lebarnstamford

Lapicque in the Living Room; A Case Study

A well-kept secret among many sophisticated interior designers is that many times they’ll draw inspiration from the paintings of the Masters. Depending on the assignment at hand, they’ll focus on a piece of beloved artwork owned by the client and will begin to build a color palette and room design around it. Our seasoned decorators at Le Barn take a similar, yet more unique approach since they also have access to an assorted selection of fine vintage fabrics that they’ve collected in the process of searching the world for antique furnishings.We all know that many antique houses have been lived in for generations. How many times have we wished that the walls could talk? What would they teach us about the past? What was discussed at a typical meal at the family table? Is it possible that families discussed some of the same things back then as we discuss today? The richness of life and age add ambience, mystery, and character to any home, thereby infusing it with a family’s unique history. The same is true of furniture passed from one generation to the next. Your own particular family’s stories become part of the history of each piece. For example, for one of our clients, the Lapicque print depicted above was her inspiration. Charles Lapicque was originally an engineer by trade, but his attraction to paint and palette finally won him over. Lapicque, a self-taught French painter, was characterized by his use of bright, unexpected color evident in his dynamic landscape and marine compositions. He quit his job and spent the rest of his life as an independent artist.  Le Barn is very fortunate to have several prints from this great artist’s collection.le barn, le, lebarnantiques, lebarnstamford, lebarn Our client loved the crisp, uplifting tones of this particular print and wanted to incorporate the spirit of Lapicque’s art into the family’s living room. She especially loved the vibrant pink skyline. We explained to our client that we would integrate Lapicque’s unique palette into the room, while blending other colors and accent pieces in order tie everything together.DSC_0156a We paired the taupe woven African basket with an antique Chinese silk fabric, which we found on one of our trips to China.  The subtle brown and gold tones of the French chintz fabrics and the pink porcelain plate peacefully coexist.  The Italian gold gilded pitcher, the Chinese red-lacquered lunch box, and the scarlet and pink materials add their own dimension to this room. Very slowly, all the components of the room began to come together as if to echo the Lapicque print! When we were finished, our client’s living room was a combination of multi-cultural fusions. The furnishings, fabrics, and accent pieces worked in harmony with her beloved Lapicque print. Each piece was perfectly unique on its own, yet gloriously united together.DSC_0153a Isn’t that the way the whole world should be? To see more of the Charles Lapicque collection, click on the link below: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYodU9DXk3M Visit Le Barn! Call ahead for an appointment at 203-253-7286. Visit our website at lebarn.com. Subscribe to our blog at lebarnantiques.com.
rooms-we-love

Rooms we Love

This charming bathroom was featured in one of the many magazines we subscribe to here at Le Barn. My eye was immediately drawn to the light blue cabinet, which was re-purposed as a vanity. The gray ladder in place of a towel towel rack was a fun […]

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Pink, The New Black!

The color pink brings instant happiness with fresh clean feelings and soft touches of femininity to any room. The challenge is how to use pink to decorate intuitively. For instance, do you want pink to be bright and fresh, or soft and warm? Perhaps you would prefer contrasting […]

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