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.

Purplepansies Blue Louise--I love the combination of the copper brown and the blue. Florantha Starry Night--Good job finding swirly tile. I tried this exercise, but was stumped searching for swirly tile. I love the dark blue drapes. Purplepansies Approaching Thunder Storm--Oooh, I love the artwork! You did a great job of capturing the colors and the mood of the painting. I love the magma supreme granite. Honorbiltkit Vuillard--Also a beautiful painting, full of interesting details and patterns. You captured the color of the rug in the painting, and the painting you chose for your design does a great job of mimicking the painting in the painting. If that makes any sense. Palimpsest Vuillard--You also did a great job of capturing the colors of the painting, playing up the neutrals a bit compared to Honorbiltkit. The floor--is it Marmoleum?--mimics the colors of the rug. Style-wise, the table is unexpected, but I really like it in the design. Pricklypearcactus Lanadscape with Butterflies--I like the interplay of colors in your kitchen just as much as in the original painting. I just want to say how very much I've enjoyed this thread. I liked the artwork, I liked the kitchens, and I liked all the creative thinking that went into putting them together.

On one side, you could have one of these cheap-o round tables, which you then have a table cloth made for out of your choice of fabric. Put a glass top on itâ¦voila. This option would also help in limiting the different woods and wood tones in the room, as well as giving the room another way of adding color or other design.

Hi repainting, Could you help out another william morris addict? I'd love to buy direct as you did, but I can't figure out how. First I went to the Sanderson site, which led me to the Morris and co. subsite, which, on the FAQ regarding direct orders: "All orders are referred to our Specialist retailers, for more information please visit the "Where To Buy" section on our website for a full list." Perhaps you ordered from a UK retailer with a very low markup? All I can find online are retailers like historic style and pendleton woodworks. Let's see, I'd like to get 4 yards of autumn flowers velvet for a chair I'm recovering; even with conversion, it's $250/yd from historic style. I've got to believe there's a little bit of extra markup in that price! Now, I know retailers have to make a buck, but I guess at these rates I'd rather they make it off someone else. So any info. you have about what you did would be greatly appreciated. Otherwise it's off to Joann during a 50% off home decorating fabrics sale to find a compromise. I can get a velvet at less than 1/10th of the price from them. I'd pay triple or quadruple for a morris pattern, but tenfold more? At those rates, I'd be better off making my own morris stencil and figuring out how to screenprint on plain fabric. Or something. tia, Alex