I’m Working On It

I searched Billy Baldwin on my own blog and was shocked to have nothing come up.  How is it possible that I have never mentioned his name, this icon of design?  Well there is no better time than the present and here’s why.  I have a good client whose close family member was lucky enough to hire Mr. Baldwin to design more than one of her homes. The home featured here was a Florida residence in Hobe Sound.  My client wanted to do design a room in her new water view home as an homage to this beautiful work by one of the great masters of design.  I have never “copied” someone else’s work before but if I was going to reproduce another designers work Billy Baldwin’s was certainly worthy.  Of course we had to take liberties as the room needed a different floor plan and we wanted it to feel updated.  I still need to deliver on a few details (rug, pillows and glass for coffee table) but here is a shot of the room…

The sofa was easy to replicate, a local craftsman built the custom frame to my specifications,  the client and I opted to use Sunbrella so there would be no issues with fading as dark blue has a tendency to do.  The chairs were a bit more of a challenge, we picked frames from Lee Industries for their comfort and scale and they are close to the originals but the fabric wasn’t quite so easy to find.  we ended up having it printed.  The pattern we chose is close to a pattern Baldwin used in his friend Woodson Taulbee’s apartment.  Developed by the pair “Foliage” was based on a Matisse drawing.  The client preferred it to the stylized floral in the inspiration room.  Here is a closer image of the chairs and fabric…

As I mentioned we have ordered a creamy white rug for the room but it hasn’t come in, a piece of thick glass is also missing from the coffee table, but I had to give you a glimpse into this beautiful home.

Billy Baldwin’s original work is featured in Rizzoli’s book “Billy Baldwin The Great American Decorator” published this year, however the inspiration room has been previously published in an earlier book of Baldwin’s work.    I’m not sure of its title or publisher, all of that detail is a bit grey for me, sorry.  Anyway Rizzoli’s book is a complete delight, my client gave me a copy for Christmas, and I love it.  Pick up a copy to see more images of our inspiration room, and to learn more about the master of design, Billy Baldwin.