Plaster Mania

Decorators have been obsessed with plaster objects for many years, and they are once again an accessory du jour.

Plaster dipped chandelier from Trove in Los Angeles - I am thinking of doing a DIY project

I remember an episode on Million Dollar Decorators where JAM and Ross were at the San Francisco Antiques show, making a bee line for a perfect coffee table that turned out to be a small vintage plaster table by John Dickinson. I think it the price tag was ten thousand dollars.

Ross and Jeffrey on the hunt for the perfect coffee table

They coveted this John Dickinson table that sold for $30K

Since then I noticed more and more John Dickinson pieces being featured in designer rooms.

A treasure trove of John Dickinson pieces

Plaster tables are popping up everywhere in designer rooms

John Dickinson lamps are also very popular

Room designed by the legendary John Dickinson

Syrie Maugham was famous for using white plaster objects.

Syrie Maugham with a white plaster palm tree lamp - Love the chevron rug too - This is 1930 people!

"The story behind this literally off-the-wall use of plaster actually began in the '30s. Serge Roche, a second-generation antiques dealer, began making ornate Rococo plaster tables, mirror frames and palm-frond torchiers during the Great Depression to bolster the stock of his Paris shop. Business was bad, so in order to keep going, he decided to design furniture. Not everything was done in plaster, but most of it was. Along with fellow Parisian Jean-Michel Frank—who sold the work of Emilio Terry and sculptors Alberto and Diego Giacometti—Roche became the go-to plaster resource for the decoratrixes of the day, such as Elsie de Wolfe, Frances Elkins and particularly Syrie Maugham, who snapped up pieces for her signature all-white rooms."

Syrie Maugham lobster phone

"In that era, plaster had a touch of whimsy and the surreal—Maugham collaborated with Salvador Dali on a plaster lobster phone—but it was still mostly focused on traditions past. It's no surprise that as the forward-looking '60s rolled in, plaster took a backseat to steel and glass. San Francisco decorator John Dickinson was part of its revival in the '70s with his almost cartoony animal-footed stools and tables."
from The Wall Street Journal

Frances Elkins with her plaster treasures

Here in New Orleans chandelier designer Julie Neill has been experimenting with plaster. She's made a couple of chandeliers. It's not as easy as my DIY idea of dipping a chandelier. She has worked hard in  finding a way to actually make a chandelier in plaster.

Julie Neill chandelier in the restaurant Oak in New Orleans

One of the first Julie Neill plaster chandeliers

Julie said this is the one that inspired her that she saw in a room done by Gerrie Bremermann

There are many other ways to incorporate plaster accents into your decor. A simple one is to use plaster brackets to display smaller objects. The little shelves are relatively easy to find and inexpensive.

Miles Redd uses plaster brackets

Steven Gambrel uses plaster brackets

You can also just place a few plaster objects around your home. I have a plaster lamp purchased at Ballard Designs over fifteen years ago.

I love this photo, an outtake for the book Undecorate taken by Melanie Acevedo - So much has changed since that photo shoot, but I still have and use  the plaster lamp

Plaster walls inherent to architecture are amazing

I love the plaster objects used in this table setting designed by Dwayne Clark and Bob Gaynor for DIFFA

Shells mix well with plaster - Detail of DIFFA table

Of course here in New Orleans many old homes have plaster mouldings and medallions

I'll let you know what happens if I dip an old chandelier in plaster! Has anyone out there tried this yet? Or made plaster furniture?

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Get This Look From The Book Undecorate

There are so many good ideas in the book Undecorate by Christiane Lemieux. There is one in particular that I  have been toying with. Some renovation due to termites has been taking place at Casa Visual Vamp, and a crumbling wall is about to be replaced.  I have been dreaming of wallpaper for a couple of years.

I love this Clarence House wallpaper Lisa Borgner-Giramonti imported from England and uses in the foyer of her Los Angeles home.

However, ahem, I do not have the budget for Clarence House.

The foyer of Lisa Borgnes-Giramonti in the idea filled  book Undecorate - Clarence House wallpaper imported  from England photo by Melanie Acevedo via Dwell Studio blog tumblr page HERE

I am very comfortable covering walls with fabric. It is much more forgiving them installing wallpaper, and easier to remove when you want a change. I have fabric covered accent walls in the bedrooms of our home, which you can see in Undecorate in the chapter called 'True South".

So I was quite taken by the similarity to Lisa's wallpaper of a fabric found on Fabric.com, one of my favorite sources for fun designer style fabrics, that I think l really looks alot like Lisa's wonderful foyer.

Aviary fabric from Fabric.com

The 411 on the DIY is simple: Buy quilt batting (I got mine for $1.00 a bag on clearance at Wal Mart, but here's an online source HERE - but check your local stores sewing departments). Staple it to the wall. Then staple the fabric to the wall (with the quilt batting behind it). Cover the staples if they show too much with a narrow trim. I have used twine from the hardware store.

I also love it in black  - I would change the wall color in the living room and dance parlor - I love the Chinoiserie and botanical feeling of the print, and would paint the walls my signature "greige" - It could be fabulous! - I would do one accent wall, the wall presently covered with a collection of mirrors in the tango dance parlor

Casa Visual Vamp up for a change? I would replace the wall of mirrors with a fabric covered wall, and paint all the walls "greige", and of course paint the orange chandelier black, and change out accessories - Just writing about it makes me want to get started! BTW the wall with the mirrors was a major snack for the termites, and is being replaced along with a support joist that runs under the entire length of the house - it's been a fascinating process to say the least! Ask me anything you like about jacking up a house filled with contents, replacing a joist, and dealing with termites -

National Dog Day

Today is National Dog Day! Post a pic of your pooch!

Cholo - Photo from the book Undecorate, photo by Melanie Acevedo

National Dog Day is celebrated August 26th annually and serves to help galvanize the public to recognize the number of dogs that need to be rescued each year, and acknowledges family dogs and dogs that work selflessly each day to save lives, keep us safe and bring comfort. Dogs put their lives on the line every day - for their law enforcement partner, for their blind companion, for a child who is disabled, for our freedom and safety by detecting bombs and drugs and pulling victims of tragedy from wreckage.

Hawkeye stays by his master's side