I consider myself very fortunate for the opportunity to work with clients that appreciate and understand the importance of textiles in a design project. I have been working with such a client for the last nine months to recreate the beauty and grandeur of her family’s 150-year-old plantation home.
We started with a concept that was worked around a custom wool carpet in the Drawing room in a very soft sage green. The carpet was in excellent condition so we simply “wrapped” the room in a custom paint color of the same hue. We painted trim, bookshelves, and ceiling with tones of this green to make a luxurious palette from which to build.
We then found a FABULOUS silk damask by the GREAT Oscar de la Renta for Lee Jofa in a deep teal color with an embroidered design of a semi-traditional, over-scaled pattern. This was to be our jumping off point to create beautiful window treatments that we would install 12″ above the actual window height to give the appearance of larger more prominent views. From there we simply added luxury by layering patterns and textures to complete the “Gone with the Wind” feel. We discussed that by pulling the draperies all the way to below the crown molding and adding a beautifully crafted top treatment the windows became our main point of visual interest. We billowed the fullness of draperies by using three widths of fabric per panel and added drama with a 3″ puddle. All of the textiles we used in this drawing room were painstakingly thought through, so as to build on the luxury of the space.
Stay tuned next month for more on this project!
Kelli Wilson is the creative mind behind Kelli Wilson Consulting, based in Little Rock.
