Three Design Legends

Since I've been househunting, I've been doing a lot of thinking about design.  Looking at a bajillion homes from all different eras and all different styles kind of forces you to go there.

About 12 years ago I got serious about design (as serious as a single mom of three, accountant with no design skills can get anyway).  It was the olden days with no pinterest or blogs, so I studied magazines.  Slept with piles of them on my bed.

Here's what I learned from three design superstars all those years ago that stuck...for good.

From Mary Emmerling:

All white walls.  Always.  

Remember the above photo of her Key West home...Country Home magazine June 2001 (not that I still have a 12 year old magazine, which of course, I do)

(Forgive the crappy photos..it's an old magazine!)

From Tricia Foley:

You can never have too much white & cream with dark wood.

(remember Victoria magazine?)

From Barbara Barry:

Crisp white with classic wood is timeless and dining room lighting is best at eye level.

I firmly believe that the best way to judge a designer's style is to look at their own home.  All of the images above are of the designers' homes and all of the images are at least 10 years old, some are older (as you can tell by the quality). 

But in my book, they are all still fresh, stylish and relevant.

I would love to hear what you have learned that has stuck with you and from whom. 

Please share!

xo

~Karen~