Here I am standing in front of a Sir Joshua Reynolds painting (c.1785) on the first landing of the grand oak staircase at Highclere Castle, aka Downton Abbey. In my public television series filmed there, I discussed the use of brass stair rods. We can all learn from masterpiece houses.
Holly’s five simple interior design tips to enhance your house, now!
My interior design firm, Holly Holden & Company, Ltd. www.hollyholden.com, specializes in classic and traditional design. I believe in designing once… for a lifetime! Who wouldn’t want to hear those words? Designing with decorative accessories and techniques that stand the test of time, and enhance your home with little effort, translates to a good investment for your design dollars. You might have fun implementing them along the way, too!
Brass Stair Rods:
Something as simple as adding brass stair rods to your carpet runner on a staircase is a timeless decorative detail. Stair rods are appropriate in cottages and castles, and everything in between! You can order them with a clear lacquer finish so that they do not require polishing. When I hosted my public television series, You Are Cordially Invited, I discussed brass stair rods at Highclere Castle, aka Downton Abbey, because they are featured on the main staircase in the castle. It is the finishing touch on any staircase with a carpet runner.
Our brass stair rods have been in place, holding the wool Stark runner, for over twenty years at Fox Hall and have survived three children and numerous dogs... and party traffic on their way up to the ballroom!
Picture Lights:
Adding picture lights to your artwork, no matter what the genre of art, adds an inviting glow to your walls, especially in the evening light when you entertain. I prefer and specify a matte brass finish for a classically styled picture light. Picture lights work best on framed artwork that does not have glass covering it. When my Stuart and I attended a dinner at Buckingham Palace, it was held in the stupendously handsome Picture Gallery. The main source of light for the evening was from the picture lights atop each painting within the stellar collection of art. The artwork lined the walls salon-style, one on top of another, and was displayed upon the elegant coral damask wall upholstery... a magical and majestic evening!
The soft glow of a picture light over an oil painting adds a magical ambiance to any room.
Paint the interior of your fireplace black:
New or naked bricks on the interior of a fireplace need to have the illusion that the fires in the fireplace have created a black patina. There is specialized paint for this endeavor. I specify a flat black for both new and old houses alike. Our historic house, Fox Hall, built in 1803, has seven fireplaces that are naturally blackened from the 217 years of wood fires within them. There is just one which had new bricks replaced in the center... I made sure that the new bricks are now black! Many fireplace examples are featured in my book,The Pretty and Proper Living Room.
The Hunt Room at Fox Hall has wood fires burning quite often during the cold months of New England. Miss Zsa Zsa loves to sit near the warmth in “her” chair!
Darling wastebaskets:
A decorative detail that is often overlooked for ANY room is a truly darling wastebasket. My new interior design book, Pearls of Palm Beach, features many examples of adorable wastebaskets in the ‘Darling Detail’ section for each of the eight private houses featured. Lining a wastebasket with a paper doily is another adorable little detail found in many of the guest bedrooms in the United States and Europe. Charming wastebaskets can be rawwwther expensive, but well worth it. These little accessories always grace polished interiors.
Mr. Pink stands proudly in our Hunt Room bathroom at Fox Hall. He was purchased years ago from Scully & Scully in NYC. I am proud to have them as our premiere MMM sponsor. I believe they offer the best selection of wastebaskets ever, including bespoke monogrammed ones... Mr. Pink agrees!
Repurpose decorative items that you already own:
Shopping in your own house for decorative items to repurpose can be such fun! We were hosting a Chinese themed dinner party and I discovered a box of unused crystal perfume bottles, featuring a cut crystal pagoda top. Mummy had collected them to give as gifts but never did. I decided to use them as soy sauce holders!
Here is another idea that never ceases to garner a smile: use a crystal decanter, normally used for wine or spirits, and pour mouthwash into it to use in a bathroom. For the amusement of your houseguests, fill the decanter with a gold-colored mouthwash, such as Listerine, and then place a silver decanter label, engraved with either “scotch” or “bourbon,” to hang over the decanter neck!
Look closely and you can spy one of the pagoda perfume bottles repurposed for soy sauce at our Chinese themed dinner party.