evocative of the nearby Connecticut River, a nod to the family’s maritime ties. Antique mirror, 1stDibs. Visual Comfort sconces. Restoration Hardware sink; DXV faucet.

Kirsten Francis

Gates designed the mudroom to feel like an English boot room with bench seating and coat hooks tucked within cubbies. Easy-to-maintain faux-slate tile and painted v-groove paneling are both highly durable choices for a busy family of five. Benjamin Moore paint in Saybrook Sage.

Kirsten Francis

We partnered with a wonderful local architect and got involved from the ground up—literally. One of the best pieces of advice I can give someone who is building a new home is to have as many trained eyes on a project as possible as early on as possible. That means the builder, interior designer, landscape designer—anyone whose expertise you will enlist. Allowing each person who is a part of your process to look at your plans, materials, and choices through their specifically trained eyes can help identify mistakes and may help you rethink how the home should be designed. Given my experience, I know how to work with architects well. Not all take kindly to input from designers, but most I’ve worked with have been open and grateful for our input, and after all, this is YOUR home that you will be living in, and you hired a team of specialists for a reason. Whether it’s identifying where to place decorative light fixtures, where to install floor registers for HVAC to avoid drapes billowing constantly, or the intersections of decorative millwork with built-ins, we all catch things the others have not thought of, and it’s a valuable tool to have when building from scratch.

The homeowners wanted a light and bright kitchen as the heart of their home; the cozy breakfast nook tucked beneath a bay of windows was a special request. Urban Electric pendant light. Honed Carrara marble countertops.

Kirsten Francis

Breakfast nook seating in performance fabrics—including Sister Parish's Burma Performance on the Hollywood at Home chairs—assuage any spill concerns. Striped pillows in Santa Barbara Ikat by Mark D. Sikes for Schumacher; roman shade in Imogen, also by Schumacher.

Kirsten Francis

The butler’s pantry, tucked just off the kitchen, is a hardworking hub for entertaining with additional dishwasher drawers, a microwave, and extra wall oven. It’s also beautiful, thanks to Tabarka Studio tiles, walnut counters, and custom cabinetry painted Farrow & Ball's Parma Gray.

Kirsten Francis

This home was designed to look old so it would blend in with the surrounding historic Colonial aesthetic, which happens to be my personal favorite style of architecture. The attention to detail here did not stop on the exterior—each piece of molding and woodwork was carefully considered to make sure the overall look appeared truly authentic (but, of course, in a new home with modern systems—hurrah!).

Pierre Frey's classic Toiles de Nantes wallpaper sets a lively backdrop for the dining room, with millwork painted in Benjamin Moore Gentleman’s Gray. The dining chairs pair Schumacher's Rocky Performance Velvet with a Raoul Textiles pattern on back. Visual Comfort chandelier. Curtain fabric, Leah O’Connell.

Kirsten Francis

As for the client’s design directive, we pulled a lot of inspiration (and actual pieces of art and accents) from a collection of heirlooms that spoke to the family’s strong historical ties to the area and maritime culture. In concert with that, the client wanted to make sure it felt youthful, so mixing in color and pattern with tried-and-true classics like stripes, plaids, and rich leathers was key. Plus, we had to keep the two (now three) little children living there in mind when it came to durability! The husband and wife had some opposing wishes when it came to style—one more traditional and the other more colorful and playful—but we were able to bridge the gap and give them a mix that creates moments in the home they both love. The husband’s office and formal living room are an homage to old-world Ralph Lauren style, while the family room speaks more of the wife’s love of florals and bright colors. The dining room blends those looks to create a cheerful but timeless space that reflects them both.

In the early stages, this space above the garage was allocated as storage, but as framing began and the client’s family grew, they began to envision it instead as a space where toys could be corralled. Cheerful prints and colors—including Peter Dunham's Indian Chintz on the ceiling and beadboard walls in Farrow & Ball's Lulworth Blue—create a playful backdrop.

Kristen Francis

The client had been saving images featuring Quadrille’s iconic Arbre de Matisse paper for years and wanted to use it somewhere in the house, so Gates paired it with Schumacher's Poppy Hand Block Print to create a warm and welcoming guest bedroom. Matouk bedding.

Kirsten Francis

For one daughter, Gates designed a room that felt sweet for a young girl but could grow with her. Blush grasscloth wallcovering, Cowtan & Tout; pillow fabric, Hinson; window treatments in Inchyra’s Dianthus fabric.

Kirsten Francis

We pulled from every corner of their varied and complex Pinterest boards, and the result was a fantastic combination of vibrant wallpaper, modern art, and bold fabric patterns blended with classic, traditional style and priceless family antiques to make this home feel like a seamless blend of modern playfulness and deeply rooted tradition.

See More

The sunroom captures beautiful natural light from morning to evening. Designed to be an additional family and entertaining space, it also provides a warm respite from dreary New England winters.
Kirsten Francis
In the second-floor laundry room, marble diamond-pattern floors, painted cabinetry, a subtle striped paper on walls and ceiling, and a cheery roman shade make a utilitarian space more inviting.
Kirsten Francis
The guest room offers a lesson in pattern mixing, with its Sister Parish striped wallpaper, small-scale print on curtains, and neutral rug by Erin Gates for Momeni.
Kirsten Francis
Schumacher’s embroidered Ashoka tape trim takes the curtains to another level.
Kirsten Francis
Pale pink grasscloth is a warm, enveloping choice for this little girl’s room. The bold gingham check on the headboard from The Beautiful Bed Company provides graphic contrast.
Kirsten Francis

Excerpted from Elements of Timeless Style. Copyright © 2025, Erin Gates. Reproduced by permission of Simon Element, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. All rights reserved.

An Arizona Kitchen That’s Equal Parts Design-Forward and Deeply Personal

Posted on September 23, 2025October 13, 2025 by Claire Chmiel

Paradise Valley. While the name sounds like just the place for a dream kitchen renovation, for designer Emily Yeates, it was anything but. After closing on the circa-1980 Mediterranean hacienda with stunning views of the Arizona desert and Camelback and Mummy mountains, she was under the gun: Despite plans for a radical expansion of the original kitchen, she had offered up her house as the location for a big fundraiser for Oligo Nation, a nonprofit dedicated to brain tumor research, in just three months. And there could be no cutting of corners: The house was also going to serve as the calling card and company HQ for her interior design firm, Urban Revival.

With the pressure on and supply chains still snarled from the pandemic, Yeates was forced to “make bold, creative choices and source materials I might not otherwise have considered,” she says. Her laser focus was on twin goals: creating a working kitchen that really functions, and making a space that’s equally suited to family dinners and big events. Here, we break down exactly what makes this kitchen cook.

Details like custom marquetry on the Sub-Zero refrigerator, postmodern pendant lights from Arteriors, and a sculptural ceiling-mounted faucet from Kohler add up to something different. Grasscloth wallcovering, Annie Selke; marble tile, Floor & Decor.

JENNY FLYNN

1. CREATE A SPACE APART
After years of open-plan kitchens, a clearly delineated cook space feels like a brand-new concept. Rather than hide this beauty away, however, Yeates declared the room the center of attention by framing it with a striking glass archway custom-made by Steel & Stone in Mesa, Arizona.

2. TRY SOMETHING UNEXPECTED
Yeates’s favorite party trick? Turning on the ceiling-mounted Purist Suspend faucet from Kohler. With the looks of a sculptural object, it keeps the counters clean—literally and visually. (“I never have to scrub the gunk around the handle,” says the designer.) And then there’s the copper snake hardware below the sink, sourced on Etsy, which nods to the local fauna (and Yeates’s own fierce taste).

Designer Emily Yeates of Urban Revival.

Girls at Flourish

3. WHAT’S OLD IS NEW AGAIN
Postmodern accents feel, well, modern when reinterpreted with a fresh point of view. Graphic pendant lights look like they’re borrowed from a Moholy-Nagy poster, while repeating rectangular shapes in the cabinets, hardware, and glass partition are a contemporary take on classical principles.

4. MAKE A CONNECTION
“Black is a captivating anchor,” says Yeates, who peppered ebony accents throughout the kitchen, providing a through line for materials like the white-oak cabinets, soft green quartzite counter tops, and tri-toned checkerboard marble floor.

5. MAKE IT ALL WORK
This is a kitchen that’s meant to be used, not just looked at, and there’s real beauty in that. A hardworking stainless-steel sink feels elevated thanks to an integrated apron front crafted out of the same durable quartzite as the counters. The island accommodates chairs that get pulled up for casual family hang time and then removed for extra prep space during events, revealing open shelving that can store plenty of easy-access plates in a place that’s well away from cooking messes.

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN VOLUME 17 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!

Robert Rufino’s Manhattan Apartment Is an Elegant Cabinet of Curiosities

Posted on September 19, 2025October 13, 2025 by Christina Elliston

In the early 1990s, Robert Rufino walked into the Gucci boutique on Fifth Avenue and ordered a pair of made-to-measure shoes—single monk straps in burnished leather, based on a design from the company’s archives. “Since then, I’ve probably had at least six pair in black and six in brown, and that’s what I wear—they’re part of who I am,” says the renowned editor and stylist, sitting on an armless velvet sofa in the living room of his Sutton Place apartment. “And I guess my home kind of echoes that.”

A Giacometti plaster lamp and Fornasetti plate are among the belongings that have accompanied Rufino to nearly every home he’s lived in. The mirror, which he had stripped and antiqued, holds postcards from travels far and wide.

Stephen Kent Johnson

A large abstract print by Arthur Ou rests on a table in the gallery. Rufino had cabinets filled with coral at his former house in Bridgehampton; a few pieces are still scattered throughout this apartment.

Stephen Kent Johnson

Looking around the room, the comparison seems less far-fetched than one might imagine. Nearly every item—save for that sofa, a relative newcomer—has been a decades-long companion, each one tied to a moment in his storied career. There are the chairs he bought at Lord & Taylor in his early twenties, when he had just gotten his first job as a window dresser at Henri Bendel. There’s the pair of marble-topped desks that once displayed jewelry in the Schlumberger boutique at Tiffany & Co. on Fifth Avenue, where he was vice-president of worldwide creative services for 13 years. There’s the large-scale photograph—a negative image of ice, printed on metal—given to him by William Abranowicz, one of the interiors photographers with whom he frequently collaborated while on staff at magazines like Architectural Digest, Elle Decor, and House Beautiful, and now as a contributing editor to FREDERIC . “Every object in this apartment means something to me, and has value,” he muses.

Rufino purchased the French antique steel daybed for his first apartment at 82nd Street and Riverside Drive. "It was the third one I bought—the first two wouldn't fit through the door, so I had to return them. But this one comes apart," he explains. Its function has changed throughout the years, he adds, but "sometimes I'll still spend a Sunday there reading or taking a nap. It's always been a part of my life."

Stephen Kent Johnson

An étagère from Mecox Gardens is filled with a trove of art and design books. The shells were once part of a vast collection in Rufino's former Bridgehampton home.

Stephen Kent Johnson

"I love traveling and doing shoots and running around and seeing other places, but I just feel very at peace here," says Rufino, pictured.

Stephen Kent Johnson

That surety of self-knowledge is even more remarkable given the trend-driven realm in which Rufino works. “You get to travel to incredible houses, to castles, to beautiful apartments, places that are just magical. You’re influenced by so much—you think, ‘Oh my god, this is great, I want to change this and that when I get home,’” he explains. “But then when I open the door to my own apartment, it’s my space, and I want it to feel like me. I don’t think your house should be trendy—your home is who you are.”

The entry hall is lined in paper-backed wool fabric typically used for men’s suiting and separated from the main salon by heavy wool curtains. “Every night, I put on my pajamas and pull the curtains closed—it’s my sort of ritual,” says Rufino.

Stephen Kent Johnson

Rufino enlisted Fresco Decorative Arts to transform his kitchen walls with black plaster. A friend scribbled Twombly-esque loops on the window using white oil pencil to create a privacy screen.

Stephen Kent Johnson

Fresco also lacquered several doors in a deep, dark red, inspired by a similar finish that Rufino fell in love with at the Connaught hotel in London.

Stephen Kent Johnson

Rufino has lived in this particular home for going on 16 years. “I had been living in a studio on the Upper East Side, which I loved, but one day, I said, you know what? I need a bigger apartment,” he recalls. His real estate agent brought him to a prewar co-op near Sutton Place to show him an apartment. “He told me that there was another one like it coming onto the market, but it wasn’t ready yet.” Undeterred, Rufino asked to see it anyway. “Half the floors had been torn up, there was acid on the walls, but as soon as I walked in, I knew there was something about it. I felt like I’d been there before.”

The “Brooks Brothers blue” bedroom captures the apartment’s gentlemanly appeal, with a bench upholstered in striped tie silk and a headboard in haberdashery windowpane wool.

Stephen Kent Johnson

Slowly, Rufino transformed the space to fit his iconoclastic vision of a gentleman’s salon, leaving no surface unconsidered. He stripped nearly all of the doors to reveal a gray-tinted wood that looks almost like patinated steel, and had the remaining few lacquered in coat after coat of deepest red. The walls of the kitchen were covered in black plaster and buffed to a high-shine finish and the entry hall swathed in wool used for men’s suiting. Even the closets are their own works of art, their shelves meticulously wrapped in Indian printed cotton, filled with a collection of objects—postcards, snapshots, bits of ribbon and feathers—arranged with a sense of artistry worthy of a Tiffany’s window display. “It’s a little bit mad,” Rufino laughs.

An Indian block-printed cotton lines every surface of Rufino’s closets—even his ironing board is covered to match.

Stephen Kent Johnson

A 1960s Slim Aarons portrait of Desmond Guinness and his children hangs in the adjoining bathroom.

Stephen Kent Johnson

Mad or not, the result is undeniable: a sanctum of calm six floors above 57th Street, a shrine to the kind of beauty created by time and memory. Rufino knows this, too: “Every morning, I wake up and sit here in the quietness and think to myself, Oh, I live here. It’s a very, very nice life.”

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN VOLUME 17 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!

Transforming Wood Floors Into Works of Art

Posted on September 18, 2025September 22, 2025 by Jill Simpson

Like many obsessions, Robert Walsh’s led to something rather extraordinary: some of the most profoundly beautiful hardwood floors in the world. It all began at the tender age of six, when the founder of UK-based Woodworks began spiriting himself away in his father’s workshop; by the age of eight, he was hanging around construction sites. “From a young age I saw people pulling buildings to bits and trying to put them back together again and I began understanding joinery and wood,” says Walsh. That, combined with his father’s pre-war ethos that forbid wasting anything—old bits of lumber included—and he was forever enchanted. He loved, in particular, pulling nails because it brought him into a close communion with worn floorboards and led him to discover that wood, in fact, had a soul.

“Restoring antique wood is like restoring a painting,” says Walsh. “We honor the shape and wear so It feels like it’s never been touched.” That’s the approach taken with this recently build private chapel in the Scottish Isles, which is defined by a bespoke Woodworks floor made of antique oak that has all the patina and natural undulations that come with hundreds of years of use. With a puzzle-like complexity, it was pieced together by hand with over 3,000 pegs.

Courtesy of Woodworks

Even after going off to university to study philosophy, the attraction of old planks had Walsh in a vise grip. And once he discovered that he could make money from his childhood hobby, hanging around construction sites no longer seemed frivolous. “I made 200 quid the first time I resold some old floorboards, which felt like a lot,” says Walsh. “But the grownups got the good stuff, and I got the rubbish.” Walsh had to put real labor into restoring the wood he acquired, while his competitors simply bought and sold the best lots. And that was the key to it all: the realization that there were ways to bring neglected materials back to life and make them not just shine, but speak again. He experimented and taught himself innovative ways to repair while preserving the patina, and devised methods no one had ever tried before for turning wood into floorboards.

Housed on the company’s campus in Cheshire, Woodworks’ vast archive contains numerous rare specimens including ancient Australian jarrah, pine felled centuries ago from a primeval forest, and antique European elm.

Courtesy of Woodworks

And so Woodworks was born, and in 1993 Walsh began buying up rare and historic wood: from the Old War Office in Whitehall, from defunct vodka distilleries in Poland, from old dock buildings in Liverpool, from 16th-century homes. He poured any money he had into inventory, and over the decades assembled one of the finest archives of antique wood in the world. The treasures hidden in his stockpile include centuries-old French oak, flooring with bomb damage from World War II, and 45-foot-long beams with the original North American logging marks. It’s all carefully cataloged in the 15-acre Woodworks campus in Cheshire, awaiting the perfect project. “Once the rarest woods are gone, that’s it, they’re gone and there won’t be another opportunity to buy them,” says Walsh.

“I worked with Woodworks for over six months to perfect this floor, which I wanted to be quite detailed,” says designer James Thurstan Waterworth of British design firm Thurstan, who created this snug for the 2025 WOW!house in London in collaboration with Hector Finch lighting. Warmth emanates from the antique elm reclaimed from a 16th-century home in Wales.

Martin Morrell

Although Walsh began working with new wood in 1997 and, in his pioneering way, sparked the craze for wide oak floors (which led to the establishment of his tremendously successful Ted Todd business), he couldn’t let go of his first love. In 2010, he decided to concentrate in earnest on his obsession with creating things that no one else could—whether they be made with antique, reclaimed, or new wood. “We’re explorers with an artistic approach. We’re always looking to work with people who will make us push the boundaries and create something extraordinary. I’ve never made 45-foot-long floorboards before, but one day the perfect project will come along and we’ll figure it out.”

“Every detail of the layout and design work is done in our workshop and every piece is carefully numbered so the installer doesn’t have to make any decisions,” says Walsh. Holes and damaged sections of reclaimed wood are repaired by hand to honor the wood’s original shape and wear.

Courtesy of Woodworks

As a result of Woodworks’ swashbuckling approach, they’ve created impossible-to-replicate foundations for some remarkable spaces. There’s the latticework done with exquisitely matched tone and grain for a renowned fashion house’s flagship store; the jewel box of a chapel set on a private island with an interlocking, puzzle-like design that looks as if it’s been in place since the Gothic period; and the floor painstakingly pieced together for a 50,000-square-foot office in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards. “We used really rare, really big pine beams that had been cut down in a primeval forest in North America around 1850, and then shipped to Liverpool, where they sat untouched, seasoning for 160 years until we bought them in 2022,” says Walsh. “Some of the trees were 1,000 years old, slow growth, wood of the finest grade with the straightest quality, and the brief was that every piece of wood needed to be used, and every piece needed to be repaired.”

A bespoke herringbone floor is worthy of this elegant apartment in Regent’s Crescent, along one of London’s most gracious royal parks. Crafted from European oak, the wood is cut to showcase an open grain that’s been hand-brushed to reveal all the charm of its natural knots and knolls.

Adam Parker Photography

Walsh’s deep understanding of the quality of the wood, his ability to work on large-scale projects, and his proprietary methods for hand-restoring and finishing led to a floor like no other, with many types of unusual repairs—end grains, sections, butterfly patches—with a singular patina, a surface polished using nothing but the natural resins as protection, which seemed to glow from within.

“Our parquet patterns need to have total integrity,” says Walsh, who insists on laying out each piece by hand—especially important in perfecting circular shapes. The results of that painstaking effort show in this Sapphire Parquetry, a seamless design made with aged European oak.

Courtesy of Woodworks

“Once the rarest woods are gone, that’s it, they’re gone and there won’t be another opportunity to buy them.”

ROBERT WALSH

Guided by a template, every shape in a Woodworks parquet panel is cut by hand. The edges of each piece are then hand finished to ensure all the elements flow and fit together flawlessly.

Courtesy of Woodworks

Ever the innovator, Walsh even makes his own machines and special equipment to create floors that have an integrity that’s extremely hard to achieve. Edges are rolled so that boards fit together softly, which gives a very different feeling from the crisp artificiality of beveled edges. Surfaces are carefully cleaned—never brushed—to maintain the original wear and shape of the floor using restoration techniques that require at least 10 different processes. “We want to honor the floor so that when you engage with it, when you walk on it or touch it, it feels soft and elegant and natural. Even though someone has spent months doing something to it, the floor should feel effortless, as if it’s always been there,” says Walsh.

“Rare French oak that’s been around for 180 years becomes this amazing honey color that you can’t create,” says Walsh. That hue infuses designer Andrianna Shamaris’s Soho, New York, penthouse with life. The antique flooring features traditional joinery with irregularly spaced yet precisely placed inlaid butterfly joints that elevates it to both a craft and design element.

Andrianna Shamaris, Thomas Leeser

Meet the 2025 FREDERIC It List Designers

Posted on September 17, 2025October 13, 2025 by Jill Simpson

Welcome to the third annual FREDERIC It List, where we shine the spotlight on rising design stars who are leading the pack with a dynamic sense of style all their own. From Los Angeles to Paris, New Orleans to Cornwall, these multitalented tastemakers are defining a vision for a new generation while paying homage to the influences that shape them.

ADAM BEN WAGNER
LOS ANGELES

“Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been fascinated by the way people live,” says Adam Ben Wagner. Initially intending to pursue a career as an architect—he studied at the University of Michigan before taking a job at a corporate architecture firm—he soon discovered that his true passion lay in interiors, particularly “how we use them, how they make us feel,” he explains. After honing his skills with Cuff Studio and Jake Arnold, Wagner launched his own studio, a.b.w interior design, in 2021, bringing with him a Cali-cool aesthetic that’s equal parts warm and spare. Even now, though, his schooling comes through: “My favorite architecture professor once told me that in design, symmetry is lazy. And while I don’t always agree, I’ve kept that advice with me for the past 13 years.”

MICHAEL CLIFFORD
MICHAEL CLIFFORD
MICHAEL CLIFFORD

WHAT DO YOU COLLECT AND WHY? Art. It gives soul to a space. Plus, you can never have too much art and it’s fun to rotate pieces every so often.

What’S A DESIGN RULE YOU LIKE TO BREAK? Mixing metals. Go for it. Who cares?

WHERE DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION? Books. While traveling is the best way to find inspiration, good design books are the next best thing. Especially if they’re old books. It’s amazing to see how styles evolve and are reinterpreted over time.

BEATRIZ ROSE
LOS ANGELES

Growing up in São Paulo and Los Angeles with Taiwanese parents, designer Beatriz Rose “learned that when language isn’t the easiest way to connect, you engage more deeply with the visual world—observing how environments shape mood, behavior, and memory.” With dual degrees in interior architecture and film studies, it’s no surprise that she describes her work as “narrative-driven,” with each new endeavor—whether it’s an English-style Tudor in Santa Monica or a 1920s Spanish bungalow in Venice—weaving its own distinct story. “I want them to feel lived-in, layered, and emotionally resonant,” she says. “They draw you in and make you want to stay awhile.”

Laure Joliet
Laure Joliet
Laure Joliet

WHAT’S THE BEST DESIGN ADVICE YOU’VE RECEIVED? Get good at editing your own work. Every project benefits from simplification—that’s usually where the magic lives. And bring a measuring tape with you everywhere when starting out—it’ll help you become a better designer when you inherently understand scale and proportions.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE? Somewhere between soulful and lived-in, with a dash of eccentric Aunt B.

WHERE DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION? Travel, old photographs, gardens, film, salvage yards, and good old silence.

COAL
CORNWALL, ENGLAND

There is an inextricable sense of place in the work of Emily and Joe Reilly, the husband-and-wife team behind design studio COAL in the windswept county of Cornwall, England. “As designers, we try to foresee how a home will function on a daily basis, but also how it will interact with the landscape, the light, and the changing seasons that surround it,” explains Emily. For Joe, an architect, that can mean incorporating local materials like driftwood or lime; for Emily, who oversees interior design, it often involves a generous dose of brightly hued paint or colorful patterns by William Morris or C.F.A. Voysey to combat the gray Cornish “mizzle” outside.

LOGAN IRVINE-MACDOUGALL
Brooke Harwood
Logan Irvine-Macdougal

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE? An emphasis on craft is important to us. Things that bear the marks of being handmade or hand-painted make us smile; things that cannot be replicated feel particularly special in our current climate.

WHAT’S A DESIGN RULE YOU LIKE TO BREAK? I heard that you should never attempt to reupholster a Togo Sofa. Our clever upholsterer took on the challenge and the rule-breaking paid off!

WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU? Adding a contemporary extension onto our own family home—a recently renovated 300-year-old farm cottage—and creating a new studio in one of our barns. We’re also working on a renovation of an old off-grid hunting lodge, situated on the moor in West Cornwall, with panoramic views out to sea. The landscape in this part of Cornwall is very atmospheric, it’s steeped in myth and feels as old as time.

ELLIE PEUGEOT
PARIS

For most designers, renovating the former apartment of Isabella Blow on London’s tony Eaton Square would be a career high. For Ellie Peugeot, who had only recently pivoted to interiors after years as a human rights lawyer, it was just the start. “We treated it as if it were an opera mise-en-scène and had a lot of fun!” recalls the self-taught Peugeot, who was born in Iran, raised in the U.K. and Canada, and now lives in Paris. Since then, she’s cemented her reputation as a deft blender of eras and styles, often invigorating historic homes with contemporary furnishings, globe-spanning art, and luxuriously crafted finishes. Adds Peugeot, “I’m of the firm belief that anything that can be made by hand should be!”

ADRIEN DIRAND
ADRIEN DIRAND
ADRIEN DIRAND

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE? I am drawn to classical architecture but with a mix of refined, calm, and collected contemporary interiors. I champion the use of natural materials—marble, rattan, wood, linen, silk, cashmere, stone, bamboo.

WHERE DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION? From my travels, whether that’s physical travel or through literature from the past. My latest inspiration visit was to the Greek Revival dream that is Villa Kérylos and also a visit to the Alhambra in Granada.

What’S THE LAST THING YOU BOUGHT FOR YOUR HOME? I just purchased a set of four painted early-19th-century Chinese panels from the Paul Atkinson sale after a pretty feisty bidding war!

JULIETTE SAIER
PARIS AND BRUSSELS

After an initial career managing real estate investment funds, Juliette Saier experienced a coup de foudre: “When I visited a home designed by Jacques Grange in the South of France, it was an aesthetic shock— I knew I wanted to try, in my own way, to create beauty.” She went back to school at the Studio des Arts Déco in Paris and, after a short internship, started her own firm. Saier’s elegant, timeless aesthetic stems in part from her avoidance of trends: “I always aim to add a touch of classicism—even in contemporary settings,” she says. And in every project, she tries to include a library: “Nothing gives a home more soul.”

ALICE MESGUICH
ERICK SAILLET
ERICK SAILLET

WHAT’S THE BEST DESIGN ADVICE YOU’VE RECEIVED? You know the saying, “Good things come to those who wait”? I think the same goes for beauty: Beauty comes to those who wait. I’m naturally impatient—I want everything done quickly. But in interior design, taking your time is essential.

What’S A DESIGN RULE YOU LIKE TO BREAK? In France, there’s a design guide called La Maison sur Mesure, which gives ideal dimensions for everything—distances between furniture, minimum sizes for bathrooms, etc. We refer to it at the studio… mostly for the pleasure of breaking the rules. When you start out, you rely on it. Later, you learn to bend it to serve the space.

WHAT DO YOU COLLECT AND WHY? Books! I love them—and I’m obsessed with bookcases. Nothing reveals more about a person than their library. I love visiting people’s homes and seeing what they read—guessing what they dream about, what fascinates them.

JUSTICE QUINN
TULSA, OKLAHOMA

“After years of buying, collecting, and reselling vintage pieces,” Justice Quinn naturally segued into decorating. A voracious curiosity about furnishings, their history, and a love of the hunt “has built a kind of internal library of references that is reflected in the work I do.” His most meaningful project to date has been the restoration of the 1927 Art Deco home of artist Adah Robinson, designed by Bruce Goff. “Working on a design of Goff’s, a hero of mine, felt surreal and I considered it a deep honor.”

VORA QUINN PHOTOGRAPHY
Taylor Hall O'Brien
Taylor Hall O'Brien

What’S A DESIGN RULE YOU LIKE TO BREAK? I’m comfortable with what some might consider a few too many seating options. Whether it’s ottomans, stools, or chairs, I don’t like to travel more than a foot or two in my own home without having a place to sit and ponder.

WHAT’S THE BEST DESIGN ADVICE YOU’VE RECEIVED? The advice I come back to most came from my friend Ryan Lawson: Trust your instincts. I’ve learned that in design, your instincts are often your most authentic form of expression.

WHAT DO YOU COLLECT AND WHY? Any and all furniture that catches my eye. I’ve found the hunt for things is the best way to refine my taste, and over time, that’s led to more than a few storage units filled with pieces I just couldn’t walk away from.

LINDSAY FALCONER
NEW ORLEANS

A self-described proponent of “slow decorating,” New Orleans native Lindsay Falconer understands the value of intention. Whether she’s channeling Mongiardino in a full-floor Park Avenue apartment or mining Florentine hues for her own home in the Big Easy (she recently moved back after a decade-plus in New York, where she was an assistant at Vogue before joining Daniel Romualdez’s studio), Falconer’s passion for storytelling shines through. “Every project is treated as its own narrative,” she explains. “I want my clients to feel as if they’ve stepped into another time and place, far removed from the outside world.”

ETHAN HERRINGTON
ETHAN HERRINGTON
ETHAN HERRINGTON

WHAT SETS YOUR WORK APART? Rather than chasing trends or applying a singular aesthetic, I design spaces that feel soulful, layered, and emotionally resonant. I’m especially drawn to rich, Florentine-inspired palettes that bring a painterly warmth and depth rarely seen in contemporary design.

HOW DO YOU WANT CLIENTS TO FEEL IN THEIR HOME? I want my clients to feel as if they’ve stepped into another time and place, far removed from the outside world.

WHERE DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION? It is so clichéd, but I really do find inspiration everywhere. I am inspired by the color combinations in nature—specifically flowers—and inspired by all places—museums, restaurants, hotels, even fleeting moments of atmosphere. All of it becomes part of the visual memory I draw from in my work.

MICHAEL ZIPP
BROOKLYN

“A client once described my vision as ‘undiscriminating high taste’— I will look at any object or piece of furniture regardless of cost or perceived significance and find the value and meaning in it,” says Michael Zipp, who credits his roots in the antiques mecca of Hudson, New York, with instilling a lifelong appreciation for pieces with a past. After working for James Huniford and Billy Cotton, Zipp launched his own firm in 2020; whether he’s designing a Miami Beach penthouse or his own Greek Revival in Upstate New York, the result always strikes a careful balance between form and function. “There is nothing more luxurious than walking into a home where every last detail has been considered,” he says.

KYLE CALDWELL
Kyle Caldwell
Kyle Caldwell

WHERE DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION? The contemporary art world is a huge source of inspiration. I often find myself pulling together color palettes and fabric schemes after seeing the way that colors and textures harmonize in a particular piece of art.

What’S A DESIGN RULE YOU LIKE TO BREAK? Sometimes there’s a tendency to make a whole house coordinate in a way that can stifle creativity. Not every room has to directly and obviously speak to one another for there to be a greater design dialogue occurring.

WHAT DO YOU COLLECT AND WHY? Midcentury French ceramics from Vallauris, particularly the work of Juliette Derel, who was in Picasso’s circle. I have become a bit obsessive, trolling French auctions for her ceramics. I love the way that she includes mirror shard elements into her vases, which sets her work apart.

REBECCA AMIR
NEW YORK

It was only after working as a home editor at Vogue magazine and a stint living abroad in Tel Aviv that Rebecca Amir realized her future was in the world of interiors. Fortunately, she had an A-list team of mentors to help guide her transition, including fellow Vogue alum Virginia Tupker, for whom she worked while taking courses. Then, after three years on the Soho House design team, she struck out on her own. On her first solo project, a Brooklyn townhouse, she made “a classic rookie mistake—the custom sectional didn’t fit through the doorway,” but it’s been onward and upward from there. “One of my friends described my style as ‘fancy but cozy,’” says Amir, “and I think that sums it up well.”

KIRSTEN FRANCIS
Julie Leffell
KIRSTEN FRANCIS

WHAT DO YOU COLLECT AND WHY? I recently started collecting vintage African indigo textiles. I’d love to upholster a sofa or big armchair in them one day. I also have a collection of seashells and rocks from all my travels, kept in various bowls around our house. The colors and textures are so inspiring.

WHERE DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION? I’m very inspired by discovering new artists and artisans. I love learning about the history or technique behind a craft and then being able to bring soul and character into a home through beautiful, unique objects.

WHAT’S THE LAST THING YOU BOUGHT FOR YOUR HOME? A vintage Italian cachepot I’m planning to use as an ice bucket.

STILL JOHNSON
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

Marguerite Johnson and Anna Still met while working for designer Betsy Brown and soon realized their strengths and styles were simpatico. “We love creating spaces that are based in tradition but feel fresh and unexpected through bold patterns, interesting art, and rich color,” say the pair, who’ve relished the opportunity to work on meaningful projects, from a 1930s Colonial in Jackson, Mississippi, to a light-filled “midcentury masterpiece” in Birmingham, Alabama. The most helpful advice they’ve received along the way? “Keep furnishings symmetrical and styling asymmetrical,” says Johnson. “What comes easy won’t last long, and what lasts long won’t come easy,” adds Still.

C.W. NEWELL
Mary Boyett Rooks
C.W. NEWELL

HOW DO YOU WANT CLIENTS TO FEEL IN THEIR HOME? I always tell clients that they are the lead designers. We never want a home to look like Anna’s or Marguerite’s home. Hopefully every home reﬂects the clients’ taste, story and lifestyle, but just really well-executed.

What’S A DESIGN RULE YOU LIKE TO BREAK? Occasionally, I like to put something in a room that is totally out of scale. It could be a diminutive ﬂoor lamp or an exaggerated piece of art. Playing with scale can be interesting, but it really has to be intentional or else it’s a bust.

WHERE DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION? Historical buildings, churches, music, nature, travel, art, vintage textiles, antique shops, old design books. To clear my head, I like to go for a drive in a historic neighborhood. To get excited and energized for project, I like to go to dinner with other creatives; something about shared creative passions really sparks excitement for my work.

STUDIO N&TL
NEW YORK

Vienna-born Nathan Német and Brooklyn native Beatrice Tait-Loft first crossed paths at Ash Staging—Német, after working in real estate, and Tait-Loft, after studying photography and design history. “Within three seconds of meeting, I had a falling-in-love moment,” laughs Német of their fast friendship, which last year led to the creation of Studio N&TL. “Our work is a blend of design elements we each love, shaped by our unique upbringings and a continuous commitment to exploration,” say the pair. In just the first year of launching their own firm, they’ve already landed eight projects. Their first, a luxury apartment at New York’s Hudson Yards, was “a true pinch-me moment—and that feeling hasn’t left us since.”

ETHAN O’GRADY
ETHAN O’GRADY
ETHAN O’GRADY

WHAT’S THE BEST DESIGN/CAREER ADVICE YOU’VE RECEIVED? Nathan: “Be value-added.” It might sound simple, but adopting that mindset when working with clients makes everything smoother and fosters meaningful, lasting relationships. Beatrice: My glass-ceiling-shattering mother has been a major role model in my life. In the midst of installing four projects at once, she reminded me to maintain perspective—and to be kind to myself.

WHAT’S THE LAST THING YOU BOUGHT FOR YOUR HOME? A pink Pumpkin sofa by Pierre Paulin for Ligne Roset. (We’re heavily addicted to auctions).

WHAT DO YOU COLLECT AND WHY? We’ve both recently developed a habit of collecting wrought iron objects—it’s becoming a bit problematic (especially when paired with our pink Pierre Paulin sofa).

VALERIE PEÑA
NEW YORK

Growing up surrounded by textiles in her mother’s small window-treatment workroom in the Dominican Republic, Valerie Peña felt almost destined to become a decorator. After studying both interior and industrial design, she worked in the hospitality field in Santo Domingo, then moved to New York where she trained with pros like Nicole Fuller and Rajni Alex before starting her own firm. Peña’s rooms have a tactile richness and organic appeal: “I love blending different historical periods with contemporary design,” she explains. “I gravitate to spaces that feel elevated and elegant.”

JOE KRAMM
JOE KRAMM
JOE KRAMM

WHAT DO YOU COLLECT AND WHY? Does jewelry and clothing count? I’ve started collecting ceramics and vintage furniture.

WHAT’S THE LAST THING YOU BOUGHT FOR YOUR HOME? My favorite diffuser and room spray; it’s also the signature smell at our studio: Diptyque 34 Boulevard Saint Germain.

WHAT’S YOUR DREAM PROJECT? A boutique hotel. I started in hospitality back home, it would be amazing to go back to this at some point in my career.

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

Raise the Bar With These Chic Cocktail Accessories

Posted on September 12, 2025October 13, 2025 by Penelope Riley

It might not be proven science, but we firmly believe that a sculptural shaker, fanciful glass, or lustrous serving tray can make any cocktail taste better. From a leather-wrapped ice bucket to a playful lemon press, these chic accoutrements make even the most casual gathering an affair to remember.

Islay Dry Gin by The Botanist

Made with hand-foraged botanicals, The Botanist’s Islay Dry Gin is subtle, balanced, and our new go-to.

$50 for 700 ml, thebotanist.com

Vanitas Decanter by Simone Crestani

The witty, darkly sophisticated Vanitas Decanter is inspired by the eponymous 17th-century painting genre.

$695, artemest.com

Positano Large Ice Bucket by Giobagnara

Handcrafted in Italy, Giobagnara’s streamlined Positano Large Ice Bucket is wrapped in rich leather.

$1,295, artemest.com

Boris Shot Glass by LSA International

Master glassblowers craft the sculptural Boris Shot Glass with a weighty base and fine rim.

$60 for two, lsa-international.com

Vertigo Silver-Plated Bottle/Carafe Coaster by Christofle

It’s the asymmetrical ring that gives the Vertigo Silver-Plated Bottle/Carafe Coaster its subtle flair.

$335, christofle.com

Smoke Water Glasses by Joe Colombo for Arnolfo di Cambio

In 1963, Joe Colombo designed the modernist Smoke Water Glass for Arnolfo di Cambio with a delightfully off-kilter stem.

$285 for two, artemest.com

Large Jacques Tray by Campbell-Rey for The Lacquer Company

The faceted frame and hand-lacquered base of the Jacques Tray makes a dramatic backdrop for glassware.

$525, thelacquercompany.com

Cosme Coupe by Sophie Lou Jacobsen

With its fanciful botanical stem and petal-like rim, the Cosme Coupe makes every drink feel festive.

$150 for four, sophieloujacobsen.com

Ice Tongs by Arne Jacobsen

Clean, industrial, and iconic, Arne Jacobsen–designed Ice Tongs bring a modern muscularity to the party.

$65, stelton.us

Bavarde Pitcher byLaurence Brabant and Alain Villechange

Keep mixers in Laurence Brabant and Alain Villechange’s playful Bavarde Pitcher for easy access.

$265, schumacherboutique.com

Manhattan Cocktail Shaker by Georg Jensen

It doesn’t get any more timeless than the mirror-polished silhouette of this Art Deco–inspired Manhattan Cocktail Shaker.

$169, georgjensen.com

Fish Bottle Opener by Svenskt Tenn

This gap-mouthed, goggle-eyed Fish Bottle Opener radiates personality.

$128, svenskttenn.com

Cocktail Napkins by William White

Treat yourself to the little luxury that is a set of crisp Italian cotton Cocktail Napkins.

$200 for four, williamwhite.com

Martini Mixer with Spoon by Arne Jacobsen

Handsome and refined, the Martini Mixer by Arne Jacobsen will take your cocktail-mixing experience to the next level.

$170, stelton.us.

White Corkscrew by Hudson Grace

A time-tested design, the resin-handled White Corkscrew is built to last.

$45, hudsongracesf.com

Lemon Squeezer by Kajidonya

This cute Japanese-made Lemon Squeezer by Kajidonya is also clever, with a seed catcher hidden in its beak.

$25, couteliernola.com

Oh de Christofle Stainless Steel Jigger by Christofle

Nautically inspired, the sleek Stainless Steel Jigger feels good in the hand.

$85, christofle.com

Knot Sterling Silver Cocktail Picks by Heath Wagoner

Elevate a dirty martini with a handmade Knot Sterling Silver Cocktail Pick by Heath Wagoner.

$525 for four, heathwagoner.com

Silver Queue Petrol Lighter by Tsubota Pearl

Light up in style with the reed-like Silver Queue Petrol Lighter, made by 72-year-old Japanese company Tsubota Pearl.

$45, bygeorgeaustin.com

Slottet Carafe by Eleish Van Breems

This classic mouth-blown carafe is still made in the same way as in the 18th century.

$120, evbantiques.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 17 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!

A Storybook Shingle-Style House Where Every Room Tells a Captivating Tale

Posted on September 10, 2025September 18, 2025 by Jill Simpson

The 1870s shingle-style house towers above the crashing waves of the Atlantic in Rockport, Massachusetts. A storybook-worthy manse with octagonal turrets, bedrooms tucked under zigzagging Victorian eaves, and sweeping views of the surf, it’s the kind of fantasy summer escape that should inspire glittering vacation memories—not, God forbid, yawns. But boredom it indeed evoked when Salem-based designer Sarah Henley got a first look behind its doors. “The whole house was painted the same beige color,” says Henley. “It was dry and depressing—all bones, zero personality.”

Also: This is New England. Embracing quirkiness is encouraged here. Henley, faced with a house full of choppy angles, awkward proportions, and enough character to stock a Dickens novel, decided to lean in hard. It helped that her clients—childhood sweethearts and creatives who grew up in the area but now live on the West Coast—wanted their summer gathering place to work for their whole extended family and for each room in the house to tell its own unique story.

A striped wallpaper border by Studio Atkinson outlines original millwork in the entry. The vintage bentwood chair is from Chairish. Powder room wallpaper, Ottoline. Rug from Nickey Kehoe.

Jared Kuzia

"We introduced elements that lean nautical without hitting you over the head," says Henley of the living room's striped Dumais Made floor lamp base and celestial-patterned Una Malan fabric on the spindle-back Nickey Kehoe chair.

Jared Kuzia

Henley’s M.O.? Work with the architectural idiosyncrasies while making sure the frills were still function-forward in a holiday home meant for barefoot plug-and-play ease. The living room, located in the base of one of the turrets, boasts drop-dead vistas, but also oddly angled window walls and choppy soffited ceilings. Henley wasn’t the least perturbed, though, choosing a vintage Milo Baughman sectional to curve perfectly into the tricky proportions so it elegantly commands the space, then covering it in a nuanced Rose Tarlow azure stripe that’s like sunlight stippled through a wave, to echo the show outside.

Then there’s the wallpaper—a winding, viney motif that Henley and her wallpaper installer carefully plotted to embrace every odd angle. The organic pattern draws your eye around the room, making you forget all about those problematic ceiling lines. “If we had done something more monolithic on the walls, I think it would just feel static and choppy,” she says.

Form serves function in the mudroom, where built-in storage benches are painted in Farrow & Ball’s De Nimes and wear cushions in a Boon & Up fabric. Roman shades in Chelsea Textiles stripe. Antique rug.

Jared Kuzia

Farrow & Ball's Yeabridge Green coats the banister leading to a pair of guest rooms on the third floor. Each bedroom is adorned with a name placard to help weekend visitors locate their designated space with ease.

Jared Kuzia

In the dining room, Henley opted to keep birds-eye maple built-ins, installed in the ’90s, commissioning Pauline Curtiss to paint a custom mural featuring local flora. Mantel in Farrow & Ball’s Light Blue. Antique farmhouse table with a Fibreworks seagrass rug underfoot. Windsor chairs, O&G Studio.

JAred Kuzia

In the dining room, Henley faced down blocky 1990s built-in cabinetry with characteristic resourcefulness. Instead of ripping them out—they’re crafted from beautifully grained birds-eye maple—she commissioned local decorative painter Pauline Curtiss to create a custom mural using native flora. Now Queen Anne’s lace and swamp violets curl around the doors, a perfect complement to the original mantel, now cloaked in a cerulean blue, and shipshape Windsor chairs.

The “Ocean” room, which is also the primary bedroom, embraces quiet horizon hues with walls in a natural fiber from Phillip Jeffries with sandy undertones and blue-green threads. Mirror, Dumais Made; nightstand, Hollywood at Home; vintage bench, Chairish.

Jared Kuzia

If the living room was Henley proving she could tame a turret, the bedrooms are where she let loose. Each one unfolds like a chapter in a beach-read opus, marked by custom brass placards featuring a fish, a sun, a rabbit, a flower, or a book. Not signage—breadcrumbs in a fairy tale. The “Garden” room, tucked under third-floor eaves, boasts angled planes covered head-to-toe in a grasscloth scattered with whimsical leaves and limned with windows trimmed in a punchy teal blue. The “Sunshine” room features a headboard Henley had painted a yolk hue and paired with clover-patterned wallpaper, lavender millwork, and red-striped Roman shades that could stop traffic. “We embraced the full spectrum of the rainbow,” Henley says. “We didn’t want to rule out any color in this house.”

A Lake August wallpaper covers the “Roost” room in a flock of birds. Window trim in Farrow & Ball’s Lichen. The top of the vintage chest, found on Chairish, was wrapped in blue leather to echo the seascape outside. The bedding is from Parachute, Quince, and Piglet in Bed.

Jared Kuzia

The “Garden” room is wrapped in a leafy Ferrick Mason grasscloth. Window trim pops in Farrow & Ball’s Slate Blue. The nightstand was sourced from the Brimfield Antique Flea Market, the headboards from Chairish, and the rug from Etsy. Pillows in Clare Louise Frost fabric.

Jared Kuzia

The aptly named “Sunshine” room is rainbow bright and irreverent with wallpaper from Ottoline mingling with Roman shades in a C&C Milano stripe, and millwork in Farrow & Ball’s Brassica. Headboard, repainted in Farrow & Ball’s Dayroom Yellow, from Design Within Reach. The custom Moroccan rug is from Etsy.

Jared Kuzia

Throughout, Henley’s sourcing plays like the kind of summer bash everyone wants an invite to, with Brimfield flea finds mingling with C&C Milano threads and Etsy scores sidling up to bespoke coffee tables. There are plenty of vintage rag rugs to handle sandy feet and antiques like an 18th-century American chest of drawers that wear their patina with pride. “We didn’t want guests to feel like they needed to tiptoe around,” she says. “It needed to feel lived-in from the start.” Which is how a house once beige and bone-dry came buzzing back to life, fizzing with color, character, and enough magic to fuel a lifetime of fairy tales.

A Tale of Two Cottages on Sullivan’s Island

Posted on September 8, 2025October 13, 2025 by Isabel Molster

The window-side beds on the upstairs sleeping porch are blanketed in vintage kantha quilts, with oak tree branches at eye level in one direction, and a wallpaper of seashells, vines, and snails in the other—a cozy treehouse come to life, a nook to loll about in the afternoon, read a book, and nap.

That’s just one of the cocoon-like settings created by interior designer Allison Abney for a family of five who retreat to the tangled, sandy landscape of Sullivan’s Island—a beachside community just 10 miles away from downtown Charleston—for holidays and vacations. For several years, the clients had squeezed into an original 1920s cottage, measuring just 842 square feet, that once provided housing for nearby Fort Moultrie. (Remnant bunkers are still lodged in the dunes just across from the property’s ocean-facing edge at Poe Avenue, named for onetime resident Edgar Allen Poe.)

Old-fashioned board walls in the living room in the “new house” set the backdrop for an array of patterned textiles, including patchwork-like Mariner (on the Hollywood at Home ottoman) and Rapscallion (on vintage rattan seating) by Zak + Fox and Schumacher’s Marietta (on curtains). Custom-painted tiles of Lowcountry shorebirds by Aviva Halter surround the fireplace; above is a Soane Britain mirror. The custom Landrum game table is surrounded by Creel & Gow chairs.

Peter Frank Edwards

The shutters and porch floor of the “new house” are painted a vibrant hue (Arugula by Sherwin-Williams) that echoes the lush surroundings. The clients’ vintage rattan furniture was restored and reupholstered in performance fabrics by Sister Parish (on the sofa) and Christopher Farr Cloth (on chairs). Lantern, Hector Finch.

Peter Frank Edwards

Shaded by oak trees, the new house includes deep porches front and back, with tall screen doors to allow sea breezes to flow through. Landscape architect Cindy Cline of Wertimer + Cline designed the garden, which includes a star jasmine plant that will eventually climb the fence and scale the 13-foot-tall screened porch.

Peter Frank Edwards

The family was captivated by the cottage’s simple charms, but eventually outgrew its tiny footprint, and decided to restore the 100-year-old building and add a second, larger home on the lot that would capture the spirit of the original. Most importantly, they didn’t want to lose the quirky aspects of beach living—stacks of games and books, doors left open to screened porches and sea air, and sandy feet and wet bathing suits allowed as much as possible—that made it so comfortable for friends and family. “We almost always prefer old to new,” they jotted in a list of design notes shared with Abney, who worked closely on the project with architect Brent Fleming of B.W. Fleming Architects, also of Charleston.

Because the family had grown so attached to the original pine beadboard on the walls and ceilings of the cottage, they asked the builders to preserve as much as possible. To do so, the century-old exterior walls were carefully disassembled during renovation, the pieces numbered, and later put back together. (Only a handful of the Fort’s cottages were ever built and few remain, so town officials on the preservation-minded island were thrilled they’d keep it intact.)

Warm woods and sunlight flow through the classic, airy kitchen with oak flooring and countertops, and a herringbone design on the hood over the green Lacanche range. Pendant lights, deVol.

Peter Frank Edwards

Along with guiding the careful improvement of the historic cottage, Fleming designed the newly completed main house, which already feels like a Sullivan’s Island original. Now the primary domain during family visits, the structure is enveloped in curving oak tree branches, and includes deep porches on the front and rear, 13-foot ceilings on the first floor, and tall screen doors at either end to allow sea breezes to flow through unobstructed. Much of the first floor is one room, including the kitchen on one side and a living room with a broad fireplace and bookcases on the other. Various seating areas include a custom game table by Charleston craftsman Capers Cauthen of Landrum Tables, antique wicker pieces with freshly upholstered cushions, and a round dining table passed down from a grandparent’s beach house in North Carolina. Upstairs, three bedrooms are snug with alcoves and lower ceilings that often follow angles of the roofline.

Abney describes the upstairs sleeping porch as “an ideal daydreaming room,” with windows that open to the trees and removable cushions around the bed for added comfort. Secret Garden wallpaper by Cole & Son “doesn’t distract from the view, but mirrors it in a more playful way.” Quilt, John Robshaw; sheets, Matouk; sconce, Nickey Kehoe.

Peter Frank Edwards

The guest cottage bedroom “has a great patina and age to it because we didn’t disturb the original beadboard,” says Abney, who painted the walls and ceiling in French Toile by Benjamin Moore. Curtain fabric, Soane; bed, Scott James Furniture; ceiling light, Schoolhouse Electric; hooked rug, The New England Collection.

Peter Frank Edwards

C.F.A. Voysey’s Apothecary’s Garden wallpaper is a period-perfect fit for the cottage’s bathroom; the sink is skirted in Schumacher’s Key West Check; wall light, Thomas O’Brien for Visual Comfort.

Peter Frank Edwards

Abney used color to further enhance the character of both the original and new cottages. The vibrant arugula hue of the shutters—inspired by a foyer floor at Monticello—feels right at home here, echoing shades of jasmine vines and spiky palmettos outside, and even the green of the island’s landmark Irish pub a few blocks away. In another historic nod, a milkshake-pink wall color uncovered in the restoration of the 1920s cottage is now the primary color in its bunk room.

The rear porch overlooking the pool—a favorite spot for alfresco dining— is outfitted with Fermob chairs and a custom outdoor dining table by Landrum Tables; an Urban Electric pendant with a bold fabric shade (in Mill Pond by Fanny Shorter) lights the entryway.

Peter Frank Edwards

Outside, a camellia-lined path leads to an outdoor shower. Between the two cottages is a swimming pool, pool house, and vegetable garden beds—yet another tucked-away respite for the family and all who visit. “Whenever I drop by in the summer,” Abney says, “the pool is full of kids swimming and their friends and family always coming and going on bikes—dropping by and enjoying life on Sullivan’s Island.”

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN VOLUME 17 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!

The Designer’s Guide to Choosing Window Shades

Posted on September 8, 2025October 13, 2025 by Penelope Riley

Roman or Austrian? Folded or relaxed? If you’re daunted by the vast lexicon of window shades, our primer will help guide you through the essential varieties that designers reach for when it’s time to pull the cord.

Structured Roman

FRANÇOIS HALARD/TRUNK ARCHIVE

Structured Roman shades feature sewn-in horizontal dowels to ensure that they hold their shape whether raised or lowered, making them a fit for clean-lined spaces like Jacques Grange’s Paris apartment.

Relaxed Roman

WILLIAM WALDRON

For her daughter Astrid’s bedroom, designer Kristin Ellen Hockman chose relaxed Roman shades in ivory linen. “I didn’t want anything heavy that would compete with her canopy bed,” says Hockman.

SAM FROST/REPRINTED FROM THE WORLD OF PETER DUNHAM

Peter Dunham matched shade fabric and wallpaper (both by Lake August) in a client’s office; an extra lift cord in the middle of the double-width Roman shade prevents it from sagging too much in the center.

Soft-Fold Roman

FRANÇOIS HALARD/TRUNK ARCHIVE

Looped pleats give these soft-fold Roman shades (also known as hobbled Romans) a voluminous silhouette even when lowered, as seen in this Upper East Side living room designed by Stephen Sills.

Flat Roman

KIRSTEN FRANCIS

The uninterrupted design of a flat Roman shade makes it a perfect partner for large-scale prints like the Sarah Vanrenen floral that Georgia Tapert Howe used in this cozy bedroom nook.

Austrian

FRANÇOIS HALARD/TRUNK ARCHIVE

Horizontally gathered panels give Austrian shades a sense of formality; here, Stephen Sills used an airy blue silk and kept the swags to a minimum, creating a single sweep of fabric for an ethereal effect.

London

FRANÇOIS HALARD/TRUNK ARCHIVE

Pull cords are inset several inches from the sides of a fabric panel to create the gathered fishtail effect of a London shade, which Suzanne Tucker rendered in Fortuny cotton for a warmly lit vanity area.

Balloon

PAUL MASSEY

Vertical pleats or gathers at the top header give balloon shades their extra bit of oomph; the romantic, flouncy result is a fitting partner for Flora Soames’s Dahlias fabric, which she used in her Cotswolds dressing room.

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN VOLUME 17 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!

Alison Berger Creates Poetry in Glass and Light

Posted on September 8, 2025September 8, 2025 by Jill Simpson

For artist Alison Berger, past is prologue. While she’s been an esteemed glass artist for decades (her work has been shown at the Museum of Modern Art and the Cooper Hewitt in New York, and is in the permanent collection at the Corning Museum of Glass), she started out studying cultural anthropology, then architecture and art, and worked in architecture before becoming a glass artist. Berger learned glassblowing at the young age of 15. Her fascination with “studying different cultures, and their rites and rituals,” her knowledge of building and construction, how to work with the alchemical properties of glass, and her artistic imagination all come together in her intricate glassworks and illuminating art.

Berger develops new lighting and glasswork in a light-filled studio within a 1920s building that once housed actors on the old Paramount Studios lot.

Joshua White

Berger’s desk with an astrolabe, drawings, and objects for a candle optical study.

Joshua White

A pendulum model with drawings and photographs of works in development on the wall.

Joshua White

“My process is that I look to the past in terms of objects, cultures, and rituals, and then I reinterpret them. I don’t want to create a replica, it has to have a new form,” she explains. Her captivating Aura pendant light, for example, was inspired by a Victorian locket, while the recent Beckon collection takes cues from Italian glass from the 1920s and 1960s while layering undulating orbs in a way that’s completely Berger’s own.

All of her glass pieces are handblown, hand-carved, or hand-cast. “There’s so much diversity in how glass can be worked,” notes Berger. “We do preparation drawings to get the ideal balance of composition, but the reality is that the glass is so fluid, I can try to make it a certain dimension, but it wants to be what it wants to be. I follow its lead.”

Late afternoon sunlight in the studio casts shadows on working drawings for new designs and is refracted by the Aura and Medallion Pendants.

DOMINIQUE VORILLON

Berger sketches on a chalkboard in her studio. Studies for floor lamps and a glass-seat stool of her design in the foreground.

Martyn Thompson

A detail of the glass vitrine with handblown and carved glass forms.

Dominique Vorillon

Berger lives and works in Los Angeles, ricocheting between her home; the rough, hot intensity of the industrial glass shop; and a pristine studio in Hollywood where she makes studies and develops her artwork. The Spanish-style building dates from the 1920s and was part of the old Paramount Studios property with living quarters for contract actors, including, legendarily, Clark Gable. The beautiful light filtering in from a large, floor-to-ceiling arched window makes it ideal for displaying her glasswork.

“The space is like a working file of everything I’m thinking about,” says Berger, pointing to the drawings and reference materials that cover the walls. Studies and pieces in development are suspended from the ceiling, displayed in a glass vitrine, and on a carpenter’s bench of Berger’s own design. “I prefer glass cabinets so I can see everything I’m working on, and study the way it reflects the light. The sun will strike the cabinet and it becomes like a glistening diamond,” says Berger.

Study models for Berger’s Full Bloom and Bloom designs.

Joshua White

The Offering collection incorporates different components, including a vase, a crystal, engraved pendant shade, and “Firefly.”

Joshua White

On the studio wall are form studies for the Dusk Sconce, along with a table lamp sketch on tracing paper. On the table are handblown and solid-formed Pulley Pendant components.

Joshua White

Berger’s latest collection, Offering, perfectly encapsulates all these strands: The collection is a loose interpretation of an altar, suspended in space. Through an anthropological lens, she examined “the ancient tradition of creating altars, expressing the wonderment of the world, and creating offerings and totems.” Each element represents “something bigger and sublime that surrounds us. Water means purification; flowers represent abundance; light means opening up spiritually.” The collection includes a small glass vase to hold water and flowers; one glass pendant is engraved with imagery, like a tapestry; and a glass crystal symbolizes healing. The smallest piece is called the Firefly, something Berger remembers fondly from growing up, with “light almost falling off it, like a drop of water.” The pieces can be chosen and suspended individually, so that each creation can be unique to its owner.

Though Berger’s glass artworks are almost always a form of lighting, they’re less about illuminating a room and more about radiant sculpture. The pieces are meant to be “contemplative, restorative, atmospheric, and meditative,” she says. “The radiance of light” allows us “to feel centered and take in the quietness for a moment.”

The entrance to the studio, with the Lyra Chandelier and various lighting designs and prototypes.

Joshua White

The Sublime Simplicity of White

Posted on September 8, 2025October 13, 2025 by Penelope Riley

Don’t let its simplicity fool you: There’s a lot more to white than meets the eye. Reflecting the full spectrum of visible wavelengths both literally and metaphorically, white has the unique ability to convey minimal modernism and old-world elegance, crisp refinement and rumpled ease, sleek sensuality and ethereal purity with equal aplomb. From milky glassware to eggshell ceramics to sheer fabrics the color of a cumulus cloud, we’re newly enthralled with its eternal appeal.

Design

Sterile. Cold. Boring. The all-white room has gotten a bad rap—but only because it takes a sharply honed sense of style to get it right. When a light-on-light scheme is deployed with the skill of a talented decorator, the result can be positively transcendent. Whether you’re designing
a modern oasis or high-style haven, don’t skimp on form or material—because in a pure white palette, there’s nowhere to hide. Take a tour of our favorite examples throughout design history.

In 1906, Charles Rennie Mackintosh rebutted heavy Victoriana with a light-as-air hand.
THE HUNTARIAN, UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW
Completed in 1931, this bedroom designed by the queen of white herself, Syrie Maugham, was described by Billy Baldwin as “a fairy tale...with an almost ephemeral quality.”
ROGER STURTEVANT, TOBIN CLARK RESIDENCE, HILLSBOROUGH, CA, FROM THE ROGER STURTEVANT COLLECTION, THE OAKLAND MUSEUM OF CALIFORNIA
Leave it to David Hicks to strike the perfect balance of simplicity and swagger: His wife Pamela’s dressing room at their home in Roquebrune-sur-Argens, France, photographed in 1967, is a master class in decorating.
DAVID HICKS ESTATE
Jay Steffy helped define laid-back California luxe in the 1970s.
JAY STEFFY
There’s no denying the clean-lined appeal of Angelo Donghia’s Manhattan duplex for Ralph and Ricky Lauren in 1980.
JAIME ARDILES-ARCE
Terence Conran makes a case for simplicity in 1986.
GILLES DE CHABANEIX
No one does polished yet pared-back like Stephen Sills, who designed this space in 2017.
FRANÇOIS HALARD/TRUNK ARCHIVE
Vicente Wolf puts a new angle on casual chic in 2019.
VICENTE WOLF

Illuminate

White meets light, for a natural combination: The translucence of alabaster and glass reflects illumination from within, while the sculptural beauty of ceramic and plaster is highlighted—and radiance takes form.

SHOP THE LOOK

Decorate

Enriched with intricate embroidery, woven geometries, rippling topography, or updated riffs on classics from Swiss dots to checks, these whisper-light fabrics are sheer genius when it comes to creating window treatments that catch the air—and your eye. (Check out more of Editor in Chief Dara Caponigro’s favorite white fabrics here.)

TOP ROW: Henri Wool Mohair Sheer by Patterson Flynn for Schumacher, schumacher.com. Copenhague by Élitis, elitis.fr. Trellis II by Rogers & Goffigon, rogersandgoffigon.com. Lazuli by Nobilis, nobilis.fr. MIDDLE ROW: Sheer Paper Silk Blend by Rose Uniacke, r-hughes.com. Bonneville Sheer by Schumacher, schumacher.com. Dotty by Rogers & Goffigon, rogersandgoffigon.com. BOTTOM ROW: Flight Path by Holly Hunt, hollyhunt.com. Mondrian Sheer by Schumacher, schumacher.com.

KEVIN KERR

Set the Table

While starched white tablecloths might signal formality, these artfully formed finds in shades from eggshell to ivory bring a serenity, simplicity of palette, and textural richness to the table that’s anything but fussy.

SHOP THE LOOK

Wear

If there was ever a reason to break the no-white-after-Labor-Day rule, it’s the stunning—and seasonless—looks that ruled the fall runways. With impactful silhouettes, fluid lines, and statement-making details, these designs prove that all-white dressing is a clear power move.

Becca Silk Halter Midi Dress by Altuzzara, $19,995, altuzarra.com

Canvas Double-Breasted Jacket ($1,890), Cotton Poplin Shirt ($1,150), Canvas Trousers ($1,250), and Stella Ryder Open Tote Bag ($2,350) by Stella McCartney, stellamccartney.com

The Freya Scarf-Detailed Shearling Coat by Brandon Maxwell, $14,500, brandonmaxwellonline.com

Dress and sweater by
Phoebe Philo, prices upon
request, phoebephilo.com

Crepe jumpsuit (€1,990) and clutch (€620) by Courrèges, courreges.com

Larys Dress with Detachable
Capelet by Adam Lippes, $2,990, adamlippes.com

Furnish

White furniture—whether modern, traditional, or somewhere in between—creates a moment of calm. Monochromatic yet far from monotonous, these pieces are proof that delicate details, mixed materials, and eye-catching silhouettes stand stronger in the unadulterated purity of white.

SHOP THE LOOK

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN VOLUME 17 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!

White-Hot Furniture Takes Center Stage

Posted on September 8, 2025October 13, 2025 by Isabel Molster

Off the Grid

Arcipelago Side Table by Lithea, $3,165, artemest.com

Cinderella Story

Pumpkin Loveseat by Pierre Paulin for Ligne Roset, from $4,135, ligne-roset.com

RIGHTEOUS GEM

Limited-Edition Emerald Lacquered Side Table by Achille Salvagni Atelier, $21,560, achillesalvagni.com

SCREEN SAVER

Four-Panel Plaster Screen by Marc Bankowsky, $33,000, maisongerard.com

PLEATS PLEASE

Palais Royal FrouFrou Sofa by Pierre Augustin Rose, from €21,400, pierreaugustinrose.com

PUFF PIECE

No. 14 Rug by Cappelen Dimyr, $4,240, cappelendimyr.com

WISHFUL DRINKING

Ceramic Bar Cabinet by Anna Karlin, $48,000, annakarlin.com

ABOVE THE FOLD

Beauchamp Coffee Table by Bungalow Classic, $3,450, bungalowclassic.com

EASY SEAT

Simple Dining Chair by Billy Cotton for West Elm, $299, westelm.com

Puzzle Piece

Kambi Table by Denis Castaing, $5,336, 1stdibs.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 17 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!

Set a Timeless Table in Shades of White

Posted on September 8, 2025October 13, 2025 by Penelope Riley

NATURAL SELECTION

Flame Bowl by Jean Roger,
$550, schumacherboutique.com

UNDER MY THUMB

Thumbprint Dish by Elsa Peretti for Tiffany & Co., $140, tiffany.com

HOLED UP

Cirque Luminaire by Formations, price upon request,
formationsusa.com

FASHION PLATE

Creamware Hand Cast Scallop
Salad Plate by Frances Palmer Pottery, $100, francespalmerpottery.com

TEA FOR TWO

Lightscape Teapot by Ruth Gurvich for Nymphenburg, $1,549, nymphenburg.com

SHELL GAME

Salt and Pepper Snail Set by
Ted Muehling for Nymphenburg,
$486, nymphenburg.com

PERFECT PITCH

Pelican Pitcher by Jean Roger, $1,400, jeanrogerparis.com

GARDEN GLORIES

Simple Veggie Knife Rests by Soleil Moustier, $44 for four, thearkelements.com

ORGANIC MATTER

White Gesso Short Candlestick by Carol Leskanic, $280, marchsf.com

RIPPLE EFFECT

Lampedusa Vase by Benedetto
Fasciana, price upon request,
rossanaorlandi.com

WEAVE A SPELL

Moreau Double Colombin Bowl
by Bourg-Joly Malicorne, $392,
thearkelements.com

GILD THE LILY

Simple Dentelle Coffee Cup and Saucer by Pinto Paris, €150, store.pintoparis.com

MIND YOUR MANNERS

Mirasol Napkins by Matouk, $225 for four, matouk.com

GEOMETRY LESSON

Facet Ceramic Jug by Piet Hein Eek, $1,735, thefutureperfect.com

COMING AROUND

Grecque Dinner Plate by
Fürstenberg, €42, fuerstenberg-porzellan.com

MIXED METAPHOR

Brutalist Vessel N. 6 by R. A. Pesce, price upon request, studiotashtego.com

GLASS ACT

I Diversi Glass by Carlo Moretti, €119, shop.carlomoretti.com

THE WHITE LOTUS

Clematis by Vladimir Kanevsky,
price upon request, vladimirkanevsky.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 17 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!

The Sculptural Beauty of White Lighting

Posted on September 8, 2025October 13, 2025 by Claire Chmiel

WHite meets light, for a natural combination: The translucence of alabaster and glass reflects illumination from within, while the sculptural beauty of ceramic and plaster is highlighted—and radiance takes form.

Star Turn

Etoile Pendant by Rose Tarlow, from $8,350, rosetarlow.com

That’s a wrap

Nocta I Sconce by Denis Castaing, €2,200, kolkhoze.fr

Loving Cup

Louisiana Light Bowl by Olivier Gagnère, price upon request, editionlimiteeparis.com

Square Up

Talis Lamp by Danny Kaplan Studio, $2,150, dannykaplanstudio.com

Round Robin

Alouette Wall Light by Atelier Areti, $1,220, atelierareti.com

Peak Plaster

Paola Sconce by Stephen Antonson, price upon request, lizobrien.com

TOP Notch

Era Table Lamp by Budde for Mogg, price upon request, mogg.it

GIve it a whorl

Snail Ceiling Lamp by Serge Mouille, from $7,482, sergemouilleusa.com

Inner Light

Moby 2 Lamp by Birgitte Due Madsen and Jonas Trampedach, €480,
karakter-copenhagen.com

Pinch Hit

Capri Lamp by Isabelle Sicart, from £4,800, roseuniacke.com

Well-Adjusted

Lampe de Marseille by Le Corbusier,

from $940, nemolighting.com

Budding Beauty

Tulip Standing Lamp I by Simone Bodmer-Turner, $18,500, simonebodmerturner.com

Egg White

28s Lamp by Bocci, from $765, bocci.com

Frame of Reference

Cannon Sconce by Workstead, $850, workstead.com

Deco Drama

Drummond Alabaster Wall Light by Vaughan, price upon request, vaughandesigns.com

The Dotted Line

Bosphore Wall Lamp by Laura Gonzalez, from $2,055, lauragonzalez.fr

JOLIE LAIDE

Wobble Ceiling Light by Alexandra Robinson, £1,637, alexandra-robinson.com

WHITE HOUSE

Stone Table Lamp #1 by Dumais Made, $1,600, dumaismade.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 17 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!

Everybody Loves Stripes: Decorating Between the Lines by Alexandra Flint and Emma Bazilian

Tom Scheerer: Still Decorating by Tom Scheerer

Sims Hilditch: Beautifully British Interiors by Giles Kime

Ray Booth: The Expressive Home by Ray Booth with Judith Nasatir

My Life in Colors by Martin Brudnizki

Robert Stilin: New Work by Robert Stilin and Sam Cochran

Nicola Harding: Homing Instinct by Nicola Harding and Busola Evans

Jacques Grange: New Projects by Pierre Passebon

Studio Sofield: Worksby William Sofield and Emma O’Neill

Comforts of Home: Tailor-Made, Family-Friendly Interiors That Feel Just Right by Andrew Howard

Distinctly American: Houses and Interiors by Hendricks Churchill by Heide Hendricks and Rafe Churchill

A Screaming Blast: Exceptional Entertaining by Rebecca Gardner

The Inn Crowd: Artistic Getaways and the Modern Innkeepers Who Crafted Them by Jackie Caradonio

Lives of the Great Makers edited by Rebecca Knott and James Robinson

Francois Halard: Art & Flowers by Francois Halard

Elements of Timeless Style: Creating a Forever Home by Erin Gates

The Glamorous House by Jan Showers

PowerHouse by Penny Drue Baird

A Welcome Home: Inviting Interiors by Alexandra Kaehler

AD at Home: Architectural Digest edited by Amy Astley

La Pausa: The Ideal Mediterranean Villa of Gabrielle Chanelby Montse Aguer Texidor, Laura Bartolomé, and Philippe Collas

Dior: Enchanting Gardensby Jean-Paul Claverie

Country Life’s Book of Dogs by Agnes Stamp

The London Club: Architecture, Interiors, Art by Andrew Jones and Laura Hodgson

Process by Ralph Pucci

Shop the Look

The Spell of Egypt Hand-Embroidered Book Clutch by Olympia Le-Tan

faux porphyry Telephone Table by Miles Redd for The Lacquer Company

Monuments d’Egypte fabric by Braquenié

Grenville limestone fireplace by Jamb

Rêves du Nil teacup and saucer by Haviland

Snake Magnifying Glass by L’Objet

Thebes Stool by Madeline Stuart

Luxor linen by Lisa Fine Textiles

Hand-Painted Marquetry Eye of Horus Clutch by Silvia Furmanovich

Scarab Mammoth Ring with green tourmaline by Bibi van der Velden

Porphyry wallpaper by Miles Redd for Schumacher

Regency Tub Chair by Baker

See More

Excerpted from Elements of Timeless Style. Copyright © 2025, Erin Gates. Reproduced by permission of Simon Element, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. All rights reserved.

ROBERT WALSH

ADAM BEN WAGNERLOS ANGELES

BEATRIZ ROSELOS ANGELES

COALCORNWALL, ENGLAND

ELLIE PEUGEOTPARIS

JULIETTE SAIERPARIS AND BRUSSELS

JUSTICE QUINNTULSA, OKLAHOMA

LINDSAY FALCONERNEW ORLEANS

MICHAEL ZIPPBROOKLYN

REBECCA AMIRNEW YORK

STILL JOHNSONBIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

STUDIO N&TLNEW YORK

VALERIE PEÑANEW YORK

Islay Dry Gin by The Botanist

Vanitas Decanter by Simone Crestani

Positano Large Ice Bucket by Giobagnara

Boris Shot Glass by LSA International

Vertigo Silver-Plated Bottle/Carafe Coaster by Christofle

Smoke Water Glasses by Joe Colombo for Arnolfo di Cambio

Large Jacques Tray by Campbell-Rey for The Lacquer Company

Cosme Coupe by Sophie Lou Jacobsen

Ice Tongs by Arne Jacobsen

Bavarde Pitcher byLaurence Brabant and Alain Villechange

Manhattan Cocktail Shaker by Georg Jensen

Fish Bottle Opener by Svenskt Tenn

Cocktail Napkins by William White

Martini Mixer with Spoon by Arne Jacobsen

White Corkscrew by Hudson Grace

Lemon Squeezer by Kajidonya

Oh de Christofle Stainless Steel Jigger by Christofle

Knot Sterling Silver Cocktail Picks by Heath Wagoner

Silver Queue Petrol Lighter by Tsubota Pearl

Slottet Carafe by Eleish Van Breems

Structured Roman

Relaxed Roman

Soft-Fold Roman

Flat Roman

Austrian

London

Balloon

Everybody Loves Stripes: Decorating Between the Lines
by Alexandra Flint and Emma Bazilian

Tom Scheerer: Still Decorating
by Tom Scheerer

Sims Hilditch: Beautifully British Interiors
by Giles Kime

Ray Booth: The Expressive Home
by Ray Booth with Judith Nasatir

My Life in Colors
by Martin Brudnizki

Robert Stilin: New Work
by Robert Stilin and Sam Cochran

Nicola Harding: Homing Instinct
by Nicola Harding and Busola Evans

Jacques Grange: New Projects
by Pierre Passebon

Studio Sofield: Works
by William Sofield and Emma O’Neill

Comforts of Home: Tailor-Made, Family-Friendly Interiors That Feel Just Right
by Andrew Howard

Distinctly American: Houses and Interiors by Hendricks Churchill
by Heide Hendricks and Rafe Churchill

A Screaming Blast: Exceptional Entertaining
by Rebecca Gardner

The Inn Crowd: Artistic Getaways and the Modern Innkeepers Who Crafted Them
by Jackie Caradonio

Lives of the Great Makers
edited by Rebecca Knott and James Robinson

Francois Halard: Art & Flowers
by Francois Halard

Elements of Timeless Style: Creating a Forever Home
by Erin Gates

The Glamorous House
by Jan Showers

PowerHouse
by Penny Drue Baird

A Welcome Home: Inviting Interiors
by Alexandra Kaehler

La Pausa: The Ideal Mediterranean Villa of Gabrielle Chanel
by Montse Aguer Texidor, Laura Bartolomé, and Philippe Collas

Dior: Enchanting Gardens
by Jean-Paul Claverie

Country Life’s Book of Dogs
by Agnes Stamp

The London Club: Architecture, Interiors, Art
by Andrew Jones and Laura Hodgson

Process
by Ralph Pucci

ADAM BEN WAGNER
LOS ANGELES

BEATRIZ ROSE
LOS ANGELES

COAL
CORNWALL, ENGLAND

ELLIE PEUGEOT
PARIS

JULIETTE SAIER
PARIS AND BRUSSELS

JUSTICE QUINN
TULSA, OKLAHOMA

LINDSAY FALCONER
NEW ORLEANS

MICHAEL ZIPP
BROOKLYN

REBECCA AMIR
NEW YORK

STILL JOHNSON
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

STUDIO N&TL
NEW YORK

VALERIE PEÑA
NEW YORK