House Beautiful and the outstanding design secrets of Annie Brahler make an impressive design and decorating duo.
House Beautiful is hands down one of my favorite shelter magazines.
Each month when it hits my mailbox I can’t wait to look through the pages of quality interior design and decor beauty.
Undisturbed and attentive, I sit down to the pages of interior design details, articles, furnishings and stunning looks.
I am so excited to share with you the May issue of House Beautiful and the outstanding design secrets of Annie Brahler along with images from her Jacksonville, Illinois historical home.
As owner of Euro Trash, a full service residential and commercial interior design, styling and import company, antiquities come into play.
The Douglas Brenner feature with photos by Bjorn Wallander, the ideas for decorating with antiques, and informative Q&A with Annie Brahler is my favorite part of the May issue of House Beautiful.
It speaks to the antique lover and dealer in me, and shows how well antiques fit into the interiors of not only historical homes, but in today’s homes as well.
View this post on Instagram
There are certain days I swoon over fashion, but swooning over homes, architectural features and interior design is an everyday treat.
Updated eight years, Annie’s social media accounts are chockablock full of design and decorating beauties.
Have you ever been moved to an out loud “Oh, my goodness” by a photo of a kitchen?
Meet the photo responsible for my OMG heard round the world (okay, around the house).
Where do I begin?
The vintage demilune topped with marble and modified for backside cabinets as a kitchen island— brilliant!!
Antique accents and accessories adorn this totally white hot kitchen, where elegance and simplicity merge in an absolutely fabulous manner.
The bronze chandelier, gold leaf mirror, 18th-century French armchair, 17th- and 18th-century Delft tiles and bluestone columns seize the opportunity to impress.
My two favorite accents are the zinc architectural finial in front of the window to the left of the fireplace, and the Louis Vuitton bag on the floor.
A vintage armoire customized to fit her shoe need and Belle Epoque pink chandelier do a closet good!
Repurposing antique and vintage furniture for practical uses to pair with modern furnishings is smart, green and gives what we all want from unique home decor, the wow factor.
The master bedroom headboard began as a neoclassical daybed and finished as a custom pièce de résistance.
I did something similar with a pair of twin English headboards.
Dave the Builder hinged them together for a client and voilà, a formal fireplace screen.
Seeing an item for what it is, but recognizing it for what it can become, seems to be a justified experiment with affordable antique and vintage furniture, don’t you think?
Speaking strictly for myself, stripping, painting, refinishing or totally morphing a piece into something totally different from its original purpose never scares me when we aren’t talking mucho initial investment.
Mirrors, mirrors gorgeously displayed on the wall, you and the Dutch chandelier are the gold leaf finest of them all.
A pair of antique upholstered armchairs, also known as fauteuils, grace the well appointed bookcase in the library.
The bookcase is made from a salvaged door surround. Unique furnishings reflect a sense of personal style, personality and creative character.
The blonde antique double door china cabinet and caned dining chairs in the breakfast room are from Holland.
I love the juxtaposition of formal dining chairs paired with a rustic or casual farm or harvest table, especially in this breakfast room.
I addressed this subject in a previous post here.
My advice then is the same now~ never be afraid to blend formal pieces with primitive ones.
The contrast surprises, complements, and is easily capable of becoming the focal point of the space.
The feminine quality of a Louis XV-style bed is quite the appropriate accessory in a historical home and a teenager’s bedroom.
The French mirror, balloon shade and crystal for days shaded chandelier strike a balance between period pieces and current trends in home decor.
A client at the antique shop remodeled her daughter’s bedroom a couple of years ago.
As per her request, we found a Victorian round pedestal table painted white at auction and later located five upholstered French dining chairs- four side chairs and only captains chair.
I paired the four side chairs with the table and the look was flawless.
Both mother and daughter were thrilled with the set, and as shown in the image above, placed the set in close proximity to the bed.
Modern meets glam meets antiquities.
Oh yeah, I like the look!
I enjoyed every word and image in this feature, and have a great appreciation of her design, tastes and excellent selection and use of antiques.
“Overdoing it with one thing is kind of not overdoing it.”
—Annie Brahler
Annie Brahler’s own words and design secret does supreme justice to the entire feature.
That bathroom is absolutely stunning!! In my opinion it’s quite risky to go with chocolate walls for a bathroom, it needs to be the right size, but that certainly works. I could live in there ha!
It certainly is a stunner! Choosing stark white fixtures and having the added natural light from the windows helps to pull off the chocolate walls. Dark walls could interfere with the lighting which is not a good thing in regards to make-up application 🙂 It’s all about the lighting!