9 Art-Filled Interiors We Love From AD PRO Directory Designers
Photo: Read McKendree
One of the most common mistakes in the design process is leaving art as an afterthought, from forgetting to budget for it to not considering its placement when planning layouts. Designers know it’s often compelling artwork—whether passed down through generations or a blue-chip edition newly procured from an auction—that can take a room to the next level. These nine art-filled interiors conceived by AD PRO Directory talents showcase dazzling interiors where skillfully placed art adds a meaningful finishing touch.
Melanie Turner Interiors
When invigorating a historic Atlanta home, local designer Melanie Turner was keen on layering it with artworks. The sitting room was painted in a mélange of greens, becoming the base for Richard Olsen’s Wall XLVII, the centerpiece of “an otherwise monochromatic room,” she says. Olsen’s work is flanked by shelves dotted with vintage sculptures and the client’s chunky photo albums. The books’ range of blue, green, and orange hues “serendipitously matched the painting,” Turner adds. Plus,“the existing paneled walls and trim details drenched in a fresh color give the room such an inviting feel paired with the more modern furniture.”
Crystal Sinclair Designs
Working alongside bicoastal firm Appel Architecture, designer Crystal Sinclair’s semi-gut renovation of a Brooklyn town house called for plenty of art, which she procured hand in hand with her well-versed clients. In the living room, they opted for abstract paintings by British artists Liza Giles and Sara Dare, which are installed behind the sofa and on the fireplace mantel, respectively. “I love how the circular pillows on the ochre sofa echo the shapes in Liza’s painting,” says Sinclair, whose eponymous practice is based in Tuxedo Park, New York. The accents mingle with a circular, blue creation sourced from Los Angeles art house Natural Curiosities, which mirrors the form of the dome floor lamp in front of it. “I didn't want the art to the left of the fireplace to compete with Liza's piece, so we went with something simpler and rounder,” Sinclair explains.
Eclectic Home
During her travels to Asia, designer Penny Francis’s client discovered enticing artworks, two of which now sit atop the black lacquer Dorothy Draper cabinets that flank the fireplace in her New Orleans living room. For Francis, principal designer and owner of New Orleans–based practice Eclectic Home, a duo of Pierre Paulin vintage sofas was the starting point of her design. The striped Clarke & Clarke velvet fabric swathing them “pay[s] homage to our Mardi Gras heritage,” she says—they also inform the room’s elegant purple color scheme. Other standouts include the antique carved wood and onyx bowls and “the original marble fireplace restored to its glory,” says Francis. “The portrait in acrylic and gold leaf from the client’s collection anchors the fireplace wall and draws you into the room.”
Jarvis Studio
Despite downsizing in square footage, these New York empty nesters still wanted to amplify their art collection inside their new Chelsea apartment. Local design firm Jarvis Studio did exactly that, situating the living room sofa below a painting by French artist Marcel Mouly. “We developed the color palette around it with taupe and light grey fabrics, a textured plaster wall finish, and custom silk area rug,” principal Jarvis Wong says. Even the vintage brass finishes throughout the interior offset the rich and saturated painting. The high ceiling, which begged for something vertical in the corner, became an opportunity to incorporate one of American sculptor Stephen De Staebler’s bronze works, which was one of the client’s finds at a San Francisco gallery. “The interior design and art complement each other without one overwhelming the other,” muses Wong.
Meredith Ellis Design
In a Dallas family room that caters to cards games and movie nights, designer Meredith Ellis backdropped the social setting with the artist client’s own paintings. “It was important to me that they were the real focal points of the space, and that whatever I selected was complementary,” Ellis says. The tranquil work over the sofa was already complete by the time Ellis was brought on, “so I selected colors and fabrics I felt worked with the piece,” she adds. The second, positioned between the chairs, draws inspiration from California’s Carmel Valley, where the family spends many of its summers. That scenery prompted Ellis to weave in natural shades of green and blue, “but also saffron and rust,” she notes, “pulling in the antique wood tones of the side tables.”
Mr Alex Tate Design
Although the two-story new-build that Alex Alonso’s clients snagged in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood was decidedly modern, the maximalist-minded couple wanted to warm it up. “They love collecting and mixing vintage and new,” says the founder and creative principal of local studio Mr Alex Tate Design. This approach first manifests in the foyer: Originally, visitors could see three quarters of the first floor from the entry, but Alonso deemed it too open. He instilled it with an air of formality by adding drapery walls that define the space. As avid art lovers, the clients visit galleries and source new pieces during their travels—including Dutch artist Patricia Paludanus’s painting, which now hangs above the entry’s console table. One of the works from Tyler Hays’s Bather series beckons from the living room in the distance. “The effect of creating an unexpected space right when you come in is wonderful,” says Alonso, “especially when the façade is white and minimalist.”
Cloth & Kind
This Wellington, Florida-based family rarely used their living room, but given it was the first space guests glimpsed from the foyer, they decided it was high time to maximize it for entertaining. They tapped Cloth & Kind to make it happen. The wide, long space was ripe for conversational seating, grounded by a wall-to-wall bespoke art, object, and book display on one end that “sprinkles in family photos and sentimental ephemera,” says Tami Ramsay, partner and principal interior designer at the Athens, Georgia–based studio. “We wanted to create a menagerie of pieces that added to the color story, the texture, and depth of the space,” says Ramsay, of the built-in showstopper, “and also allowed for that to change and evolve over time.” It’s linked to the other side of the room, distinguished by an original fireplace updated with a marble surround, by way of a custom double-sided serpentine sofa and a natural fiber rug. The firm makes a good case for art-filled interiors as theatrical rooms for entertainment.
Nadia Watts Interior Design
In a Denver abode’s spacious gathering space—which encompasses dining room, library, living room, and sitting area—designer Nadia Watts relies on her client’s vast art collection to create a cohesive dialogue between the adjoining interiors. “These special pieces have moved with them over the years to multiple homes and the placement of the art was planned during the drawing phase,” says the local designer. For instance, the exact dimensions of the wall behind the dining table were determined to accommodate the Bob Knox painting that hangs there. Beyond it, an inherited painting is framed by books to create “a wonderful library presence,” adds Watts. “The scale of the art, the color, and the textures of the furnishings create a compelling environment in which you want to sit and stay for a while.”
Aquilo Interiors
Architectural cutouts separate the formal living room from the family room in producer Prentice Penny’s Los Angeles home. Designer Carmen René Smith uses art to magnify the interplay of the two sunny spaces. In the family room, Ghanaian artist Theophilus Tetteh’s Ready But Waiting print above the gumball machines is a study in color, according to the principal designer of Oakland-based Aquilo Interiors: “The striking pop of blue over the eyes draws immediate attention, adding intrigue. The touch of red on the fingers with the yellow and blue serves as a subtle nod to the classic midcentury color combo,” Then, peeking through from the living room is Alivepaint’s three-piece, graffiti-style work that offers “a layer of eclectic drama,” says Smith, “creating a lively contrast with the monochromatic patterned wallpaper that sits behind it.”
Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
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