Question for Magnaverde -- the challenge of the ugly or trite
14 years ago
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Craftsman/Arts and Crafts exterior columns: pics?
Comments (11)Walkin Yesindeed, a reporter once asked Louis Sullivan the same basic question you just asked me, and got back one of Sullivan's typical cryptic responses: "I would describe it as the successful solution of a problem." Thanks a lot, Louis. Big help. And when somebody else asked Sullivan to describe the style of the Auditorium's own decoration, he said "I would prefer not to describe it at all. I would perfer for you to look at it yourself and make up your own mind." Let's just say that Sullivan would have gotten himself eliminated on the first round of something like "Design Star" that are less about design ability or artistic vision and more about personality & sense of humor. And those things are fine, but they have nothing to do with design. Anyway, here's the thing: like I said above, most of Sullivan's mature work was on major commissions: the Auditorium, the Chicago Grand Opera House, the Chicago Stock Exchange, department stores, banks, railway stations. After Adler & Sullivan becamse famous with the opening of the Auditorium, he seldom designed anything as small as a residence again, and most of the residential designs that came out of the office were in fact Wright's, or George Elmslie's, with Sullivan directing the overall design & the ornamental detailing. Even in this somewhat limited role, it was his vision that determined the aesthetic form of the finished buildings and the look that we think of as Sullivanian, in the same way that Fritz Kreisler & George Solti & Daniel Barenboim put their individual stamps on the sound of the Chicago Symphony, even though they weren't the ones playing all the instruments. Unfortunately, since Sullivan didn't really do residences, and never furnished the interiors of the houses that came out of the A&S offices, we have to look at his other buildings to find what motivated him, but it's not hard to see. In a letter to a banker client, he talked of the decorative scheme of the interior as a 'color symphony' and he wasn't kidding: the finished banking room has literally dozens of intermingled colors, mostly soft greens, yellows & oranges. It also has an elaborate stenciling scheme that blends all those contrasting colors with such subtlety that they seem to dissolve into a green haze that floats in front of the wall plane. Not only that, the main banking room is lit with a pair of gigantic arched windows of golden yellow & white glass, and at night the room glows with the light from four immense electroliers that hang from the corners of the room, fixtures in the form of gigantic clusters of sea green foliage & coiling, intertwined stems, all studded along their length with electric light bulbs. And don't forget the honey-colored Roman bricks on the walls, the intricately molded paster ceiling ai more tinys of green, the green terra cotta moldings, the bronze teller cages or the green marble counters. What's amazing was that this incredibly rich scheme was designed not for a sophiticated city audience but for a small-town farming community, where the people in line were likely to be standing in muddy boots & dirty overalls, and when he was designing for the really fancy people, it was amazing. But rather than intimidating the locals, it enobled them and their daily activities. Sullivan was a color genius, that's all I can say. After dinner I'll look up the description of his color scheme for the McVickers' Theatre here in the city, which, even as mere words on a page--the theatre was demolished decades ago--is one of the most striking combinations you'll ever see....See MoreDo you still use silk plants?
Comments (119)Here's my silk flower story. It happened to me today. I'm going to be watering someone's outdoor plants for the week. After surveying the plants in front, I was lead through the house to the backyard deck to be introduced to further plants I would need to attend to. En route, the woman called my attention to a newly reupholstered chair: "Stinky, have you ever heard of Robert Allen?" "Oh, yes." "Well this fabric is Robert Allen." "It's beautiful, I love it." "Well, the dog jumps up in this chair so he can look out the window...can you believe it? Goes straight to the Robert Allen chair." "Gosh!" I proclaim in disbelief. "The plumber here this morning asks if he can keep his shoes on, but the dog goes right to the Robert Allen chair." Next to the chair stood a white wrought iron plant stand with an enormous white wicker basket containing a huge array of silk flowers in every color of the rainbow. I felt dizzy at the sight of the cacophony of crayola box hues, so I rested my gaze on the the newly covered chair fabric. It depicted a subtle dance of cherry blossom branches, rendered in soft aqua and delicate pink, a wisp of brown. Ahh...Robert Allen to the rescue....See MoreDo you see what I see?
Comments (46)LOL, magnaverde! I hope this isn't too far OT, but I have another, more mundane, color/taste observation. Every year I make gallons of that middle-class holiday staple, cranberry Jello salad. My recipe, from a church cookbook, states "any flavor red gelatin." I prefer to use the red raspberry flavor, but I think almost all artificial 'fruity' flavors taste alike. Following are some ingredient lists for (basically) the same salad, found on the internet, on different sites: 1 (6 oz.) pkg. raspberry gelatin 1 c. boiling water 1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained, save juice 1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice 1 (14 oz.) jar cranberry-orange relish 1 c. diced apples 1/2 c. broken pecans 1/4 c. celery, chopped 1 lb fresh cranberries crushed or minced 2 packages black cherry Jello 1 medium orange peeled and seeded (all white must be removed) 1 cup pecans or walnuts crushed 1 cup sugar 2 sm. strawberry Jello 1 Ocean Spray cran fruit (12 oz.) 1/2 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple 12-16 red grapes 1/4 c. chopped nuts 2 c. boiling water 1/2 c. cold water 1 lg. pkg. orange Jello 2 c. hot water 10 c. cold water 1 jar orange cranberry relish 1/2 c. chopped celery 1/2 c. chopped walnuts I was surprised to find this one, too: 1 (3 oz.) pkg. lemon Jello 1 2/3 c. water 1/2 c. celery, chopped or diced 1/2 c. nut meats 1 c. ground cranberries 1/2 c. ground orange 2/3 c. sugar Or 1 c. cranberry orange relish may be used I'd be willing to wager that very few people, least of all myself, could tell what 'flavor' of gelatin was used in the final product....See MoreNeed to Pull This Together
Comments (18)Hi Beth0301. Like you say, it doesn't really matter whether this is our style or not, since it's the style that you like. That, all by itself, puts you way ahead of the people who don't really have a clue about what they like, other than whatever they happen to see in the stores or on TV. Even so, I'm a little bit confused, because you say that this is your style, but you then add that you're willing to change it all--to paint the dark walls light (even though you already acknowledge that the room, with all its windows & doorways, gets plenty of light) and to paint all the furniture white. If this truly is your style, why make such major changes to a room that already looks good? Also, you use the terms "shabby chic" & "French country" but I wouldn't say either of those describe your room. In fact, with your 1880s architecture--even though it's painted white--and your 1920s furniture--even though it's painted black--what I see is not either of those styles, but, rather, classic, unpretentious, American style--middle-class American style--and in saying that I don't mean it in any way but good. Besides, verbal labels aren't important, only but visual results, and you're almost there. No, the only potential problem I see with your room is the one that develops when people try to work backwards from a popular phrase--say, "shabby chic"--to specific pieces or colors that are--supposedly--typical of that particular style, rather than going the other way around: choosing colors & finishes that they like & that work together, and then, afterwards, finding a word that describes them. In other words, I think your room already looks good, even if those specific stylistic labels don't really apply. OK, furniture: yes, high-back pews may clutter up the room visually, but not nearly as much as a bunch of individual (and probably, unmatched) chairs, but either way, your family's & guests' comfort should come first, and aesthetics afterward. I happen to love the simple, clean look of traditional Japanese design, but, hey, I'm not about to make my friends sit on the floor to eat dinner. OK, paint finishes: since the finish of your kitchen cabinetry is already dark & you don't plan on changing that, and your dining room's trim is already white & you don't plan on changing that, and since there's a large opening between the two rooms, let's face it, there's going to be non-matching finishes somewhere. Your job, then, is to make it look like intentional. Painting your furniture white will make the kitchen cabinets--as the only things left dark--look like somebody ordered them in the wrong color, and it will also throw the whole area out of balance. Your husbands's suggestion to paint the furniture dark--even if it didn't have any real thought behind it--turned out to be a good one. Like they say, even a stopped clock is right twice a day. I say leave the furniture dark--changing the brown chairs to match the other pieces--and let the contrast be not between whole rooms but between structure & contents, in other words, between the light trim & dark furniture. And since the other trim is white, the built-in china cabinet should also stay white. It's structure, not furniture. To visually integrate the china cabinet with everything else in the area--and I'm talking both adjoining rooms, here--if you have white dishes that you can display in the cabinet, paint the back wall the black of the furniture and let the dishes' light-color silhouettes stand out. If you don't have enough china to make a nice display in the cabinet, hit Goodwill & yard sales and pick up a bunch of mismatched dishes with interesting shapes but ugly colors--I'm thinking 1970s brown-speckled soup tureens or cheap red-glass compotes or yellow-&-green psychedelic-patterned coffee carafes, I'm sure you get the idea--and spray paint them white. Or, alternatively, paint the same pieces shiny black & keep the insides of the china cabinet white. Either way, go for the same high-contrast look your light-colored dished have against the dark wood of your kitchen cabintes. Repetition of a single idea--even if the colors are reversed--is always effective. OK, curtains: lots of people call straight-hung sheers 'dated' but they're absolutely appropriate for a house of this style & period, and their honest, uncomplicated style is a much better foil for the strong shapes of your furniture, the handsome stick-style stairway & the simple stained glass in your hallway than would be the dainty fussiness of gathered Austrian shades. You say you want to 'pull this room together' and, yes, the details of your new seating still need worked out, but visually, at least, but I think you're pretty much there already. Don't fix what ain't broke. A shorter mirror above the buffet, a white ironstone bowl filled with curly locust tree pods & and sycamore balls for the expannse of dark wood on the table & I think you're set. And whenever that nagging inner voice starts telling you that your room still isn't quite right, that you still need to do something else before you're satisfied, just remember the excellent decorating advice given to Martha the Perfectionist when she was fussing arund, worrying about everything that that still needed to be done: "You're anxious & troubled about a lot of stuff, but only a few things--or just one--are necessary." Now's the time to enjoy the nice room that you've already created. Regards, Magnaverde....See MoreRelated Professionals
Charleston Interior Designers & Decorators · Stanford Interior Designers & Decorators · Wanaque Interior Designers & Decorators · Athens Furniture & Accessories · Atlanta Furniture & Accessories · Charlotte Furniture & Accessories · Peachtree City Furniture & Accessories · Stuart Furniture & Accessories · Surprise Furniture & Accessories · Gages Lake Furniture & Accessories · Pleasant Grove Furniture & Accessories · Lancaster Lighting · South Bend Lighting · Oak Park Window Treatments · St. Louis Window Treatments- 14 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
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