A very exciting thing is happening in Lafayette, LA! Now in its fifth year, the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra Decorator Show House is changing...This year, the Acadiana Decorator Showcase of Homes will feature
three homes all in River Ranch, three builders, nine incredible designers..With a theme of "Three Distinct Homes, Three Distinct Design Styles, One Distinctive Lifestyle", the Showcase begins on October 15th with the Opening Night Gala and continues through October 31st. Louisiana has never seen anything like this years production, I promise you!
The nine designers have been working very, very hard since May to bring those who attend the latest and greatest design ideas mixed with classic Southern style. We were all lucky enough to have incredible resources graciously offer their products and services.
Creating Show House rooms is the best way for a designer to partner with their favorite resources in order to show the world what the designer does best and, at the same time, give their loyal vendors exposure to over 2,000 people in a two-week period. It is a win-win formula for the designer and their vendor friends and, as everything in the designer rooms is for sale, the designers are showing those who attend the best of the best that is available in the home furnishings world. We are serving as the "guides" for what to buy and use in homes.
For the Traditional Home 2nd Floor Study, Emily Svendson, design assistant, and I partnered with Albarado's Fine Furnishings, Au Vieux Paris Antiques, Cyrus Rugs, Lamp Designs, Lucullus Antiques, and artists Candace Greer, Lue Svendson, & Sidney Creaghan to design and furnish the perfect area for teenagers and parents alike to do homework, get a little work done, read and watch TV.
There always has to be a starting point for a design and for this room, one of my favorite club chairs from Albarado's Fine Furnishings, an Aubusson style rug from Cyrus Rugs and two small Oyster paintings by Candace Greer were my springboard:
Jessica Charles Club Chair, $1,299.00
from Albarado's Fine Furnishings, Lafayette
Handwoven 6' x 9' Aubusson Design Rug, $999.00
from Cyrus Rugs, Lafayette
Candace Greer
Cypress Oyster I
Acrylic on Cypress
8" x 10" x 2" thick
$100.00
Candace Greer
Cypress Oyster II
Acrylic on Cypress
8" x 10" x 2" thick
$100.00
After selecting the above items, I only had to look as far as Breaux Bridge, Louisiana to source the remaining big items needed for the room. Breaux Bridge is often thought of as just a little country town, but the fact is that the two finest antique dealers in all of Louisiana have shops in Breaux Bridge and one of the finest art galleries in Louisiana also calls Breaux Bridge home. Breaux Bridge is the best (by far) of all of the small towns around Lafayette.
On a shopping trip to Lucullus Antiques to see the divine Holly Tynes, manager of the Breaux Bridge location of dealer Patrick Dunne's New Orleans based business, I quickly lit on this beautiful antique watercolor:
Early 20th Century English Water Color of a Fishing Scene, signed F.E. Jamieson, $850.00
from Lucullus Antiques, Breaux Bridge
On the hunt for additional seating in the small space, I fell in love with this pair of tres, tres elegant slipper chairs..I plopped down in one to do a test run fairly certain that it would not be comfortable...wrong! The fine pair of chairs is incredibly comfortable.
Pair of French Louis-Philippe Period Mahogany Chaffeuses, circa 1840, $3,800.00/pair
from Lucullus Antiques, Breaux Bridge
With the low height of the chairs I needed a suitably scaled table to go between them...this garden stool is perfect..
Early 19th Century Indo Chinese Glazed Ceramic Garden Stool, $825.00
from Lucullus Antiques, Breaux Bridge
Considering this is a room for reading, studying, and doing homework, I need to have good lighting..Never a fan of overhead lighting except for dimly lit ambient light and because of the disparate items going in the room, I opted to put three (for balance) of the same floor lamp (one by the Jessica Charles chair and one by each slipper chair), an adjustable apothecary style lamp by Jonathan Adler for Robert Abbey which is represented locally by Lamp Designs, the newest lighting store in the Lafayette area.
Jonathan Adler "Meurice" Adjustable Apothecary Style Floor Lamp, $495.00
from Lamp Designs, River Ranch, Lafayette
A dealer that I turn to often for clients who are able to allow me to specify fine antiques is Robert Smith of Au Vieux Paris Antiques...This time, no exception...I found this fabulous desk/dining table that is the perfect size for the room..
Directoire Cherrywood Desk/Dining Table, circa 1795, $5,800.00
from Au Vieux Paris Antiques, Breaux Bridge
Anyone who knows me will not be surprised that even in a Traditional Home I require a bit of modern, the juxtaposition that I find so important for a room to be successful..check this groovy desk lamp out:
Robert Abbey "Astro C" Desk Lamp, $235.00
from Lamp Designs, River Ranch, Lafayette
and a classic design style, the Parsons Chair, will be the perfect (and comfortable) desk chair:
CMI Parsons Skirted Desk Chair, $375.00
from Albarado's Fine Furnishings, Lafayette
To complete the room I found these seven paintings at Rue du Pont Galerie in Breaux Bridge. The two larger ones will go on walls above the grouping of chairs and the three small pieces by Lue Svendson (
www.luesvendson.com) will join Candace Greer's Oyster paintings to complete the bookcase styling.
Lue Svendson
A Day at the Beach
Oil on Canvas
16" x 20"
$950.00
Sidney Creaghan
Saint Francis Finds His First Church in the Woods
Oil on Canvas
$600.00
Lue Svendson
Provincetown Harbor in the Morning
Oil on Canvas
11" x 14"
$550.00
Lue Svendson
Cloudy Cape Cod
Oil on Canvas
11" x 14"
$550.00
Lue Svendson
Soft Landscape
Oil on Canvas
5" x 7"
$150.00
Lue Svendson
Swamp Oaks I
Oil on Canvas
8" x 10"
$325.00
Lue Svendson
Swamp Oaks III
Oil on Canvas
8" x 10"
$325.00
Stay tuned as I keep you updated regarding the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra Showcase of Homes...if you are anywhere in Louisiana, you MUST come to Lafayette between October 15th and 31st to see what nine incredible designers are doing! And all for a wonderful organization to continue their extraordinary educational and performance programs.
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