Chartreuse

I can't stop looking at this room (from the latest issue of Veranda), for several reasons. First is that fabulous chartreuse pillow. Click on any image for a larger view.

You could say that the color chartreuse was an important part of my early life, as I grew up in a house in the late 50s-early 60s, taking meals every day in a dining room with three chartreuse walls. My mother loved anything chartreuse, and it still is my own favorite color, after white.
The room above also combines many design ideas that I am so drawn to: a neutral background and white slipcovers (how great is that tight white slipcovered settee with the little flared skirt!), a mix of modern and old, wonderful authentic European architecture, splashes of luscious color, high art (as opposed to thrift store art), and a bit of glamour combined with an ease and comfort that invites a person into the space ... to wander, explore and feel right at home.

On the other side of the room, a more formal and very long Biedermeier sofa is taken down a notch with white linen-blend upholstery and scattered throw pillows. (The owners lucked out on the sofa when they found it in an antiques shop: it had already been purchased by Versace for his Lake Como villa, but was later returned when it didn't fit through the doors.) The casual stacks of books piled beneath the side table also bring down the tone of the room – to make it feel more relaxed.

Another element of the room that resonates for me is the lack of pattern. I can be just as swept away as anyone by a beautiful print, but, over time, I find I get bored and want to change them out. The pillows I have at home that have kept their appeal for me longer than any: a solid brown antiqued velvet (actually the back side of a patterned pillow that I grew tired of) and a solid linen that looks like burlap, but is more refined and softer to the touch. The rooms I see that most often make me catch my breath are those with very little pattern, and a mostly neutral color scheme. Brighter splashes of color that are sparingly introduced into this setting take on much more drama and impact.

Why don't I have any chartreuse in my house? I must change that, but I don't think I've ever come across a fabric that has the depth and richness of that chartreuse pillow. Perhaps I need to take a look at Dedar's fabric swatches – after all, the owners of this villa located in a small town near Como, Italy are Nicola and Elda Fabrizio, the founders of the fabric line.
All pillows are made up of Dedar fabrics and trims.
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Caterina Fabrizio speaks about the origins and inspiration for Dedar fabrics (courtesy of Live In Full Color.)




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Interior photographs by Massimo Listri for Veranda.
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