Living Rooms

Family Rooms, Morning Rooms and Studies

The living room, once a formal place commonly known as the drawing room in England, was where the ladies retired to gossip after dinner while the men sat in the dining room and smoked cigars and drank port. Times have changed. The stiffness of an older generation has given way to a relaxed elegance that suits the way we live now. Clients who come to me are not looking for a re-creation of a bygone era; they are looking for an interpretation for today’s lifestyle. They want to live well, but as relaxed as possible in a hectic world.

I grew up in a house full of memories, and until I was ten or so, I thought that antiques were things that one simply had. I had no idea that you could buy them somewhere. Though my childhood living room was quite full of objects—Japanese lacquer tables, baubles, curios, a grand piano and treasures from any number of exotic trips that family members had taken—it still felt very personal.

	As a decorator color becomes my energy....It feeds my mind and in turn my creativity. But fabric is my true passion, the texture, touch, even the weave makes me smile from the inside out. Kathryn knows the perfect recipe for this cocktail and combines both in such symmetry that the taste is so delicious it leaves you wanting more...Much, much more!
	—Martyn Laurence Bullard

My own house is an eclectic mix of old and new, modern and traditional, antiques and reproductions.

Color is always my starting point. My own houses have evolved over the years, and while the seat covers may have changed, the warmth and feel of the rooms have remained the same.

Individual style is how you put things together. A room should tell your story, remind you of where you’ve been, who you’ve known. I used to think that having a decorator was a very impersonal thing, but what a good decorator does is translate the ideas of the client into a well-produced format. Some clients are at first unable to describe what they want, so the decorator’s job is to extract images from their minds and turn them into rooms. Not an easy job. It isn’t just getting the size of the lamp shade right or the puddle of the curtain exact. It means being an editor, a life enhancer and, ultimately, a friend.

I remember exactly where, when and with whom I bought all the things in my house; e.g., the Moroccan pot on the coffee table was hand-carried back from a trip only to be smashed to pieces when some fellow traveler threw his backpack on top of it.

	Fabric is my starting point when I think about a room—curtain fabric, then sofas and chairs. A room without fabric is like a party without drink: flat and joyless and never quite takes off. In fact, I generally find that a strong fabric is the most memorable feature of a room. I remember the curtain material when the pictures, furniture, paint and even the guests are long forgotten. Kathryn Ireland’s fabrics are not only exquisite, they are also so useable. They are like Kathryn herself; they travel well and you can take them anywhere, and they will always amuse and put you in a good mood.
	—Nicholas Coleridge

Nicholas Coleridge was my first client. While studying in London for my A levels, one of which was Textile and Design, there was a certain amount of practice that had to be done. Nick had just moved into his first flat, a basement in Chelsea, and hired me to make him pillows. It was only at the dinner given at San Lorenzo in London when launching my fabric line in 1997 that he asked me why they cost so much: he could have bought them off the shelf a lot cheaper. I remembered that the deal was hourly and I had rather cheekily included unpicking and restitching time!

In this sunroom in Brentwood, California, the light can be so intense during the morning hours that curtains are a must. Combining soft florals and stripes in linens was my way of making this a real morning room—a place to read the paper, answer letters and entertain friends.

Since moving to California in my early twenties, going home has always been critical for my well-being and keeping sight of my past. Any excuse to go back to London and I’m there. When I began designing textiles, I opened a showroom in London for that very reason. But any reason will prolong my stay, even if it’s simply to upholster my host’s flat. James Holland Hibbert has an art gallery in St. James specializing in modern British art. When I need to find art for clients, James and his partner, Hugo de Ferranti, are my first and only call. Even though their speciality is modern, Hazlitt Holland Hibbert, the parent company, deals in all periods. Visiting Berry Street is like going on a private tour of an art gallery. Spread over four floors and across two buildings, a morning there with the boys is the equivalent of a week’s lecture at the Tate.

James’s flat overlooks the Chelsea embankment. His only criteria was that the fabrics not overshadow the art (he had chosen the wrong house guest for an opinion on the matter). He wanted instant gratification, so we whizzed off to Robert Kime’s shop in Kensington Church Street and bought up his stock of exquisitely embroidered pillows.

	When I enter a room I tend to look at the fabrics used in it in the same way that I look at the books in a person’s library. I become judgmental and biased, and tend to judge the room’s owners by their choice of materials. It is not the right attitude, and yet fabrics create that reaction in me. I either love them or hate them, but they never leave me cold.
	—Miguel Flores Vianna

Like me, my client and friend Nancy has three boys. This is a dark room that we wanted to make as cozy and comfortable as possible. Over the years, I’ve helped in almost every room of the house. As it was with the rest, Nancy basically decorated it herself; my job was to assist with the fabric and color. This room is a great example of Nancy’s wonderful eye for detail and decorating; the collection of porcelain, pottery and china is very personal, and it was from these objects that I found inspiration for the color scheme used in the rest of the house.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall’s home on the beach in Santa Barbara is one house I’d like to live in myself. They originally purchased the home as a summertime beach residence, which they renovated so successfully that it became a semi-permanent home for the Hollywood couple and their two children. The house, which sits right on the sea, was designed by the great eco-friendly architect David Hertz. He created a modern home that has all the attributes to make this the perfect weekend retreat. Julia was lovely to have insisted that my fabrics be used throughout the home to create a soft, beachy feel to the rooms. I used fabrics from my Balinese-inspired collection in rich browns and blues—a chic combination. Julia and Brad were dream clients, always excited and enthusiastic—important adjectives in this business.

Kathryn Ireland: What does fabric mean to you?

David Mamet: Fabric means to me that which keeps me from sitting on the springs.

Walking into the Mamets’ living room for the first time brought a smile to my face. My fabric on the pillows and a chair were staring me in the face. When David and Rebecca moved from the East Coast to Santa Monica, they asked for my help in renovating the kitchen and bathrooms. Their style, like mine, is informal but elegant. I love helping to create homes, not showcases.

	It’s fabulous to have my fabrics side by side with Kathryn’s. They complement each other in unexpected ways.
	—Nina Campbell

Over the years of summers in France, I’ve spent endless days biking and driving down lanes that led to dilapidated houses in search of homes for friends. Louise Fletcher was the first to decamp from my house and become my neighbor. Anne McNally and I even got as far as meeting neighboring farmers with checkbook in hand when she looked across the valley at my house in the distance and said in her very French accent, “Why do I want a house here when I want to be over there with all of you?” She had a point, so we decided we would just pool our homes and we would all be welcome at each other’s homes. All of a sudden, I had homes in Paris, New York and Connecticut.

Color ideas come from everyday living and what inspires me that day.

The striped fabric in Kate and Ben Goldsmith’s London study is from my pumpkin phase.

Having started my textile career hand-printing, which was enough of a challenge, it wasn’t until a few years later that I started to weave. It seemed crazy not to offer coordinates to go with the prints. The idea of designers searching design centers for wovens to go with my “not run of the mill” (no pun intended) color sense seemed a shame.

It was off to Como to find a weaver. Like going to any trade show, I was bombarded by so much to look at, but it was very apparent to me which were the best mills. With my knowledge of which way the warp and weft ran, I added a section of wovens to the line that now account for nearly half the collection.

A patchwork of color and texture is accentuated by natural light.

Versatility is key when blending patterns and designs—giving personality to a room without overwhelming.

A busy working woman who runs her own successful Beverly Hills restaurant, Leah Adler and I were thrown together when her son and daughter-in-law, Steven and Kate Spielberg, asked me to help redecorate her apartment. I was delighted to help old family friends but had no idea how much fun Leah and I would have together. Her love of life was so inspirational, and the fact that she gave me control over what stayed and went is a tribute to the extraordinary lady she is. The look of joy on Leah’s face when she walked in the door for the first time six weeks later was compensation for all the heartache and bad moments I have had with other clients over the years.

	There were only two things I asked Kathryn for when she redesigned my apartment: one was to have hardwood floors in case I feel like dancing and the second was a table by my bed for my martini.
	—Leah Adler

Relaxed, comfortable living is how most of us envision life in the country. The pretension of the city is left behind and one can lie back and enjoy the change of pace that country life brings. Many of the interiors in this book are set in urban surroundings. Even more so when living in cities, we want to come home to simple elegance and timeless interiors.

The fun part of being a decorator is giving new life to old things. Everyone has hand-me-downs and pieces that can’t be sent to the Salvation Army for fear that an aging aunt should ask where her wedding present is. Sometimes it’s just a simple slipcover or a new lamp shade and other times it’s a distressed coat of paint. All it sometimes takes is a keen, fresh eye to glance over one’s belongings and spot the treasures worth saving. .

For this Brentwood, California, house we transformed the master bedroom into an upstairs sitting room when an addition was built on. By using muted colors and luxurious textures for the fabrics, the artwork is permitted to take center stage.

	When you walk into a house designed by Kathryn, you automatically assume the owner has impeccable taste.
	—Gene Washington

This house was torn down and rebuilt after finding major structural damage. It was an eighteenth-century wooden farmhouse, and my clients really wanted to respect what had been there before. Paying close attention to period details so the original feel of the home was re-created, the most important piece we found was the beautiful hand-carved Queen Anne mantelpiece bought from House of Christie’s in Sag Harbor. The painting and candleholders are also late-eighteenth century.

One the great lessons of this home is the idea that buying one or two important pieces can make a room. The room is a mixture of pieces new to the family as well as some that hold some personal value to the clients. The extraordinary part of this achievement that Francis Fleetwood created was a house that had immediate age and character.

	Kathryn Ireland’s success stems from her own personal style. Her approach is one of refined simplicity. Practical taste along with a balance of color and pattern are her trademarks.
	—John Rosselli

This was a daring room not only for my client but also for me. I obviously knew that if the walls turned out to be too overpowering I could always repaint them—it wouldn’t be the end of the world. But it couldn’t have turned into a cozier room.

Over the years, some high-profile decorators have been involved with this picturesque Queen Anne house overlooking Richmond Park—most notably John Fowler and Nina Campbell. So I was honored that Annabel, who I have known all my life, allowed me to give my input. She wanted to transform this one-time bedroom into a cozy upstairs living room where she could watch television with her many grandchildren and relax with her dogs.

The beautiful proportions of this room coupled with the wonderful light made for an inspirational project. Using a mixture of old documents, Robert Kime, Colefax & Fowler, and my fabrics, the room has been imbued with a lived-in feel. The curtains are hung from McKinney and Company hand-carved curtain poles. Shona, an old school friend, known as the Queen of Knobs, makes exquisite hand-crafted poles and finials.

	For me, some of the most magical environments in the world have been given their special atmosphere through the use of fabric. I think of Mongiardino’s dining room for Lee Radziwill—a room lined with wonderfully old-fashioned Romany gypsy scarves, glazed and overpainted by Lila de Nobilis—such a simple device that created a room out of Turgenev. Or the simple sprigged Indian cottons he used to create a sense of immense seraglio luxury at the Brandolini’s palazzo in Venice. And then there is the Napoleonic ticking stripe tented room at Malmaison....
	—Hamish Bowles

Layering of patterns terrifies most people, but there are times when you have to take a chance and do something daring.

My old friend Catherine Hesketh has confidently thrown together a variety of patterns and colors with aplomb. The success of the room is that one object, color, or design is not more important than another.

	At the end of it all, fabric sets the character of a room. By the choice of fabric the mood of a room transforms from a simple calm summer’s day with rumpled white linens and cool sexy voiles to a cozily cluttered eclectic haven with red paisleys and warm velvets to snuggle up to.
	—Rachel Ashwell

The use of color and how it’s assembled in a room creates the picture, but there is no school that teaches the eye color. While nearly everybody has some feelings about color, not everyone has good instincts about combining and layering colors.

To overthink or overproduce a room is a major mistake. Unless you have gut instincts about mixing fabrics and blending textures and patterns, it’s better to rely on a decorator’s sense. I love it when clients trust my gut instincts. They’re always surprised and delighted with the results.

Elements of a Successful Living Room

I think it was partly due to my parents’ antiques collections that I have wanted to create for myself and clients the “instant memories” feeling that a room full of great things has to offer. Here’s how to do it:

• Choose a grounding antique for the room—a piece that is big enough to have presence but not so large as to overwhelm the rest of your furnishings. If you don’t have a family heirloom, there’s nothing wrong with purchasing one; a sideboard, an armoire or a table that carries another family’s history is still a legitimate focal point for your living room.

• Blend bright with muted colors in an orchestration of design and pattern that truly reflects who you are and how you live. The living room should revolve around your favorite colors. Red is my favorite color for the living room because it brings life and happiness to the room where family gathers and friends are welcome. For me this color heightens the senses and even stimulates conversations.

• Mix high with low to create drama: a tall armoire with a low coffee table; large mirrors with small oil paintings; high ceilings with low-hung lighting. Proportion is always key in decorating,

• Combine heirlooms with new furnishings for interesting contrasts. Pillows, lamps and club fenders in modern fabrics, colors and textures are easy companions for many periods and styles of antique furnishings.

• Use unexpected details. On my fireplace I sunk three tiles depicting a flying lady into the plaster—very Pre-Raphaelite and adds color to the off-white plaster.

• Steer away from having a television in the formal room. Even with flat screens becoming more attractive, one should still have a specific out-of-the-way space where you can tuck up and watch a program.