Barbara King: There's something provocative about a dining room emblazoned with red velvet flame stitch.
Rob Southern: I do like the shock value. You walk into the entry hall and it's all beige and white; then you turn left and suddenly you see those raspberry walls. It's not a gentle transition. Frankly, it's meant to be theater. I have to say I enjoy playing with that kind of visual tension. And I like the contrast that the geometry of the pattern creates against the very proper English molding and against the very proper French mantel. Tension keeps things interesting.
Same as it does in a relationship, right?
The yin and yang of decorating and love. Bingo!
Why raspberry in particular?
It's a beautiful backdrop for a dining room, a flattering color for people and food, and the black-and-white art pops against the walls. It's not a seasonal color, and it makes the best of London's light, or lack thereof. The room is heaven in the bright sunlight of summer and heaven in the dreary gray of winter. It also happens to be a color my client loves, that makes her feel good. She encouraged me to use it, and she was right.
Is it a color she wears?
No, but she used it in the first house I decorated for the family, in Greenwich, Connecticut. London is their primary residence now.
Would you say you've given this 19th-century English townhouse a 21st-century American sensibility?
Oh, unequivocally. There's a simplicity without being modest — an ease of use. Although this is an architecturally formal house — I mean, look at those crown moldings! — it's easy to live in. It's easy for their 23-year-old son, believe it or not, to come over with his friends and pile up in the living room. Comfort was key.
What's the most important element of comfort?
A variety of seating, and fabrics that feel good. We're not all the same size, shape, gender, or age; seating should be representative of the population. So you see deep club chairs, small bergères, medium-scale sofas, an ottoman to perch on when they're entertaining, even a two-sided slipper chair.
Who does the slipper chair accommodate? Two people who'd rather not talk to each other?
No! When two people are on it, they tend to sit side-to-side, not back-to-back. I call it a tête-à-tête — it's essentially a modern version of that Victorian sociable, and it's embraced that way. You have a sort of forced intimacy with a safety bar in between. I'm not saying comfort is something the British don't have, but this is comfort without being over-layered. There are not a million pillows to fluff or accessories to dust. Although when you look at the library you might say, 'Well that is layered, with all that floral chintz.' That was my biggest nod to English decorating.
Still, that wouldn't be my version of layered.
It was tempered by painting all the woodwork white. We did that wherever we could. Basically I used blocking, just two relevant colors in each room. I would be remiss if I didn't say I was influenced by David Hicks. He gave rooms a decorative geometry by simply using two strong colors.
Was that the idea here? Decorative geometry?
What I was really trying to do was not overwhelm or compete with the art, which is an impressive collection that includes works by Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. And also honor the architecture — to let it shine through by not having a ton of different colors and fabrics—but at the same time minimize its age, impart a sense of youthfulness without being inappropriate. Another example of that is the wallcovering in the entry hall. That's an old-school damask pattern printed on a heavy raffia paper. I think the twist of a very conservative pattern on this very modern texture is a classically American approach.
Recapturing youth, you mean?
Ha! 'Youthful' might be too big a stretch here. Let's call it a freshness, a crispness. Even though I did try to young it up a bit. It's taking what's good and playing it up. The house is meant to have a sense of order and cleanliness in the decoration. Right down to those tidy bookshelves. If it's a bookshelf I like it to have books, and books only. I'm so awful — I don't like framed photographs. I don't like tchotchkes of any kind. I hate walking into a library that looks like a gift shop. It should be pure and honest — otherwise don't put shelves in there.
What else don't you like?
Anything too trendy. It's a waste of money because it has no longevity. If you get it right, you'll be as happy with it at 25 as you are at 65. And I would say this is a very happy household. Every room gives them a different experience over the course of a single day. That's not how I live, but it's how they live.
And how do you live?
I work all the time. Basically I grab a bite to eat, feed my dogs, shower, and sleep. That's my experience of home!
