interior design home

Okay, I've been flooded with emails about my post yesterday.  I guess I've struck a chord that makes me realize I'm not the only one that loves modern adaptations of classical and period revival homes.  The work that some talented architects are doing simply amazes me with their incredible eye for detail, scale and proportions.  Their imagination and ability to take what they see in their head and put it on paper sometimes astounds me.  As I wrote yesterday, there are many failures in trying to do this.  However, another architect (who trained under Bobby McAlpine) is doing it very, very well.  I recently came across his work and have already become a huge fan.  His name is Ruard Veltman and his staff of Ruard Veltman Architecture in Charlotte, North Carolina.  They describe their company as "an atelier residential firm, fluent in a range of historical styles without being bound by tradition."  The designers render their drawings by hand which I love.  While I am not an architect, I do design many of the homes we build.  I have been a student of architecture for many years, drawing floor plans and rearranging furniture since I was 11 years old and I find it impossible for someone to truly put their creative imagination for a design into a computer without drawing or sketching it out first.

Mirrors are a great statement throughout a house and often overlooked in decorating.  It is usually in the finest homes you find outstanding French and Italian mirrors.  The French trumeau became popular in the 18th century and were found in homes in France up until the mid-1800's.  Some of these mirrors were built into paneling in walls in these homes.  This type of mirror is called a boiserie--it is often difficult to tell the difference unless it is obvious that the sides of the mirror have been removed from a wall.  

Today, I love a large trumeau leaning against a wall, a gilded mirror in a powder bath, an Italian mirror above a console or bureau.  That is one of the reasons I am starting to make authentic reproduction mirrors based on actual antiques.  Well, to be honest, most of these outstanding mirrors command a hefty price that doesn't fit in our household budget (which is probably the same with many people).  In addition, most every reproduction I have seen is simply not done correctly.  The mirrors I am designing now are as close to the originals as I have found, with relief carvings that were originally designed over 100 years ago in the U.S. by European carvers.  My goal is to eventually have a selection of French trumeaus and some Italian mirrors to offer for sale.  All of the details of these mirrors will be exact or close to it with the carvings that originated in Europe.  Below are some examples of the designs I am working on.  The first one is one of my favorites and is my first project:

While the main focus of my blog is the design of period revival houses, from time to time I'll offer insight into what would be appropriate for the interior of these houses as well.  When I come across "finds" for a house I'll make you aware of them.