Italian Antique Lamps and a contemporary Russian Pencil 'Study' frame a Thomas O'Brien Collection Sofa in an American Colonial Style Home...Juxtapose!
Many years ago I was a guest in a private home in Loussane, Switzerland. This was a large modern town home with more sprays in the shower than American manufacturers have thought of to date. But what struck me most was the juxtaposition of antiques, art, modern, and whimsy in the main living space. Imagine museum quality historical oil paintings with Mid-Century lamps, sectional sofa, an over-sized porcelain tennis shoe, museum quality antiques, small religious paintings, and a leather love-seat in the shape of a baseball player's catcher's mitt.
The whole idea of this type of harmonious existence with such extremes in style excited me. It made me feel alive, current yet connected to the past, serious, and at the same time ready for fun. What a fete! As an interior designer, I now love mixing it up and don't even blink when my clients tell me of their diverse tastes and requirements.
The common knowledge of how colors can pull things together is at work in these project photos. The greens of the cushions, couch, and lamps are close in hue (actual color) with variance in darkness to lightness and also the intensity of the color. So they work well together even though the greens are not an exact match. The rust color of the more traditional pattern cushion, the fringe of the brighter green cushion, and the oranges and yellows in the lamps are close to red on a color wheel which is opposite green and therefore a contrast with green. You can often "slide" to close colors when choosing items and this will give a more complex harmony. This is not quite as simple as it sounds. It helps to use a good color wheel or better yet have an understanding of a three dimensional color theory such as the Munsell Color System and to have a color scheme in mind.
The couch is actually similar, in light to darkness, to much of the gray in the pencil drawing and the frame itself. This is called light to dark value and it is likeness in value that helps this clean lined couch look nice beneath the more elaborate drawing and frame. But it is not color that relates the lamp to the drawing, it is pattern and repeated elements. There is a busyness and luxurious fullness in pattern to both so they are alike in their forms, both within the lamp and drawing and of the lamp itself with elements in the drawing.
The couch is also a contrast in style to the drawing and lamp. Opposites will often balance and look nice together. The style of the end table/bookcase is the same as the couch, working the same way with the lamp and drawing. The dark gray of these can be found in the drawing as well, again pulling color to help with the harmony. Dark colors are very grounding and the end table/bookcase help ground everything and make all parts seem connected to the larger whole.
It is the 'unfettered' six over six colonial style windows that work with the clean lines of the sofa and couch. Still, we see them as traditional windows fitting in style to the urn shape of the lamps and the style of drawing and frame. The clean lines of the window, trim and mullions as well as the rectangle shapes relate to the end table/book case and the couch in shape and form. The nubby texture of the couch is in contrast to the smooth finish of the drawing glass and the slick surface of the end table/book case but in likeness to the lamp as the holes and cutouts give the look of a pebbly texture.
As for whimsy, well, it doesn't have to shout whimsy. Take a look at the books, Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, Ants...the small dog, an antique demitasse cup and saucer, a bright silk cushion with long fringeIt is rarely one thing that will make a space harmonious. Sometimes there are so many elements at play that it is mind boggling.
