Hannah Martin, AD’s senior design editor, is rooting for the Louis XIV writing desk to make a rebound. “In Hubert de Givenchy’s Paris apartment, published by AD in 1978, a stunning desk and cabinet by André-Charles Boulle, cabinetmaker to Louis XIV, mix in with slick black lacquered finishes, low-lying furniture, and mirrored surfaces,” she says. “I love this particularly ’70s brand of eclecticism and would like to see more interiors that play with French antiques from this era.” A woman after my own heart!
For Madeline O’Malley, AD’s market director, it’s all about patterned wall-to-wall carpet. “There’s something that feels very creativity-within-constraint about it,” she says. “Like a controlled splashiness.” And the idea is fresh in her mind, thanks to Patrick Mele’s room at the 2024 Kips Bay Decorator Show House in New York, with its snazzy floral carpet by Mele for Aronson’s. “I can’t stop thinking about the concept,” says O’Malley, who adds that the style is “poised for a comeback.” One trippy example can be found on the cover of AD’s September/October 1972 issue, in a bedroom designed by Stephen Chase of Arthur Elrod Associates.
“Draped fabric can give a wall texture and interest,” says Alison Levasseur, AD’s global interiors and garden editor. “Take note from this room featured in AD September 1977 that a draped fabric can be used in combination with a wallpaper or paint,” she advises.
And that’s not all: “Shutters indoors are chic!” she adds. “I adore this Brunschwig & Fils floral bedroom on the cover of AD from June 1980. The white shutters are the perfect charming window treatment for this stylish California ranch.” There’s also charm in some of the room’s softer accessories: “I’m crazy for the gingham cat and dog pillows too! Things that make you happy never go out of fashion.”