Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Chintz Returns

House Beautiful - Can you guess the year?

OK you smarty pants. What year is this from?

Current
2011?
2001?
1991?
1981?

"In the 1980s, chintz worked in just about every room. Featured in our October 1981 issue, a sitting area in Old Westbury Gardens in Long Island, New York, the Baker sofas are covered in Brunschwig & Fils's Westbury Bouquet glaze chintz." ---- House Beautiful

So almost 40 years ago! This room is timeless IMHO. A blue and white Chinese garden stool, blue and white Chinese porcelain, wicker, and a classic chintz which is having a resurgence. The only tip off is the chairs matching the sofa.

But chintz is having a moment again with Grandmillennials - the key is to use just a bit - don't go full Mario Buatta. Pointers - use a classic chintz - high end, glazed is gorgeous, think Brunschwig & Fils, Colefax and Fowler, Lee Joffa in peonies, roses, hollyhocks, and the like. Use it as an accent - don't go all matchy matchy. A beautiful pair of chintz pillows is a great example.

Society Social

Society Social

I still have a wicker chaise and table skirt in a gorgeous Mario Buatta chintz that I plan to use in one of the guest bedrooms. An aside, I would love to see the return of aubergine - does anyone remember Mario Buatta's aubergine lacquered walls? Wonderful!

Mario Buatta

16 comments:

  1. Chintz is happy, pretty and timeless. You can do anything with it the way you can with a leopard print. Oh, and that last photo of Mario B's room is simply marvelous. A great example of planets aligning to create a perfect combination of color and pattern, comfort and beauty.

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  2. Well, of course, I got the year right! I have always loved chintz and it has never been eradicated from my home. I made chintz curtains for my office in the 80's, and I still love them. It's in a room that I upholstered in a green/teal ish matte and satin stripe. If I'm going to live in a time warp, I picked a pretty time.

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    1. Well of course you did. I loved the eighties - I was married, had my daughter, and loved the interior design.

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  3. The Mario Buatta aubergine room is spectacular. I still have the issue that the feature story appeared in and love to drool over it. The entire home interior is a work of art and would be very difficult to achieve by a mere decorating mortal.

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    1. I still adore his work - he was brilliant - can't think who today I would put in his league.

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    2. Evaline, what issue was that? I'd like to order it from their back issue department. Thank you!

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    3. Nobody today! But from that era, Angelo Donghia and Michael De Santis were also brilliant!

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    4. Sorry, I don't recall the issue.

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    5. I just researched it - Architectural Digest - November 1989, Inside New York.

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  4. I've always loved chintz, and that room from the 1980's is just beautiful with those saturated blues and greens. Who designed that room? That last room by Mario Buatta is wonderful. I've seen pictures of it before, and if I remember correctly, the walls were a sort of aubergine color, though they appear much darker in this photograph.

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    1. The write up by House Beautiful as quoted did not indicate the designer. Yes, the Mario Buatta room is aubergine - true aubergine does verge on black as opposed to purple and can photograph as black.

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  5. These pictures are so beautiful they take my breath away! The Mario rooms especially are truly masterpieces, although I love that LES TOUCHES pillow in the Society Social room, and I love that 8 Immortal Gods garden stool (fortunately I loaded up on those before the price totally skyrocketed!) I adore aubergine! Beth, did you ever see Mary Tyler Moore's apartment in NYC with the fabulous aubergine walls (I think they were in the library) that was featured in Architectural Digest many years ago? It was perfection! She had incredible taste--everyplace she lived was fabulous--I hope some day you can do a post which includes her upstate New York pool house which is beyond words, and maybe find pictures of those aubergine walls in her NYC apartment!
    Thank you so much for these GORGEOUS pictures!! What a joy to look at them!

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  6. You know, it almost isn't fair. Putting the Society Social pics alongside Mario Buatta aubergine rm. underscores the colossal difference between perfection and "do no harm" blandness of playing decorator. Harsh no doubt, but someone had to say it.

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    1. Good point, but the Society Social does demonstrate a modern pared down approach to incorporating chintz.

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