How would this fireplace look if it were breathing flames? Fascinating! This big mouthed god of sorts is the creation of internationally influenced artist Pedro Freideberg who is of German heritage but has lived in and studied in many of the world’s cultures. Hence, he has absorbed the dreams of others and has given birth to many visual fantasies of his own. The fireplace lives in Casa Diana, a bed & breakfast/gallery in the small artsy colony of San Miguel de Allende, north of Mexico City. It’s owner, Carmen Gutierrez, has created rooms around her former husband’s art and it has become a gallery of much interest.

How did they pull off this great example of eclecticism? An over-the-top ornate guilded mirror next to a cow hide upholstered loveseat . What makes the loveseat work is the fact that it’s frame is ornate…similar to the mirror. This creates a graceful transition that we always seek in interiors. The cow hide is a wild idea. Who would have thought of it?! But it works because the colors are all from the same section of the color wheel in the white-gold-brown range…another graceful transition. This is a beautiful mixture of “same and different.”

The artist is often asked to explain his repeated use of hands. Hands everywhere. What do they mean? But he does not explain this. It is his surreal visual expression. Did Picasso explain his guitars?!?! The Louvre has one of his hands and we are told that his work is followed by many a discerning collector.

The exterior of Casa Diana is “alive” with Pedro’s art. He has framed the windows in slithering snakes, and an Aztec looking mask with his signature hands has the personality of Mexican folk art.

Atop the building, a cast head of Michelangelo’s David stands watch over the town of San Miguel.

Here is another beautiful plaster fireplace in an equestrian theme. The dynamic horses are Italian Renaissance inspired. And scroll down to see some other pieces that are housed at Casa Diana. Art commentators observe Indian iconic forms and colors as well as Hebrew, Islamic and Chinese symbols in Freideberg’s work. Regardless, it is obvious that this artist knows how to use visual language for a powerful impact.

It would be quite an adventure to stay in this B&B/Gallery but we are told that there remains only one room for guests because all of the others have been crowded out by the art.

Photos from The World of Interiors March 2008

When this still life first caught my eye, I was enchanted! What an interesting collection of exotic pieces! Ancient Chinese (Han Dynasty) porcelains and bronzes. Impressionist drawings as a backdrop. How artfully arranged! I immediately wanted to know more about the rest of the house, and the person who created the arrangement.

It turned out to be a townhouse situated on the Upper East Side of the island of Manhattan, New York. The Big Apple….but I would have sworn it to be in one of the classier arrondissements of Paris.  ”Architecture speaks to you and can tell you what it needs,” says West Palm Beach interior designer Jack Fhillips. “This place was not an English cottage or a contemporary space.” This duplex apartment just begged to be decorated as a European pied a terre. With handsome woodwork, a limestone exterior and a walk in garden entrance it had all the classic energy of Europe.

We are already seeing a consistent color scheme here. Warm white walls, contrasting deep brown wood treads, guilded picture frames. The art within the frames does not have a lot of color either. It is mostly a collection of 18th-20th c. etchings, drawings and architectural renderings.

That’s a wild bed, is it not? It’s a 19th c. piece and my hunch is it’s from France. It sits on a Savonnerie rug, which is a french weaving technique.

These are formal rooms, and not everyone’s choice of lifestyle. However, it is a beautiful example of how to create “flow” and “continuity” within a space. This is one of the basic principles of great design. Pick a theme and stick to it. This does not mean we can’t be eclectic. But eclecticism is not simply random….there’s usually some reason that an oddball choice works well. It could be about scale. It could be about color or texture. That’s a big subject and I will write more in future blog posts about how to pull off an eclectic interior.

Here we see more of the same color scheme, with liberal use of deep caramel. We are told that one of the designer’s “signature touches” is to place a desk in every room. Desks are great places for staging arrangements of things and…

this designer has a wonderful eye for doing just that. There are interesting vignettes on many surfaces combining art, books and flowers amd more. It’s a bit of eye candy to stimulate the imagination.

Photos from Veranda magazine March 2008

Ruby Beets loves white. She loves antique, used, repurposed and shabby furniture. And she loves using big graphic shapes within a space. For example, look at the pair of white vases that stand on the left side of mantle. Large for that narrow shelf, their curves are elegantly simple. The urn shaped vase at mantle right and the unembellished curved vase on the coffee table echo this theme.

Look how gracefully curved this white canvas wing backed chaise is. The arm shape seems to repeat the lines of the vases. Its’ uncomplicated design element plays off the busier pattern of pealing painted furniture and smaller objets d’arte (lots of shells from local beaches in Sag Harbor, New York).

The dining room features a reproduction table treated with a whitewash to add character. The 1920’s lyre-back chairs once lived in an old hotel in Maine. The black cabinetry came from a local hardware store that went out of business. The designer turned them dark ebony which is a fabulous backdrop for still more white graphically shaped ironstone and earthenware.

The piano is another big curved shape, this time in black to give extra punch to the black cabinets. When a color is repeated like these dark accents, it emphasizes itself. Using a color just once (I call this a “widow” because it’s all alone) can make us feel out of balance. Repeating the color….even in a small way… makes us feel more peaceful somehow.

I just had to show you the daughters’ charming bedroom with it’s Porthault bed linens and wire chandelier holding shells.

The bathroom slipper chair and upholstered bench are two more lovely examples of the dreamy curved shapes that wind their way through the house, holding it together as they repeat themselves in almost every room.

Photos from House Beautiful July 2006