Last month I shared my excitement about FREDERIC, the new magazine produced by Schumacher, and a recently released home tour put such a smile on my face, I just had to share. This turn-of-the-century Chicago Townhouse belongs to Jenny Holladay, an interior designer for Summer Thornton. The tour is just over six minutes and I have already watched it three times!
I love every single room, but I think the kitchen might be my favorite…
Jenny Holladay, Photograph by Francesco Lagnese
You can see more pictures in the current issue of FREDERIC magazine. Click here to subscribe and use code “FREDERICV2” for a 10% discount.
Also, exclusive to the magazine, is an incredible 1930s Lake Bluff, Illinois home that was originally decorated by Billy Baldwin and Frances Elkins. The legendary designers’ work had been unfortunately removed over the years, but designer Ruthie Sommers did an amazing job in bringing it back to life with a nod to the home’s storied past.
Flip through Mario Buatta’s celebrated monograph (aka “The Buattapedia“), and you will see the artwork of George Oakes in nearly every one of his projects. For enthusiasts of English interior design, the Oakes name is virtually synonymous with Colefax & Fowler, the storied firm known for originating the English Country Style that continues to inspire today.
Emily Eerdmans, author, scholar, and protégé of Mario Buatta, is pleased to present George & Lucinda Oakes: A Decorative Line, a collection of artworks by George (1927–2017) and his daughter, Lucinda. The exhibition runs from June 23 to August 20 at Eerdmans, Emily’s recently expanded Greenwich Village gallery.
A Decorative Line marks the first time the work of the father and daughter have been shown together. George’s pieces include a selection of his iconic hand-painted cushions as well as framed works. Lucinda’s work includes masterful takes on her father’s cushions, botanical sketches, a grisaille gardening trophy, and a cabinet-of-curiosities chimney board.
Buatta loved incorporating George Oakes’s artwork and painted cushions within his projects, and later commissioned Lucinda to make them. Image: House and Garden’s Best in Decorating, published in 1987 with Mario Buatta’s design – and a George Oakes pillow on the cover.A hand-painted silk pillow by George Oakes in the garden room of Patricia Altschul. Photograph by Luzanne Otte.George and Lucinda Oakes at Colefax & Fowler, 1969. Image courtesy of Eerdmans.A silk cushion in progress by Lucinda Oakes. Oil on silk, 2021.
George joined Colefax & Fowler in 1956 as a freelance artist. He was hired by the firm full time in 1959 where he worked for more than 30 years, eventually becoming a director. George created decorative paintings of all kinds, in addition to heading up the design studio and making designs for fabric and wallpapers. His work could be found in the finest homes in England including Nancy Lancaster‘s Haseley Court, Chiswick House, Clandon Park, Hatfield house, and Buckingham Palace. Clients included Princess Margaret, U.S. ambassador David K.E. Bruce, Lord McAlpine of West Green, and American philanthropist Bunny Mellon.
George Oakes cushions, available via A Decorative Line. Oakes once jokingly referred to the highly sought treasures as “those damned cushions.” Collectors included society grande dames like Lee Radziwill, Evangeline Bruce, and C.Z. Guest.Five cushions by George Oakes from the Mario Buatta auction, Courtesy of Sotheby’s.Bunny Mellon treasured her Oakes-painted trompe l’oeil message board. Photo: Courtesy of Sotheby’s
Seeing her work exhibited alongside her father’s for the first time was emotionally moving for Lucinda. “It’s a one-off, I don’t suppose it will happen again,” she said. “Emily had various pieces from Mario, but she has also bought things herself at auction of my father’s. I cannot imagine anyone else would have gathered so many bits and pieces together like that of his. I wish he could have seen it.”
Lucinda’s father continues to be her greatest source of inspiration. “My father taught me to draw really. I went to art school and received a BA and master’s of arts, but when it came to decorative painting, I learned everything from him. And I’ve got his voice his voice in my head all the time when I’m working,” she said. “He didn’t just have a great eye for composition, he had a great eye for color and originality. Even though he was working in a very traditional style, he always managed to make it slightly different… it may have been in his choice of objects for a still life or certain details that gave it a uniqueness you don’t always see in decorative painting.”
Lucinda Oakes in her studio.
Lucinda grew up in the idyllic countryside of Kent surrounded by apple orchards, hop gardens, piles of Colefax & Fowler fabrics, and oodles of furniture and beautiful things from John Fowler’s personal collection that he had passed along to the family.
After earning degrees in fine art, Lucinda began her career painting on silk and selling scarves to Liberty. She was then given her first decorative painting commission in 1994 which set the course for her career.
She has worked on numerous projects around the world for private clients and interior designers including Jane Churchill Interiors, Colin Orchard Ltd, Imogen Taylor, Joanna Wood, Guy Goodfellow, William Yeoward, Goddard Littlefair, and Mario Buatta, in addition to many of the interior designers at Colefax and Fowler including Wendy Nicholls, Philip Hooper and Roger Jones.
Lucinda is known for her hand painted wallpapers, murals, folding screens, panels and painted silk, inspired by traditional trompe l’oeil designs, 18th century wall paintings, and classical chinoiserie. Recent commissions have included decorating the ballroom of a Côte d’Azur chateau and various rooms at Ballyfin, a luxury hotel in the Irish countryside.
Lucinda lives by the sea with her family in Hastings, East Sussex. She can be found most of the time in her garden, surrounded by flowers that inspire her art.
An Irish pavilion painted by Lucinda in 1999 with interior design by Imogen TaylorA mural at Ballyfin painted by Lucinda OakesGeorge Oakes and John Fowler, 1958, Photography courtesy of EerdmansA note from Mario Buatta to George Oakes
Available Artwork from George and Lucinda Oakes | A Decorative Line
Lucinda Oakes painted the silk cushions and their preparatory sketches above. The folly is based on historic designs for an Irish ice house. Image via @eerdmansnewyork
Lucinda explains the significance of her preparatory work, “I tend to get really involved with my preparatory drawings, he [George] was really keen on that, sort of quick color versions of the final piece,” she said. “You just give it the extra time and extra attention to detail, and you learn as you are going along, more and more I think, of how to get it right. If you do your preparatory work really well, then when you come to do the actual thing, you can do it with confidence and panache. Because on the final product, especially when painting on fabric, you can’t be tentative, you just have to go for it and you can’t really make a mistake.”
Lucinda’s Garden Trophy Cartouche en grisaille surrounded by her father’s watercolors and cushions. Image via @eerdmansnewyork
Lucinda says, “I do try to copy – particularly with the silk painting – his sort of brush strokes or his drawing because I like it so much – it is light, kind of flowing, but really strong. There is no weakness to the drawing and it is lifelike.”
Lucinda’s oil-on-board gardening trophy, rendered in grisaille is a beautiful example of her trompe l’oeil. Her inspiration was Bunny Mellon’s garden room at her Oak Spring estate in Upperville, Virginia.
Inspired by old photographs she’d taken at the Natural History Museum in London, Lucinda worked from her collection of specimens to create a chimney board filled with curiosities.George Oakes watercolors in original Colefax & Fowler frames
For additional information, please visit Eerdmans and follow @eerdmansnewyork for ongoing updates.
After nearly a decade of blogging about beautiful homes, one in particular has captured my heart like none other… Le Mas des Poiriers, an 18th-century Rhône valley farmhouse. I dream of visiting one day, and I was delighted to receive a copy of Provence Style: Decorating with French Country Flair, written by homeowner Shauna Varvel with Alexandra Black, and released this month by Vendome!
Named for the working pear orchard on the grounds, the property was reimagined by noted local architect, Alexandre Lafourcade, who transformed a rough structure into a luxurious expression of the Provençal aesthetic, referencing historical influences, rural traditions, and Parisian taste. For the interiors, Shauna collaborated with designer Susan Bednar Long, and together they created a casual, relaxed environment filled with local art and antiques and beautiful Pierre Frey fabrics used exclusively throughout. The architect’s mother, renowned landscape designer Dominique Lafourcade, designed the exquisite gardens graced with allées, arbors, and terraces.
Provence Style includes chapters on the public spaces of the home, from entrances to living rooms, the private realm of bedrooms and bathrooms, and outdoor areas including patios and kitchen gardens, transporting the reader on a captivating stylistic journey. Furthermore, Shauna explores the architectural and interior elements that are part of the quintessential Provençal aesthetic. A selection of other homes, created by noted interior designers, beautifully illustrate the textures, furnishings, fabrics, color pairings, motifs, and accents of the region that influenced the renovation of Le Mas des Poiriers.
Let’s take a peek inside with photography by Luke White, courtesy of Vendome…
Summer officially began this week, although in Texas, it feels like it’s already been here for a while now! The start of pool season is a wonderful time to freshen up our outdoor spaces, and as we began taking inventory of what we needed to shop for this summer, we were delighted to learn that Walmart wanted to partner with The Glam Pad to share some ideas for a pool and patio refresh. We found so many chic, adorable patio accessories and furniture through Walmart Home that arrive quickly (and many ship for free).
Simple, striped cabana towels are the absolute number one essential we can’t have enough of! We have them in one color for towels used at home, and another color to pack in our bag for trips to the club or neighborhood pool. Walmart has plenty of color options and this summer we are favoring pinks and classic blues.
We also love a fringed umbrella and all-weather wicker patio furniture à la Palm Beach. And this pool float is precious and perfectly priced for under $15. As always, shop the post below or see more of our favorite Walmart finds on LikeToKnow.it! Wishing you a start to summer that’s just ducky!
There are so many wonderful features in the May-June issue of Veranda, and I was particularly delighted to read an article on well-dressed windows stating, “From pleated tails to tent flaps, lavish curtains with couture trimmings make a red-carpet return—with all the pomp of their predecessors.” The article showcases John Fowler and his protege Mario Buatta, who were masters with curtains, along with current designers embracing the style including Miles Redd, Alex Papachristidis, Alessandra Branca, Katie Ridder, and more.
Two years ago, I espoused my passion for Couture Curtains and Dressmaker Draperies, and after decades of minimalism, I am thrilled to see them return! Please click over to my post from 2019 to read more, and I have included a sneak peek of some of the curtains I designed for our new Dallas home below…
Based in Atlanta, Lauren E. Lowe enjoys designing bespoke spaces for creating beautiful memories. She founded Lauren Elaine Interiors in 2016 and has become known for her signature relaxed and elegant style. Her work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Veranda Online, Elle Decor Online, Martha Stewart Online, Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles, Modern Luxury’s The Atlantan, and more. Today, we are delighted to welcome Lauren to The Glam Pad for a Style Profile Q&A… Welcome Lauren!
Lauren E. Lowe
Q: When did you know you wanted to pursue a career in interior design, and what did your career path look like?
A: When my parents gave me the Barbie dream house when I was in kindergarten, I was beyond disappointed when I put my Barbie furniture into each room – the bed took up the entire bedroom and you could only fit a sofa in the living room. I abandoned the house and made rooms on the bookshelves in my playroom, even making drapery and pillows using scrap fabric. As they watched my passion unfold, my parents subscribed me to Architectural Digest and Traditional Home right away. I got my education from SCAD and the University of Georgia with a focus on commercial design. I grew up thinking I was going to decorate houses, but I was drawn to the exclusivity and rigor of the commercially-focused education. I worked for 7 years at a commercial firm in Atlanta that designed office spaces. I am so thankful I took that detour because I learned so much about space planning, running a team and running a business. I did eventually realize that that path was indeed a detour – commercial designers are completely different than residential designers. I didn’t have the ability to sit in small details and spend intimate time with my clients. The end goal was to fulfill a timeline, a brand and a bottom line. I care more about fulfilling a feeling, a memory and all the quiet details. With tons of support and encouragement from my husband, I quit in 2016 and founded Lauren Elaine Interiors. l started with zero leads and zero dollars. It was a lonely road in the beginning, but I am so proud of my journey and where I am today.
Q: How do you define your style?
A: A layered mix of old and new – traditional balanced with touches of contemporary; a study in the juxtaposition of masculine and feminine. I love a feminine touch used in a way that doesn’t feel girly at all and am forever inspired by menswear, thanks to my stylish father from New England. Definitely more of an anglophile than a francophile.
Q: Who are your favorite designers (past and present)?
A: The masters of collected and layered interiors: Albert Hadley, Billy Baldwin, Matthew Carter, Ashley Whitaker, Miles Redd, Markham Roberts, Stephen Sills, Thom Scheer, Michelle R Smith, Robert Passal, Gil Schaffer.
Q: Do you have any favorite go-to paints, wallpapers, linens, artists, etc.
A: Every project has its own identity, but I always come back to stripes, especially those inspired by menswear. Japer, Classic Cloth, Marvic and Bennison are my favorite fabric lines. I am sucker for a faded floral fabric on a tea stain background, camel browns, braided sisal rugs, and antique pieces with a shell carving motif. We always go through all paint manufacturers to select the best paint color for a project, but Farrow & Ball and Fine Paints of Europe usually do have the most subtle, complex and livable paint colors.
Q: So many people have been feathering their nests during covid, and many tradespersons and supply chains are backed up. How has this affected your business?
A: Covid and its fallout has really affected our industry. Leadtimes are much longer than normal, prices are rising, demand is high, and we are watching selections fly out of stock. We are also seeing pesky surcharges on freight fees, which are a pain to explain to our clients. Luckily, we have a Project Manager on our staff whose sole job is to place orders and monitor timelines, so she keeps close tabs on all our orders and is in constant communication with our clients. It’s really just another problem to solve creatively. We are able to reserve fabric and wallpaper quantities for our clients, utilize a local upholstery resource for all of our upholstered pieces and source a lot of vintage and antique items which all helps eliminate some of the extraneous wait time … the decorating must go on!
Q: What are your thoughts on the Grandmillennial movement?
A: I am thrilled that the rise of traditional design has gone viral and now has a trend name. My love for traditional design has not wavered since the early 90’s (Ralph Lauren Home forever!). Although I consider myself to be less girly/ruffly than the peak of what we are deeming “grandmillennial,” I identify with the movement as a whole and would rather see it take over the world than “urban farmhouse” or big box stores that rhyme with Schmrestoration Hardware. My only concern is keeping timeless icons timeless and not feeling like a trend. I had a client tell me she thought if we used Bowood fabric it would be too trendy and that upset me. I explained that while this might be popular right now, it has been timeless and will continue to be timeless for those who identify with layered traditional interiors.
Q: What are some of your tips for incorporating beauty into your everyday life?
A: Working to create beautiful moments in everyday life has been my focus since childhood. Making my surrounding areas beautiful affect how I feel and the tone of my memories. If you think back on favorite vacations or time in favorite restaurants, chances are that the beauty of those surroundings has a lot to do with the positive feelings of those memories. House plants and fresh flowers are a must. Collections of treasures that bring you joy or spark a memory should be on easy display. Make everyday tasks into a beautiful experience, such as dining, with a pretty set of tableware/linens and candlelight. Have speakers in the areas of your home where you cook, dine and lounge so there’s lovely music playing in the background. There is so much beauty in the world, why not make as much of your life as beautiful as possible?
Q: What are 5 everyday luxuries you could not live without?
A: Loads of books and coffee table books (bookshelves full of actual books are of extreme importance to me), collections of plates and table linens, fresh flowers, beautiful bespoke stationary, striped button-down shirts.
Q: When you aren’t busy designing, what do you enjoy doing in your free time?
A: I try to reserve as much of my free time for family as possible. Being a mom to young children makes time pass at warp speed, so I am doing my best not to blink and miss it! Otherwise, I enjoy hosting & entertaining, gardening, and alone time to read my shelter magazines and coffee table books. Post-Covid and post-pregnancy, travel is up next, and I can’t wait (baby girl Lowe is due in July!)!
Q: What are your goals for Lauren Elaine Interiors over the next five years?
A: My goal for LEI is to keep going. We have an amazing team and process in place that I hope will continue to yield clients with passions aligned with what we do best and care about the details. I want to keep LEI a very boutique luxury service by preserving my ability to be intimately involved with every client and detail. We also have some preliminary conversations and ideas open about products and writing that I am excited to keep moving forward.
Q: Anything else you would like to add?
A: Thank you for having me and for carrying beautiful, layered traditional interiors onwards and upwards!
Photography by Mary Catherine Brownfield and Emily Followill.
We have been in our new home just over a year, and I am having such fun decorating! But our garage and backyard renovation are a complete disaster with no end in sight. In the meantime, I have been gathering landscaping ideas, dreaming of the day we can use our backyard at long last! In our last Dallas home, we had mounds of hydrangeas, and I have missed them dearly. Fortunately, I can turn to Gina @gncgarden in Denmark, to enjoy what are quite possibly the most beautiful hydrangeas in the world! With nearly 200K followers on Instagram, Gina has developed a loyal following of garden enthusiasts, and her bountiful white Annabelle hydrangeas are instantly recognizable. Of course there are other flowers too throughout the seasons, including tulips of all varieties, purple Alliums, Narcissus, Hyacinths, Daffodils, beautiful Boxwoods, and various pink hydrangea… But the fluffy, dreamy Annabelles are certainly Gina’s signature flower. Let’s take a peek in the garden!
And how precious is Carlo, Gina’s beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniel?! We have been considering getting another dog – if we can ever finish our backyard – possibly a Cavalier!
To see more of Gina’s gorgeous garden and for ongoing inspiration, please follow @gncgarden on Instagram.
