Monday, May 11, 2020

Chinoiserie Gone Wrong

Miles Redd

This is the worst example of Chinoiserie Gone Wrong to date. I challenge anyone to offer a reasoned explanation for this classic hand painted silk Chinoiserie Fromental wallpaper with -

*This rug that does not belong anywhere but a Las Vegas casino
*His signature overdone silk ruffled curtains that I have never understood in a blue color from out in left field
*The dinky chandelier hung too high with dated itsy bitsy shades - I think he was trying to copy one of Alessandra Branca's signature touches (red chandelier shades) and missed
*That ugly clunky dining table with white columns - why white?
*A piece of modern art that looks like some sort of explosion
*A centerpiece of crystals that is so wrong
*Jarring black and white abstract chevron chairs that were so 15 minutes of fame
*The pedestals for the obelisks look like formica lecterns
*The sideboard looks like an office desk

If this were my dining room I would take that obelisk and impale myself on it. This absolutely falls under the category of "I can do whatever I want because I'm Miles Redd." Words cannot begin to describe my dislike for this room. It is mismatched, tacky, and downright ugly. As my mother would say, it was beaten with an ugly stick.

And you can be sure this room, featured in Architectural Digest, cost an absolute fortune. Here is the description from Architectural Digest:

"The most intense arena is the dining room. With its pale-silver wallpaper painted with exotic foliage, neo-Cubist sisal, peacock-blue taffeta curtains sparked by a John Fowler design, and chairs clad in a black-and-white velvet whose wavy motif vibrates like Op Art, it’s a dynamic space for making a grand sartorial impression. 'The great thing about Houston is that people come all decked out,' Redd notes. 'It’s a lot of stylish ladies in stunning clothes, and that works perfectly with the room.' "

"This Houston mansion’s dining room is lined with a Fromental silk wall covering; a Brunschwig & Fils silk taffeta was used for the curtains, the Oscar de la Renta Home for Century Furniture chairs are upholstered in a Turkish velvet, and Agustin Hurtado custom painted the Patterson Flynn Martin sisal."

More money than taste.

Ok, I'm game. Love it? Hate it? This should be interesting. I'm just waiting for, "As long as they love it, that's all that matters." Well you don't need to pay someone a fortune for a room that looks like it was the result of a bad acid trip.

48 comments:

  1. Good morning...I think you said it best!

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  2. As I was reading, I thought someone paid good money for this atrocity and someone was tripping on acid!! Great minds think a like.

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  3. Oh my! This room gives me a headache. Love your blog though!

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  4. You're right! Awful beyond words! That said, I'm beginning to think you have a bone to pick with Miles Redd. Can you feature another tragedy next week from another designer?

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    1. It is not deliberate - I liked his earlier work. It just comes up in my feed and I'm not even aware of the designer until I click on it. I will try my best, but he makes it so easy.

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  5. OMG! Miles Redd should be horribly embarrassed. What would I do? Throw everything out except the wallpaper and start over with a decorator who has talent (Miles Redd obviously has some issues and the client is apparently color blind as well as pattern blind.)

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    1. Yes, such a shame with that beautiful wallpaper that is lost in this mess.

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  6. I think we are being punked by Miles, there is no other way to explain it. It is actually disturbing and it makes my hair hurt anywhere I look in that room.

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  7. I've often wondered about Miles Redd's work - sometimes it's beautiful, and other times it's a train wreck like this. What keeps him on top?

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  8. Having lived in Houston, I unfortunately can believe it. It's the same group that turned up the air conditioning so they could wear fur.

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    1. I know - my best friend from law school was there after we graduated.

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  9. Now here's a question for consideration that perhaps only Miles can answer. Is this an example of too much client involvement? Being in a creative business that involves clients, I understand how a perfectly terrific work can deteriorate to the point it bears no resemblance to what you proposed in the first place. And after awhile you just go along to get along because A) the client is paying you to do what they want, and B) they have the right, for their money, to get what they want and makes them happy. That aside, I don't understand the industry fawning over work like this (Architectural Digest?) when it clearly isn't well done by any standard except the client's.

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  10. No violence, please. (We don't want you impaling yourself on the obelisk.) At first I thought this room was done by an imposter - someone pretending to be Miles Redd. Maybe he had a client who hired him, but just wouldn't get out of his way. Someone with enough money and social media presence to get their house published in AD. I'm reminded of that quote by Oscar Wilde, "They know the price of everything, and the value of nothing".

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  11. Still, I do think there are individual elements in the room that are attractive on their own, and would be nice if used differently; the chandelier, the wallpaper and the sideboard, (that is really a desk).

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  12. Totally agree with Karen of Fair Oaks. I don't get this. Was inspired to google the article - the master bedroom would keep me up nights also. We looked at a Miles Redd decorated home when house shopping. It was empty of furnishings (blessing??), but the acid blue cabinets in the kitchen coupled with the disco ball over the island made me think that homeowner had been punked for a bunch of cash. We didn't buy the home.

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  13. Oh my heavens...I can't comment... My poor eyes... I must go lie down with a cool compress on my forehead.

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  14. I think it's 1984 and they hired Cyndi Lauper to decorate. "Miles just wants to have Fuuuun!"

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    1. I love her - have seen her in person many times.

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  15. The whole room made me car sick!

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  16. Yes, we are being "punked"...by Architectural Digest! They need to show the general public that they know best, that only the top "100 Designers" and clients with $$ deserve to be in their issues, that they alone can establish what is in good taste. Stay true to yourselves! Don't be bamboozled into thinking this is good design!

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    1. You get perfectly the entire point of this series.

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  17. I adore Miles Redd, but, alas, this is bad. The carpet and table and pedestals are hideous. The rest could work - even the chevron chairs (chevron is classic), if these gaffes were ameliorated.

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  18. Even Elvis Presley would find this tacky.

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  19. Beth: you hit every single point I would've made..except: I wouldn't be able to eat a meal in that room. A dining room is supposed to be welcoming and soothing to enable one to enjoy a meal.. No way would I enjoy my meal!

    So many colors and patterns..
    I'm getting woozy.....

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  20. Let's face it: as long as Miles is getting featured in Architectural Digest which in turn helps him get clients with deep pockets that's all that matters...because after all, he is still in the business of making money. He has done some really terrific, inspired, work (check out his Instagram) and a room like this is not going to hurt him much. For all we know the client shoehorned some of their own pieces and I am sure they are thrilled with the result. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

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  21. "Gone wrong", is an understatement. As I scrolled down I was thinking that the only one that compares to this is that Miles Redd one you posted the other day. Imagine my surprise when I saw the credit. Maybe he was playing spin the bottle in the fabric showrooms? Someone got him on a dare? Made the mood board while hung over? I feel bad for all the people who had to eat a meal in that room.

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  22. Frightening at best. No place for the eye to rest in this room!

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    1. Yes, precisely. Frightening is a good word for it.

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  23. Looking at this room makes me recall the movie "The Jerk." I see Steve Martin on one end of the table and Bernadette Peters on the other ordering their butler not to bring them anymore old wine, "lets splurge...bring us the fresh stuff!"

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  24. This looks more like a $2000 Trading Spaces room by Hilde than a designer room which we KNOW cost a fortune

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