Victorian house

Thoughts for 2012…We Are The New Victorians

“There’s No Cultural Divide When It Comes To Design”
–House Beautiful, December/January 2012

Moorish Smoking Room, The Worsham-Rockefeller House circa 1881 Brooklyn Museum, — Moorish Smoking Room, Worsham-Rockefeller House c1881, Brooklyn Museum

The word Victorian has been rolling around my mind for months, but only partially because that is the official period in which our beach house was built. As an adjective, Victorian means buttoned up and prudish. For most people, when they hear it, they think of ornate embellished houses and furniture, but for me, the word has a different connotation, as seen from a design history perspective. After “trying on” many revivals – Medieval, Gothic, Rococo, Renaissance – in the early Victorian period, the opening of Japan in 1854 , the discoveries of archaeologists in Egypt and an interest in all things exotic and foreign created dramatic new styles in interior design. The Aesthetic Movement in the later part of the 19th century highlighted art in the production of furniture and design for the home, partially as a response against the Industrial Revolution. Maybe it is a stretch to make the comparison, but I feel that for the last decade or so, interior design has been traveling down this same path, only with a much paler and lighter color scheme. For a while, I assumed the desire to weave an eclectic mix of objects from different time periods and nations stood out to me because I was living abroad and doing just that. But the overt prevalence of it everywhere has turned it into its very own style, whether in a modern or traditional context. Simultaneously, the recent movement towards homemade and authentic goods comes as a similar response to our consumer culture and poor economy.

While not wanting to be overly literal about this idea, the much written about December/January 2012 issue of House Beautiful (the title, by the way, of an influential lecture given by the touring Oscar Wilde in 1882) makes this same point and can be used to illustrate it perfectly. Joni over at Cote de Texas, did an interesting post last month comparing the home below, designed by Mark Sikes and Michael Griffin, with her own (and I thank her for the photos as the magazine is not making them available online), but I am going to use it for my own comparative purposes. The living room, well worth clicking on and enlarging, has influences from around the globe. Blue and white porcelain abounds, from Chinese garden stools to Japanese hibachi as planter, African Zebra skin, French style chairs and a massive gilt console.. The giant antique Chinese lacquer cabinet is the kind of universally useful piece I always recommended purchasing back when they could still be easily found in Hong Kong and China. On that note, you’ll be hearing more from me on Chinese antiques later this month when I do a special series for Chinese New Year week.

Just pages away is another spread, designed by Katie and Jason Maine, whose style proclaims them clearly Michael Smith alumnae, called “The New Global,” featuring an amazing English Japanned lacquer secretary from Therian, a piece that reads similarly to the Chinese cabinet above. Other worldwide influences include an English arts & crafts mantel, Oushak rug, and antique cloisonné lamps, and again, it is worth clicking the photo to see it in detail. Watch for an upcoming post on Japanned furniture too.

Their dining room is an absolute tour-de-force, featuring Indian motif wall panels by Iksel in lieu of…

…the slightly more expected Gracie or de Gournay paper seen just pages before in the Sikes/Griffin home. But in either case, both rooms are an extraordinary mix and actually quite similar in their details – extravagant wall covering, Chinoiserie chairs, statement making chandelier.

I have been following the work of the Iksels for a while, as they represent exactly the kind of cross-cultural trend I am talking about. The living room from their Paris apartment is almost a literal version of a Victorian space, only lighter and softer in color.

And I have always loved this tented bedroom from the apartment, and shown it before here.

Ten years ago, few people had heard of ikat or suzanis. Now there is not a photo spread to be found without them or some other ethnic textile, whether in small doses…

…or large.

Modern design is not left out of the equation either in this project from by Pamela Shamshiri of Commune Design. While using a different set of diverse objects and styles, the mix is still there. It kind of cracked me up that the magazine has full on re-discovered the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi, the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete, although in their desire to throw the term around (they use it at least three times) I am still not sure they truly understand the meaning. The house has the “weathered, organic” feeling they describe, but every detail is utterly and absolutely perfect. For some authentic local wabi-sabi, look back here. That said, the house is beautiful and there is as much going on in this dining room as those above.

For local folks, I’ll be tracking down some modern icons like the Wegner Wishbone chairs above in an upcoming “Shop Talk” post on the mid-century modern antiques and furniture available along Meguri-dori.

Again, the warm rugs, kilim pillows and other global textiles are the perfect counterpoint to all the wood.

The rooms most directly referential to Japanese design are the kitchen (and if you like this you might want to look here)…

…and the bath.

For the full article with more photos, click here. Interestingly enough, this house is shown as being a 2008 project in their portfolio, making it not that new…And as for not that new, I am sure I saw the February issue already on the news stand as I ran through the airport two days ago.

For me personally, this global aesthetic runs rampant through my Tokyo home and is definitely starting to appear in the beach house. I only had a few days in New Jersey over winter break, but managed to move a few projects along and here are a few sneak peaks. Our bedroom is shaping up – remember how I said there isn’t a photo spread without a suzani? We are using a long narrow one as a window valence.

The guest room is still waiting for its lampshades…

…but a bargain vintage find, sent off to be reupholstered will go from hideous yellow moire to lovely linen floral (draped for example in the photo). Guest room chair checked off my list!

Downstairs there is a little Belgian meets Scandinavian meets English floral prettiness going on, but it is temporary, as my Bunny Williams OKL purchase is slated for the kitchen.

I wish I had more to report on from the house, but three days right before Christmas is not a lot of time…More details on these rooms soon!

Here’s to 2012!

Related Posts:
Some Resolutions for 2011 and Bamboo in January

Image credits: 1. via Brooklyn Muesum, 1,4, & 7. House Beautiful December/January 2012, photo credit: Amy Neusinger, via Cote de Texas, 2-3, &8. House Beautiful December/January 2012, photo credit: Victoria Pearson, 5. Elle Decor December 2006, photo credit: Simon Upton, 6. Domino February 2008, photo credit: unknown, 9-13. House Beautiful December/January 2012, photo credit: Amy Neusinger, 16-18. me.

Jan 9, 2012 By tokyojinja in Furniture, Interior Design, Kitchens, Lacquer, Porcelain and Pottery, Renovation and Decoration Report, Rugs and Carpets, Textiles, Then and Now 11 Comments Tags: Commune Design, ikat, Iksel, Maine Design, suzani, Victorian, Victorian house

Renovation Report…”Oldating” the Beach House Bathroom

So I have to gather my courage to show you the “before” photo of one of the ugliest bathrooms in the world! Unfortunately, the lucky owner of this beauty is me. It is the downstairs bathroom in our beach house and serves as the powder room for guests and a full bath for the guest room. The ceiling is low, the room is dark, and the floor is yucky linoleum. It is tiny and everything is cheap and old – 1970s old, not good old! As an antiques dealer I am always looking for old, wanting patina. This was not it. The challenge was not just to update but to take this bathroom back in time…

In addition to being tiny, the bathroom layout was a straight railroad, which limited the floor space. The shower was a pre-fab 36 inch square, but the remaining unused 7 inches was useless. The opaque shower doors limited the visual size of the room by seeming like a solid wall. We won’t even bother discussing the color, the fittings or that wallpaper border. There were no redeeming qualities whatsoever!

Changes to the original floor plan below include sealing the door into the bathroom and moving it to where the sink is shown. The sink will be relocated to the where the door was. The shower pan will be 42 inches wide and fill the whole back wall. The shower doors will be frameless glass so that the line of vision goes all the way to the back wall, making the bathroom feel visually larger.

The layout of the whole downstairs was one of the problems as well. The bathroom was entered through the back bedroom/TV room (which was itself entered through the kitchen). Our first step was to change the entrance to both rooms, sealing the kitchen entrance (and gaining a pantry) and turning the doors of both rooms to enter directly into the main house. Here is the back corner under the stairs before the renovation.

Here it is with the two new doors. The door on the left opens into the TV room/extra bedroom. The door on the right is the new bathroom door.

The house is a very simple 1880s Victorian cottage. Neither the budget nor the room itself calls for anything fancy and I want the bathroom to look as if maybe it was always just like that. My inspiration for the design came from a small French watercolor that I love, the historic pharmacy turned ice cream shop in town, and other original fixtures in the house made of aged brass. I had already bought a salvaged white pedestal sink from the turn of the century in anticipation. So that means simple white fittings – 1 inch white hexagon tiles for the floor and subway tiles for the shower enclosure – and unlacquered brass faucets and fixtures. Planning for Farrow & Ball Pale Powder on the walls, which is the second lightest color in the second column of the paint chart on the inspiration board below.

Natural or unlacquered brass is definitely on its way back – take a look at the droolicious Henry Collection at Waterworks – but try convincing the locals around here. Everybody was worrying about polishing! It took a lot to convince them that I wanted that deep oxidized caramel color and that my only worry was how long it would take to stop being “brassy” looking. The Waterworks collection was both budget busting and frankly, too stylized to suit my house, which was actually a relief to not have to want it! Nickel or chrome fittings also felt too 1920s art deco.

Here are a few photos from my inspiration files. This bathroom had just the kind of exposed shower I was looking for, but the color and the shelves also really caught my eye. No chance of opening the sheetrock in my tiny space, but I think it is a great idea. Sometimes shells and sea motifs can feel trite in a beach house, but this is charming. It also has a single plain framed window, similar to my bathroom.

This next photo has the hexagon tiles, vintage sink and natural unrenovated, undecorated look I want. We have discussed beadboard to death too, as the house has some original in the kitchen, but in the end, simplicity won out and not the beadboard. Again, space was a big issue and giving up half an inch to beadboard on the walls felt like it would make the room smaller.

The renovation was well on its way when the Dec/Jan issue of House Beautiful came out, featuring a gorgeous Windsor Smith project with this bathroom. While dressier that I plan and significantly more glamorous, this has the closest feel, with thick white molding, a beautifully shaped white tub, and pale wall color. It has a wood floor, not tile, which adds a dark note, which I am hoping to add to my room with a wooden mirror and accessories.

We assembled the pieces – the vintage sink, a round profile Promenade toilet from Toto, which has just the right amount of vintage feeling and is very compact and well priced, an exposed shower from Baths From the Past and an unlacquered brass faucet from Sunrise Specialty to retrofit the sink. I was the only one in the family who voted to keep the original separate hot and cold taps on the sink for authenticity! I also bought a salvaged 24 inch door from Recycling the Past in Barnegat, New Jersey as the original door is too large for the new entrance.

Here is the (almost) finished project. I got into town 3 days ago and was lucky enough to find the perfect mirror at a favorite antiques store (antiquing on the Jersey shore is fabulous – and I am sure I’ll post about it this summer). The frameless shower doors will be installed soon and there is no styling or accessories yet, but you can get the basic idea….

I am planning on small shelves in the cutout above the toilet, like the ones behind the bathtub in the Windsor Smith bathroom. Not sure how long the oxidation will take, but some of the brass is tarnishing already. I also bought a great vintage brass towel bar for a song on eBay, and that will go up on the wall opposite the toilet.

The bathroom is so light and pretty – even more that I expected – and it feels roomier too. I’d love to hear from you all and know what you think! Styling and accessories will have to wait until the summer as we leave for Florida tomorrow, but it gives me something to hunt for. Oh, and I am still considering wallpaper (and can pull out inspiration photos of quirky wallpapered bathrooms too) so let me know what you think of that…

Image Credits: 1-5, 9, 13-16. me, 6. via The Lettered Cottage, 7. from Found Style by David and Amy Butler, 8. House Beautiful December/January 2011 photo credit: Victoria Pearson, 10. Toto, 11. Baths From the Past, 12. Sunrise Specialty

Dec 22, 2010 By tokyojinja in Renovation and Decoration Report 22 Comments Tags: aged brass, bathroom renovation, hexagon tiles, Victorian house, vintage, Windsor Smith