THE DESIGN SEEKER

The Ultimate Luxe Guide To Interiors, Travel & Style

Monday, August 28, 2017

Bringing the Hey day to the here and now


Hollywood Regency, which is the style of Hollywood in its heyday of the 20’s to the 50’s, has a truly sumptuous and unashamedly glamorous appeal. Its an aesthetic rather than a trend that resurges every few years and I absolutely love the key pieces from this super glam era. You only have to show me some of the pieces from the above pictures and I swoon. 

I wouldn’t necessarily design an all out Hollywood Regency themed interior, (unless of course it was for an LA-based bar, which would in fact be awesome) just as any dominant interior style can be overbearing on its own, but loosely decorating in this aesthetic adds decadence, sophistication and old world magic. The kitchen below and that dining room table, I mean.....


The appeal of Hollywood Regency to me is mixing old with new and infusing contemporary schemes with a regency twist. The style works so well with so many other interior styles that it can be an injection in terms of its hallmark colour palette, furniture and fixtures, the prints and so many other components that make up Hollywood Regency.


Some of the key components to look out for include: bold geometric prints and large stripes, dramatic black and white schemes, bold colours like fuschia and yellow, Chinoiserie, lacquer and mirrored furniture, tactile textures, and pronounced gold and silver detailing. All the images here point to what I mean.

If you are colour confident, the strong and contrasting colours and finishes of Hollywood regency create really sophisticated and stunning results. The key is to notice that the palette is always restricted so the look is actually very tailored and glamorous.


I love the prints from this era which illustrate some beautiful geometric prints as well as wider stripes, neo classical prints and leafy patterns. Art Deco & Art Noveau where all the range in this period.


Accessorising is fun way to introduce Hollywood regency so flourish with abandon like the movie stars of the golden age did with a heavy emphasis on cocktail shakers and bar ware and channel gold, perspex and bold patterns to convey a look of opulence and OTT style.





The dressing table is one of the key pieces of furniture from the days when the Hollywood actresses would get ready. These fur seats are really popular at the moment and are such a fun, frivilous piece. You might start to notice the detailing of the period including lucite, gold and brass handles. 

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Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Picking plums

Click here for the link to the left image and click here for the link to the image on the right :)

I am heralding one of the key colours to dominate the world of interiors in 2018 as PLUM. It’s a shade we all know and love, but is rare to interiors for no good reason. Plum is stunning: strong and warming. It was coming....I watched with glee as blush turned to putty, morphing through jewel red into the earthy tones like terracotta and I can tell you now for sure: it will rocket forward with plum. 

I’ve been rather overdosed this past year with not instantly loveable colours like Greenery and some of the paler pinks were too 80’s for me. But plum I love: it has the warmth of red, the drama of purple, the moodiness of black and the decadence of claret.

I know I push for being colour confident, but I honestly believe that ‘going big’ allows that colour to really show off its innate mood and qualities properly. A token dab of plum is lovely, but go for a wall or a big piece and this rich and inviting shade will come to life.

Click here for the image on the left and here for the image on the right :)

From the above pictures, you get a true sense of plum reigning on its own. Now I'm not backing down from plum but the line between bordeaux and marsala is very thin in the light and I found most images cropped up in all three word searches. So if you are looking for inspiration, just bear it in mind. Plum has a blue-black to it that that marsala and wine colours lack and are more red so plum is actually my preference because it has a heediness and darkness to it. 

With every colour you can work a palette to suit your style and bring in accent colours that perhaps you already have. Plum is a strong shade so if you love interiors exuding mood and drama, matt and textural fabrics, dynamic pieces and playing with light, then go for other intense shades and watch the room come to life. I think it looks outrageously fab in a split complimentary or rectangular scheme combining analogous colours including brown and terracotta with complimentary colours like teal, blue and emerald green.  

Click here for the link to the top left image; here for the top right image; here for the above left and here for above right.

 These above are stunning & dramatic interiors and plum looks beautiful with statement finishes and materials including gold, marble and velvet. However plum has lots of other gentler and lighter palettes that will create a romantic, bohemian and sensual style. Tones like cream, lilac, blush and lighter tones of teal and brown work beautifully with plum. Here is some inspo of plum with white:

Click here for the link to the image on the left; here for the central image and here for the image on the right :)


If you have any thoughts or feedback about plum, let me know :-)

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Monday, July 31, 2017

SUZIE LOVES…..the Redono

The Redono sofa in Moroso's own home
I have a life long love of Patricia Urquiola’s style and her Redono is illustrative of why I love her designs. Whenever I research furniture for a project, I spot the Redono (it comes as a sofa, armchair & ottoman) and the love brims and I have to pop it in. Damn google analytics for controlling my feeds like a drug lord and pushing these beautiful pieces on me.

The Redono armchair is essentially a quilt-upholstered shell. Its rounded edges and padded cushioning give it a cocooning appeal, whilst because it’s proportionally large, it has an open and welcoming quality too. The design was inspired by the interiors of 50’s American cars, which makes me recall their deep, quilt-stitched leather seats and Cadallacs driving through Palm Springs in this era.

I love old school, West-coast glamour and this piece just oozes that beautiful, luxe and sensual period. The colour ways are inspired by Hollywood in the 50's and 60's, which incidentally are in vogue now including coral, teal and navy; and if you don’t have small kids, it looks deadly in off white.

If you’re someone who shies away from a minimalist design and likes tactile materials and old school luxe, curl up on a Redono and you’ll be one of the happiest people alive.




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Wednesday, July 26, 2017

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Friday, July 14, 2017

Thursday, June 15, 2017

All that glows isn't gold; it is terracotta



Whilst everyone else is tweeting about the latest colours of SS/17 (greenery, coral and the like), I’m here to enlighten you on THE colour to have up your sleeve if you want to be in the interiors cool gang. Terracotta will be all over your screen come autumn and before you dismiss it out of hand because I concede, I too had my reservations that its kind of outdated; let me fill you in because you’ll come to love it as I do, so let me save you the 180°. Plus, Milan doesn’t get colours wrong and they have put that colour from the late 80’s back on the map.

Here’s what you need to know:

You’ll hear it called copper, burnt orange or persimmon; Farrow & Ball have a gorgeous 'Red earth' and Dulux in the image here call the back wall, Golden pheasant. Terracotta might be relabelled to give it more alluring connotations, but it is Terracotta in all its rusty, burnished, spicy loveliness.                                                                                                                                                
This leads me onto my second point: Terracotta isn't a colour to be relegated to accent pieces - it isn't a gentle; or more poignantly, it isn't a cosmetic or frivolous colour. Terracotta is rich, earthly and dynamic and will create an authentic and striking response if you really go for it in swathes. Don't be intimidated by its strong and grounded quality and be half hearted in its use. If I can persuade you, it is best executed on all four walls.

What I also love about terracotta is how beautifully it works tonally and my favourite schemes see it layered with complimentary tones from the same ‘earthy palette’ from sunlit creams and putty pinks through orange, dark red and spicy browns. Don’t think I’m suggesting you channel your earth goddess! The overall result of tone-on-tone is sophisticated and atmospheric and a restricted scheme has an edgy contemporary feel.

In my personal interior design style, I frequently lean towards a narrow palette for a refined appeal. You can have lots of pieces and from different styles and I love an eclectic styling, but if the palette ties up, the overall look is harmonious. Terracotta blends beautifully with warmer metals and punches of gold as well as light woods and marble. You can also introduce off white and dark colours/black to create contrast and use these on bigger pieces like curtains and large furniture.


There are endless colours that look stunning with terracotta and I love contemporary patterns that introduce colours in an interesting way. For a more contemporary scheme, terracotta looks slick with greens including teal and khaki and slate and pale greys. For a more feminine softer feel, team terracotta with powder pink, bone and spring blues or greens.

I could go on forever creating schemes, can you tell I’m an interior designer?! In all seriousness, if you have any colour questions, let me know!


  
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Wednesday, May 24, 2017

GRIND CLERKENWELL

Yes @grind yes #thedesignseeker #clerkenwelldesignweek

A post shared by Suzie Mc Adam (@suziemcadam) on

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