Fabulous, luxurious home, art, garden and design to share today, enjoy.
Home of decorator Bunny Williams, gardening at her country estate in Falls Village, CT is one of her passions.
A stone terrace just off the main house was transformed into an outdoor room with comfy sofas designed by Bunny along with chairs in matching cushions. Groupings of terracotta planters help round out a lush, lived-in ambience. The tall topiary yews date to 1910.
“A bright kelly green is so cheery. It pulls from the foliage, reminds one of lazy summer days, and is always uplifting to walk into.
Painting kitchen cabinetry a strong color can be tricky and overwhelming, so I would suggest you temper it with neutral and softer colors as well so it does not overpower the space.”
A swatch of Bob Collins chintz lay dormant in Kate’s “fantasy file” for seven years later, until it served as the driving force behind the design for her living room, taking center stage on a slipcovered sofa and two 19th-century Directoire-style bergères. “I think it comes from having grown up in Los Angeles, where my mother has a wonderful green garden with a kind of lush Southern feel to it,” says Kate of her affinity for the print.
Zao Wou-Ki (Chinese/French, 1921-2013), 09.11.49, 1949.
Drawings by Angelo Detanico and Rafael Lain surround a vintage burl-wood games table and Louis XVI-style chairs in the living room’s far corner. “It’s where my girls have their chess lessons and build Legos on the weekend,” Kate says, and where she and husband Alex eat dinner when it’s just the two of them.
A nearly impossible to find stunning vintage set of sixteen Royal Doulton gold encrusted raised urns and foliage on spring green rim dinner plates. Scalloped edge. 1943.
Bunny planted boxwoods in ornamental squares and diamonds for her parterre. She was inspired by the famed English gardener and writer Rosemary Verey, whose kitchen gardens took after classic French potagers.
Jason Martin (British, b. 1970), Earth, 2005. Gel on stainless steel, 70.5 x 70.5 x 10.5 cm.
Designer: Kate Rheinstein Brodsky
Kitchen Green
Stainless-steel countertops give the kitchen the utilitarian feel Kate was after and stand up to daily wear and tear. “I like materials that weather well,” says Kate. “It’s not so much that they should stay pristine forever, but I like to find things that I like the look of as they age. Stainless steel fits that bill for me… it has so many scratches at this point that it looks almost like a different finish, but I still love it.”