DESIgNER - Hollyhock
DESIgNER - Hollyhock
DESIgNER - Hollyhock
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designer<br />
secRets<br />
“Have fewer<br />
things,<br />
but better<br />
things”<br />
SUZANNE RHEINSTEIN ON A PREWAR APARTMENT IN NEW YORK CITY<br />
To create a classic, serene living room in a prewar Manhattan apartment,<br />
designer Suzanne Rheinstein kept color low and tonal. The furniture was<br />
placed with entertaining in mind. “You should never have a room with only<br />
stationary seating,” she says. “It’s really nice to have chairs you can pick up<br />
and move around”—in this case, antique French fauteuils upholstered in Fortuny’s<br />
Devine. She re-covered the homeowners’ sofa in Rogers & Goffigon’s<br />
Cervo velvet and used an acrylic Chinese-style coffee table that she designed<br />
and sells in her Los Angeles store, <strong>Hollyhock</strong>. Painting by Carolyn Carr.<br />
Interior design by Suzanne Rheinstein Interview by Mimi Read Photographs by François Dischinger<br />
104 105
Mimi Read: This apartment reminds me of the timeless,<br />
well-bred decorating of firms like Parish-Hadley.<br />
I imagine old-guard Upper East Siders with grown<br />
kids living here.<br />
Suzanne Rheinstein: Oh, no. They’re Southerners in<br />
their late thirties. Charlie Daniels is from Greenwood,<br />
Virginia, and his wife, Lula Norris, is from<br />
Atlanta. They have two little children: Archer is<br />
three, and baby Lula is only a few months. She’s<br />
the fifth Lula in the family. You understand about<br />
the South, right Having five generations with the<br />
same name is just something they do.<br />
I never would have expected a young couple. It has<br />
such a settled look, and it’s not about wit, irony, or<br />
any of those ‘youthful’ effects.<br />
You know, they’re traditional, and I love that—I<br />
celebrate that—because so am I. Both of them have<br />
demanding work lives, and they wanted something<br />
classic and wonderful to come home to. At the same<br />
time, it’s really comfortable. They love to entertain,<br />
and there are plenty of places to sit. They make real<br />
fires in the fireplace. They watch TV and have tray<br />
suppers in that library. And Sassie goes all over the<br />
place—Sassie’s their big old Lab. They’ll be adding<br />
to the apartment as they go through life, and everything<br />
will fit in easily.<br />
What’s the secret to making rooms that feel this calm<br />
and substantial<br />
Have beautifully detailed upholstery. In the bookshelves,<br />
just put books and don’t merchandise<br />
them. By that I mean don’t put four books up, five<br />
books down, a plate here, a box there—that looks<br />
like a store.<br />
What about furniture<br />
Have fewer things, but better things. Obviously, it’s<br />
a long process. It’s not 10-minute decorating. But I’ll<br />
tell you what I tell the young people who work for<br />
me: If you buy one good thing a year, in five years,<br />
you’ll have five really good things. Of course, you<br />
have to take the time to learn about quality and<br />
to appreciate it. But it’s worth doing, whether it’s<br />
about gardens or art or furniture or literature.<br />
The living room is beige-on-beige. Was anyone<br />
tempted to add, say, lavender pillows<br />
Sometimes you need bright color to carry a room,<br />
but color didn’t have to be the story here. They have<br />
furniture that’s interesting, art that’s interesting.<br />
You gain a certain calm this way, too, and the<br />
furniture, the art, the shapes of things, the quality<br />
of what’s there, they all go together to make a<br />
nuanced whole. Anyway, I’ve never been one to do<br />
‘wow’ rooms. I’m much more about: You’re in the<br />
room, and the more you’re there, the more you<br />
notice how comfortable you are, and you see all the<br />
quiet, thoughtful details. Like on the sisal, it’s kind<br />
of a gray color with a diamond pattern. There’s a<br />
leather border with blind stitching and mitred corners.<br />
It’s not just done any old way.<br />
What’s the secret to well-made curtains<br />
Pay attention to them. I like them simple, but I like<br />
them lined. I usually like about a ⅝-inch border at<br />
the top where it’s gathered or pleated, and I usually<br />
trim the leading edge. I like...not goopy trim, but<br />
something to make it look finished. Sometimes it’s<br />
a folded grosgrain ribbon and sometimes it’s a tape<br />
that may have stripes.<br />
You’ve definitely amped up color in the dining room.<br />
I thought it would be fun to turn the corner and see<br />
this exuberant, beautiful paper with flowers and<br />
birds. It’s by Gracie, and it’s a wonderful blue they<br />
really went for. In the house my husband grew up<br />
in, their dining room had this beautiful old wallpaper.<br />
His father used to make up stories about the<br />
birds flying away at night and where they went. I<br />
thought it would be charming for the children, a<br />
nice way for them to remember special meals.<br />
What’s the little dining anteroom used for<br />
We envisioned it as a place where they would eat<br />
when they were alone. But it’s actually where they<br />
play dominoes—fiercely, madly. They also love to<br />
play international rummy, which turns anyone<br />
into a squabbling six-year-old. We found the 19thcentury<br />
game table, and the built-in banquette I<br />
designed to fit. I love banquettes, by the way. For<br />
the last five years I’ve been fascinated with European<br />
design from the late ’60s and early ’70s, often<br />
in Italian castles. The way they mix old and modern<br />
is wonderful. They used a lot of banquettes,<br />
which look great with antiques.<br />
You’ve struck a sweet spot between feminine and<br />
masculine decorating in this apartment. Even with<br />
pink chairs in the master bedroom, the room’s not<br />
too feminine!<br />
That big old comfortable bed, and lots of painted<br />
paneling that are really cupboards—those things<br />
balance out the pink chairs. It’s all about balance.<br />
What’s your favorite creature comfort<br />
In my first job away from home, I was making $140<br />
a week, and I had my sheets washed and ironed.<br />
But what about saving up for fine furniture<br />
Sometimes the quotidian is more important than<br />
the big splurge. My favorite quote is by Joan Didion.<br />
She was asked by a writer if it was true that she<br />
used her good silver every day, and she said, ‘Every<br />
day is all there is.’<br />
Produced by Sabine Rothman styled by Olga Naiman<br />
Right: Rheinstein brought the dining room to life with a vibrant, scenic Chinese wallpaper by Gracie. She and the young<br />
homeowners chose fine furnishings “that will see them through their lives,” she says. Rheinstein loves painted pieces<br />
against rich, dark woods, so she paired chalky Gustavian dining chairs with an antique English mahogany table.<br />
106
1<br />
2<br />
3<br />
7<br />
6<br />
1. A dining room alcove is<br />
used for dessert buffets,<br />
wine tastings, and playing<br />
games. 2. In the living room,<br />
a Catherine chaise faces deep<br />
back-to-back slipper chairs,<br />
all from <strong>Hollyhock</strong>. 3. Soft<br />
colors make the master<br />
bedroom a soothing retreat. <br />
4. An 18th-century Italian<br />
mirror and dressing table<br />
are nestled under a bedroom<br />
window. 5. A Carolyn Carr<br />
painting hangs over the foyer’s<br />
French console. Zoffany’s<br />
striped Fusion wallpaper<br />
adds subtle charm. 6. A grid<br />
of antique engravings hangs<br />
over an Italian canapé in<br />
the living room. 7. Pears in<br />
an 18th-century Dutch bowl.<br />
Opposite: Rheinstein gave<br />
the master bedroom a wall of<br />
cabinetry, painted Clay Beige<br />
by Benjamin Moore and made<br />
to resemble paneling. The<br />
ceiling canopy and curtains<br />
of the “beautiful, enveloping<br />
bed” are Chelsea Editions<br />
plain linen; the interior<br />
canopy, Fabricut chintz. Bed<br />
linens are from Leta Austin<br />
Foster Boutique.<br />
6<br />
5<br />
4<br />
108 109
110<br />
“It’s a great room to come home to after a tired day, when you just want to put your<br />
feet up, have a tray supper, watch TV, and be cozy with your family,” Rheinstein says<br />
of the faux-bois paneled library. Carlyle’s Charles of London sofa bed; <strong>Hollyhock</strong><br />
upholstered Racetrack Ottoman. Painting by Carolyn Carr. Opposite:<br />
Rheinstein set up a writing corner in the library’s alcove with the homeowners’<br />
antique English writing table and chair, reupholstered in olive leather from<br />
Jerry Pair. The painting is by Mark Tobey. For more details, see Resources