Isn't it amazing how people who were once celebrities can fade into obscurity? The same thing can be said for celebrity decorators, especially William Pahlmann. Okay, so perhaps he's not an obscure designer, but he does not have the name recognition of Dorothy Draper or Elsie de Wolfe. If this were 1950, we would all be talking about Pahlmann. After all, he was one of the most famous decorators of the 1940s through the 1960s.

Pahlmann, who was educated at Parsons in the late 1920s, first gained notoriety after designing a mirrored bed for the first Mrs. William Paley (this according to Legendary Decorators of the Twentieth Century by Mark Hampton). Getting her seal of approval was the impetus he needed to go onward and upward, eventually landing him the job of head of the decorating and antiques department at Lord and Taylor. Pahlmann became known for his model rooms for the department store- rooms which garnered attention by the press and brought flocks of customers to the store. After a brief hiatus during World War II (serving in the Air Force), Pahlmann returned to New York where he set up his own decorating firm. He even had his own syndicated newspaper column titled "A Matter of Taste".

Pahlmann's interiors after WWII are quite evocative of the post-war era. While Pahlmann was quite capable of designing in the traditional style, much of his work celebrates mid-century modernism. Pahlmann was a champion of modern materials, including rubber flooring and rayon and other synthetic fabrics. The exotic also played a role in his interiors. Artifacts and objects of various cultures and countries mixed freely, lending his rooms a sort of well-traveled look. And let's not overlook Pahlmann's love of color. There was nothing primary about his chosen color schemes. In fact, in his book The Pahlmann Book of Interior Design, he wrote about various color combinations that he had used thus far in his career. These included cerulean, lime, magenta pink and white as well as deep sage, ripe persimmon and French blue.

Pahlmann was so well-regarded in the design world that when a young Albert Hadley first ventured to New York seeking a job as a designer, he sought out a meeting with his design idol. Hadley describes Pahlmann as "a man of great charm with a flamboyant personality and certainly he was not shy about anything."* Pahlmann encouraged Hadley to enroll at Parsons School of Design, just as he had.

While many of Pahlmann's room may seem a bit dated today, don't you think it's worth revisiting the career of this late, great decorator?

(Pahlmann's work is featured in the upcoming Acanthus Press release New York Interior Design, 1935-1985. Another "lost" designer whose work I greatly admire is George Stacey. I'll be writing about him soon!)



A great example of Pahlmann's fearless use of color. This bedroom's colors were inspired by a vineyard.


The mod floor in this living room was rubber! The mix is a bit unexpected: modern furniture with a Victorian sofa and Spanish altar candlesticks mixed with French candle sconces.


This was Pahlmann's own living room. I love the gunmetal gray walls and the robin's egg blue leather chair. According to Mark Hampton, the cabinet is actually a snakeskin Victrola.


I couldn't resist this image of an Empire-style tented room. Pahlmann admired Napoleon and Malmaison- might this have influenced the design scheme of this room?


Pahlmann designed this living room for Mrs. Walter Hoving in 1948. In my opinion, this room is one of Pahlmann's more elegant designs. Much of his later work seemed to be more casual, much in keeping with the times.

(*Hadley quote from Albert Hadley: The Story of America's Preeminent Interior Designer)

...to establish an elegant alternative for urban dwellers. Made up of 23 luxurious town homes and flats, the development has the familiar feeling of tradition with modern-day conveniences.

(The) magazine called on renowned Atlanta interior designer Dan Carithers to oversee the home's interiors. A walk through the home is a visual feast of design finery, with everything from floors to ceiling provided by vendors like Stone Age Designs and Hickory Chair. Carithers' own furniture line by Sherrill Furniture is on display throughout the home

• Fabric, fabric, fabric: Carithers uses repetition of fabrics on linens, upholstery and walls.
• Seats for all sizes: Little ones like luxury, too. Throughout the home, child-size chairs were sprinkled among traditionally sized pieces.
• Button-tuft this: Carithers' use of button-tufted pieces gives the home an instant dose of comfort and glamour.

House Beautiful Sept. 2007, Photo by Don Freeman
Hi all! I wanted to make a correction to an earlier post I did about the very beautiful light fixtures designed by Serge Mouille. I recently received a very nice email from the Jean-Philippe, a representative for the Serge Mouille company. Jean Philippe kindly supplied the correct information regarding the representation for the Serge Mouille light fixtures in the USA:

"Hi Katie,I read your entire blog "David Weeks vs. Serge Mouille" and your input is very interesting. However, I need to bring a correction as to who is representing the Mouille licensed re-edition in the USA. "Inside Modern Living" represents the re-edition in Canada only. The USA is being covered by GUERIDON, a New York based store selling European mid-century furniture. Gin Mouille contracted GUERIDON to be both her representative and distributor for the USA. I think it would be nice if you could redirect your link to http://www.gueridon.com/.I will leave the debate of David Weeks vs. Serge Mouille open. Representing the Mouille lighting collection, my input would not be partial of course. Even though David Weeks admitted to me of being "very inspired"� by the Serge Mouille lamps, he still designed lamps of his own without copying them. Congratulations for your blog, it brings an interesting comparison between the lamps I had never seen before. Jean-Philippe "

Thank you to Jean Philippe!

• So many beautiful things in my inbox this week. I am speechless over this one. Misha Handmade Wallpapers selects, produces and distributes silk hand-painted wallpapers. You must must must go to their website and drool. Misha also creates stunning contemporary furniture with a twist. Clean modern lines combined with rich, luxurious, hand-painted papers reviving historical patterns. Trust the Italians to take wallpaper to the next level. Go.... what are you waiting for? Swoon.




• Oh my, oh my, oh my!!! More beautiful furniture, some of the most stunning organic lines I have seen for a long long time. The company is Ode Chair .... contemporary organic chairs hand made in Northumberland, England. The creative genius behind them is Jolyon Yates. Must have please please.




• Lina lives in Stockholm, Sweden and has a home styling company. She's just started a webshop C'est la vie Home featuring pretty little decorating objects as well as luxury chocolate and tea. In Swedish of course but that's what page translators are for. Beautiful pictures speak all languages. Check out her blog too. Good luck with your online business Lina!




• Caroline from Belgium recently started her blog, Carrie Can, as a way of collecting and sharing her inspirations and work with her readers. Pop over and say hi!




• Another new blog alert. Designer/artist Annie Coggan emailed to introduce Chairs and Buildings. "I am a new faculty member at Mississippi State University teaching design studio and furniture design. (I was in Brooklyn and teaching at Parsons and Pratt for 10 years). This new life has given me time to organize my thinking for lectures and projects so I started a blog as a sketchbook." It's visual food for thought.




• Jonathan Adler has gone country? Yay? Nay? Or Ye-ha!




• Have you seen the blog Lime in the Coconut yet? Love Linda's profile - "Living life in a humble Florida hacienda...surrounded by family, dogs, art and PLENTY of sand on the floor. Oh, and a lizard or two that always seem to find their way in the open doors and windows. Hey, what can I say...Sometimes it just isn't pretty. But it IS home." The blog is full of eye candy with special emphasis on tropical style.




• Where does Erin from Design for Mankind find the time? The woman is a creative dynamo. She's collaborating with the Art House Co-Op, an Atlanta-based gallery on The Scavenger Project. "We're making a book and we need your help! We're going to send you a list of 24 things which will end up being the 24 chapters of the book. Each chapter is a reference to a moment, scenario, or item and we need your help visually representing each item." Find out more here.




• James Saavedra from Decor Fellow has a new online magazine fellow* and it is soooooooooooooooooo good. Stylish and right on the trends. Can't wait for more!

I've recently become enamored with a designer whose work is no longer featured on the pages of shelter magazines. I read or hear very little about him these days, which probably adds to the mystique. I'm sure many of you are familiar with this designer, although to me his work is quite new. (Back in his heyday in the 1980s and 90s, I was preoccupied with homework and school activities, preventing me from focusing too terribly much on the design world.) Of course, the fact that he died almost 13 years ago is part of the reason why this designer's work is no longer at the forefront of our design consciousness, and it's really a shame because this designer- Richard Lowell Neas- created rooms that were stylish, sophisticated, beautiful, elegant, and timeless.

I first became familiar with Neas' name when I found out that he was responsible for Brunschwig & Fils' "Bibliothèque" wallpaper- one of my all-time favorite wallpaper designs. As Neas was an accomplished muralist and trompe l'oeil artist, it's no surprise that he would design such a charming print. Then I learned that Neas gradually made his way into a career as a decorator. And what decorating he did!

I've tried to collect a few images of his work, and in some ways it surprises me that I'm so taken with these very traditional rooms. While I am a traditionalist at heart, I do like to mix in some modern pieces- it's a bit like a design checks and balances system. I think that what has drawn me to his work is the fact that Neas created rooms that were completely livable. His New York projects seem to capture the spark that is so evocative of that city: urbane, sophisticated, and cosmopolitan. Yet there's nothing cold or stiff about these rooms. Neas imbued his projects with a softness and warmth that was so inviting. Perhaps it was the collection of unique and striking furniture and objets. Or maybe it was the mix of prints and patterns that was so pleasing to the eye. I actually believe it was a combination of all of the above.

I think Neas described the success of his rooms perfectly when he quoted his friend Annette de la Renta, "some of the most wonderful rooms are ones that seem as though all the objects were inherited from relatives with different styles and tastes- yet everything fits together magically." And this, to me, is the magic formula- and one that makes Neas' work so appealing.


An image of Neas' tiny Manhattan apartment. Note the trompe l'oeil swagged curtain at the top of the mirror. I just love this room.




Two photos of a Manhattan apartment that Neas designed around 1990.




I believe this dining room and bedroom were part of Neas' home in Charente, France. Neas certainly created environments that were appropriate for their surroundings.


A close-up shot of the "Bibliothèque" wallpaper.


Nina Campbell used "Bibliothèque" in her home.

Image at top: Richard Lowell Neas with a chicken at his home in France. (This image and those of his French home courtesy of House Beautiful, 2001. Images of the Manhattan project from HG, September 1990.)

Neas/de la Renta quote from the New York Times, "Home Design; Objects of Much Affection" by Carol Vogel, October 21, 1984.