Baccarat Video Showcases Elegant, Neutral Decor

Blou Je Te Vois Flou Zenith Chandelier, 24 Lights by Baccarat

Irwin Weiner ASID - I enjoyed this marketing video from French crystal manufacturer Baccarat. Aimed at showcasing the Baccarat Residences in the Dubai Pearl, it focuses on a room-by-room tour of a mansion decorated in a very subdued neutral style. Mirrored furniture, silvered and gilt furnishings, golds and beiges and tans and browns - everything emphasises two elements of the decor: the architectural bones of this luxurious space and the glitter and sparkle of the Baccarat accessories, including chandeliers, sconces, vases, wine and glass stems, and barware.

Bedroom in Baccarat Residences at the Dubai Pearl

Yes, it was a kick seeing the amazing Baccarat high-end product line highlighted like this, but it was also instructive to see how effective a neutral - or limited palette - decor can be when coupled with Hollywood Regency style mirrored furnishings and elegant crystal. The silvery and golden tones are picked up with reflected crystal surfaces and the whole is much more than the sum of its parts. That's a good goal for interior design, isn't it?

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4 Mirror-Clad Furniture Favorites

Perth Mirrored Chest from HayneedleJanet Ramin - Mirror, Mirror, on the design floor ... which furniture is the fairest of them all? All right, it’s not Snow White, but since Hollywood has been churning out endless remakes of this fairytale, I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon and transform it to an interior design fairytale – my kind of bedtime story!

My client, Miss Dina Dithering, (not her real name, of course) can’t decide on the style of furniture she wants in her home. First she wants contemporary then she wants classic. Last week she loved the silver colors; this week it’s only true blue. Do you have one of these clients - or are you that kind of indecisive homeowner? We can’t move forward; we’re stuck in a murky, sticky swamp.

I offered her some tempting styles: how about Scandinavian? Georgian? Arts and Crafts? "NO!" she said. “That style is too cold; that one is too expensive; the other is too heavy!” And down the line, she crossed them all off.

Mirrored Chest from Elizabeth AustinOy vey, help me. And then, like a fairy godmother on speed dial, my vendors came to the rescue! I was showered with some glorious photos of mirrored furniture.

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Hollywood Glamour Furniture Updated by Nancy Corzine

Irwin Weiner ASID - If you're looking for contemporary takes on the Hollywood Regency Glamour look, which we've been celebrating this week at Design2Share, look hard at many contemporary furniture lines that advertise themselves as "timeless." That means that they've borrowed elements of style from the past - deco, art nouveau, regency, mid-century modern, Memphis Movement Eighties, and so on - and given them a clean, fresh twist.

Look at the collections from iconic interior designer Nancy Corzine, for example. In the top photo, her Prism Bed is an updated twist of styles, from the mirrored surfaces of Hollywood Regency to the skyscraper lines (literally) of the streamlined deco period. The end result is contemporary glamour and a fashion "feeling" as well as a "statement." In her 2009 book Nancy Corzine: Glamour at Home, we even have the designer embracing the Glamour banner and declaring herself the new standard bearer.

Corzine's Delmonaco Cocktail Table steals the glamour show in her living room grouping, above and below. The shining Venetian Sterling Silver finish of the glass-topped piece puts the glitz of old Hollywood front and center, but in a more contemporary, streamlined way (and that bottom glass shelf is perfect for books, baskets, and extra eye-candy accessories.

A pair of her Museum Slipper Chairs covered in Cavallo (azure) fabric complete the scene along with her extra-luxe high-backed Delmonaco Sectional Sofa finished in her soft azure Boucheron fabric - and remember, pale and dusty blues are part of that Hollywood Regency color palette. And how about that special three-tiered Balthazar Chandelier, with elegant tapered silk shades!

And how about the Harlow Vanity (above), topped off with her Three Part Vanity Mirror? When you have furnishings named after one of Hollywood's great Golden Age leading ladies, you're absolutely inspired by Tinsel Town chic. For more updated glamour, visit the Nancy Corzine website. 

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5 Favorite 1940s Glamour Furnishings from Metropolis Modern

Irwin Weiner ASID - This is Hollywood Regency Glamour Week at Design2Share, and I can't help but focus on some of the amazing 1940s antiques that epitomize this chic decorating trend, courtesy of NYC's Metropolis Modern. Not every piece from the Forties carried regency domination; some, like the divine X-shaped black-and-white magazine rack from France (top photo), have startling modernist appeal - but glamourous, nonetheless. Click on each photo for more information, and visit the Metropolis Modern website to see other incredible, well curated collectibles.

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