Windsor Smith: Blending Glamorous Style with the Romance of History

 



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Her style seems to be English Drawing Room and L.A. Glam.  Like so many amazing Interior Designers, her own home is a sight to behold.

Windsor Smith is a lover of treasures, traditions and architecture of the past, she has expanded from collector to one of the leading talents in the interior design and restoration of some of the finest estates in Brentwood, Bel Air and Beverly Hills.



 

 

Here, the ever glamorous Smith poses welcomingly at the chic font doors of her home.  Notice the details like bronze escutcheons on the corners and glossy midnight hued paint.  Chic, glamorous and with an elegant European aire. 

 

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Past the front doors, you enter this Edwardian

Foyer.  Smith herself calls this her David Adler Foyer.

 

 

-Graphic marble and Limestone floor

-Silk Upolstered entry settee

-Zinc shelves with X detail

-Ferns

-Vintage Venetian Lantern,Venetian mirror, and mercury globe add miles of sparkle 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's elegant, refined and glamorous for sure.



 

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 My absolute favorite part of Windsor Smith's home is her Kitchen.  I can't even just call it my favorite- I am Obsessed!  My copy of House Beautiful, which features her home, has been looked through obsessively for many years.  Again, so much sparkle and understated glamour. 
-White, Slipcovered Wing Chairs
-2 Professional Thermador Stoves
-Dining table in the Kitchen
-Black Drum Shades
-French Doors and Windows
-Shelves filled with Hotel Silver
-Hexagonal Thasos Marble Tile

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I love the combination of Industrial resturant-style kitchen with Elegant English Library.   If you look at Windsor Smith's work, you can see that she successfully pulls off this kitchen look again and again.

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Does anyone see the consistencies within her look?  There are the dining table in the kitchen, slipcovered wing chairs, marble, graphic floors, dark glossy paint and french doors.... 

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Here is a vingette from her bathroom.  Glamorous, elegant, European.  I feel like a broken record, but Windsor Smith's rooms are not. While her style is consistent, I never get tired of looking at it.  Love the orange from the vintage fashion photograph repeated in the hermes boxes and even in the cashmere blanket draped on the (Italian?) chair through the doorway.  
As Ilearned from her website, "Windsor loves creating timeless homes for her clients who share her love for classic detail... crown moldings, wainscotings, and cabinets that are crafted more like furniture. She uses old bricks with "weepy" mortar to surround fireplaces and creates clerestories to splash light into ordinary hallways. She once showed up at the glassmaker to ensure that the leaded windows on one of her projects "wobbled" as they would have in the past. "It is rumored that I come in at night and engrave my initials on every nail head of my projects. But it's not true: I am up thumbing through out-of-print architecture books or reading about our legendary women of style... Elsie De Wolfe, Slim Keith, Babe Paley... I draw inspiration from the armchairs they are reclining on, in their country homes. My eye travels to the crystal girandoles on the mantel they are leaning against, or the moss-covered garden statuary their horse is riding past." said Smith.


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She fearlessly uses black walls and even black upolstery, which we all know I love!  I would paint an entire house black if  I could find someone to let me!  And I LOVE the blue ping pong table, it is a graphic note in an elegant black room, which is directly off the Edwardian Foyer. 

"I like to create libraries where men with names like Howard, Bing and Spencer sat in cashmere sweaters and contemplated the 13th hole on the Bel Air golf course. I am drawn to a simple but elegant time when the women were so legendary that surnames weren't necessary.... Slim, Babe, Coco...", Smith says as she twists a sterling pen on the palest aqua velvet ribbon that once belonged to the Duchess of Windsor. "I'm so fortunate. Imagine... a career that beckons me to blend architecture and style with the romance of history.... I can't think of anything more delicious."

Are you inspired by the rooms of Windsor Smith, and want to figure out how you can recreate her look in your own home?  Go to http://www.designtheroomyoulove.com to begin learning to create the home of your dreams on any budget.

European Colonial Meets California Ease

 



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Described as a mix of English, Far East and French, Interior Designer Dan Marty's style has significantly influenced my personal style.  He may very well be my favorite designer, which is quite something, considering I love so many people's work.  This first group of photos are from his apartment in Villa D'este in Los Angeles, an Italian Renaissance building built in the 1920's.  The amazing architecture doesn't hurt, but I love the casual collected look of it all.  It seems so approachable, and it feels possible to actually live a wonderful, full life in a home like this.  A few of his signatures seem to be: ginger jars, woven texture, natural linen, grain sack, wicker, red white and blue in a worn, casual, french way, union jack, black furniture, collections, antlers, the lived in look, a comfortable, easy lifestyle story.   He describes it as what "started out with a British     
Colonial feel, but I also mix in a French Indochine look."


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Dan Marty's Design Shop is Maison au Naturel on La Cienega Blvd. in Los Angeles. 

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  A problem came up when I started looking at photos for this blog post.  I loved everything I saw.  I couldn't choose!  Dan Marty's rooms are so amazing, I truly want them for my own.  The pictures of his store are something else.  

photo:finderskeepersinc.blogspot.com

  I love the "steampunkian" collected feel, like you could make a mess, and it would still look amazing.  I also love that some of the pieces are distressed, it feels accessible that way.



photo:finderskeepersinc.blogspot.com

photo:finderskeepersinc.blogspot.com

His look is definitely on the masculine side, perhaps the men's version of "Shabby Chic"?  For all of you wives out there that I talk to, that love Restoration Hardware and Shabby Chic, and can't figure out how to get your Husbands on board, show them some pictures of Dan Marty's rooms.  You two will be in agreement in no time!

I have learned over the years that I can't successfully live in a home that can't take a little clutter.  I can appreciate the minimalist look, but find it really hard to maintain in real life.  You can imagine a jumbled pile of bills in a wicker basket on one of Dan Marty's tables, and it only adds more life to a gorgeous room!

This is a carefully curated look, however.  Everything seems to blend so well and nothing looks out of place.  His color palette is very consistent, and there is a sincerity to all of the materials he chooses.  Natural materials, and natural colors.  Even his reds, blues, and hints of yellow, are washed out and casual.  There also seems to be very little use of secondary colors: green, purple and orange.  This is where Dan Marty's minimalism lies- in his selection of color and material, everyting is incredibly timeless.  These rooms will never look outdated!

So, for anyone reading this, if you ever find yourself in my home one day, you can say, "This looks so much like one of Dan Marty's rooms.  Have you heard of him?"  That will absolutely make my day.

Do you love Dan Marty's rooms, but can't figure out how to recreate this look in your own home?  Are you ready to take the next step in creating the home of your dreams?
Visit http://www.designtheroomyoulove.com, enter your email address on the site, and I will send you free video trainings on how you can design your spaces just like professional designers do!  My How-To book coming soon!