Martyn Lawrence Bullard and Timothy Whealon, featured lecturers at the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Antiques, Garden & Design Show, are two celebrated interior designers with their own sensibilities and styles.
Bullard, who has designed for celebrities like Tommy Hilfiger and Cher, likes to create sophisticated and eclectic interiors. Whealon, who studied English literature and art history and trained at Sotheby’s, focuses on fine and decorative arts and mixes classic and modern styles seamlessly.
They both strolled the exhibitor booths at the Show’s preview party to choose pieces that caught their eye, and would feel right at home among their personal aesthetic. See these picks and more at the Antiques, Garden & Design Show, through Sunday, April 17, and stroll through the Garden grounds to enjoy the spring blooms.
Martyn Lawrence Bullard’s Picks: (Click on an image for information about the item and vendor.)
Booth #107, Greenwald Antiques: An aquatint and hand-color illustration, originally published by Daniell’s Oriental Scenery. Created by William Daniell, who spent nine years (from 1785-1794) sketching and drawing India’s architecture and antiquities. One of a set of four.
Booth #115, Julie Harris: Framed vintage bathing suits. “The blues and reds would be perfect in Tommy Hilfiger’s house,” Bullard said. He has designed for Hilfiger, as well as celebrities like Ellen Pompeo and Cher.
Booth#208, Fair Trade Antiques: An 1850s mahogany chest of drawers from England. Called a campaign chest—as in military campaign—the piece was designed to move around.
Booth #205, Sheridan Loyd Antiques: Bullard liked these 19th century sandpaper drawings. An art fad for schoolgirls of the time, fantasy scenes, like this one of a castle, were created using charcoal.
Booth #403, Forsyth: Mario Baughman zebra-hide club chairs in warm tones with a chrome frame
Booth #100, Lee’s Antiques: A 1970s Pierre Cardin red formica console table
Booth #120, The Golden Triangle: Art deco-style French leather club chairs made of lamb leather
Booth #104, Dinan & Chighine: A set of 18th century botanical prints finished with watercolor in etched Greek key-design frames
Timothy Whealon’s Picks: (Click on an image for information about the item and vendor.)
Booth #121, Village Braider: A 1950s painting similar to the style of French painter Raoul Dufy
Booth #118, Deluxe Inc.: A white diamond wall hanging. Whealon said he was drawn to the piece because it has “a sculptural quality, and it’s kind of fun.”
Booth #217, Framont: A pair of 19th century Empire console tables
Booth #212, Marona: A late 1700s French table made from European oak
Booth #400, Anne Loucks Gallery: A mirror-image photograph by Milwaukee-based artist Laurie Victor Kay, entitled Les Chaises Jeunes IV. Kay is a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Booth #310, Craig Bergmann Landscape Design: A towering garden obelisk with raised shell motif
Booth #120, The Golden Triangle: An unrestored 19th century elm Chinese table with original patina and 19th century display cloches for butterflies (filled with a modern arrangement)
Booth #100, Lee’s Antiques: A 1950s three-panel, silk-screen room divider created by the House of Scalamandré. Dedicated to Gino’s NYC.
Booth #100, Lee’s Antiques: A pair of 1930s American art deco ceramic and solid brass table lamps with original gold metallic shades.
Booth #400, Anne Loucks Gallery: A photograph of foggy park scene by photographer Lyle Gomes. Entitled “Atget’s Bench.” Gomes’ style is to depict an ethereal, natural setting with a subtle sign of humanity, giving a melancholy feel to the image.
Everything old is new again, especially when you integrate antiques into a twenty-first century home.
Here are some style-savvy tips from two high-profile interior designers, both presenting lectures at the Antiques, Garden & Design Show, April 15 to 17, at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
Martyn Lawrence Bullard
Mixing it up: “Today it’s not really about doing interiors that are filled with one particular period or style,” says Los Angeles-based interior designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard, author of Live, Love & Decorate and the upcoming Design & Decoration (Rizzoli, due in April). “It’s really about learning to be eclectic and how to edit and how to mix and match.”
Balance equals harmony: “Editing is one of the most important elements in creating harmonious interiors,” says New York-based interior designer Timothy Whealon, author of In Pursuit of Beauty (Rizzoli). “The trick is mixing pieces from different periods and countries, juxtaposing textures, i.e., the time-worn against a crisp lacquer, without drawing attention to any particular element.”
Timothy Whealon
Follow your heart: “When I’m looking for antiques with a client, I’m looking for them to respond to it on an emotional level,” Whealon says. “If it speaks to you, buy it.…If you love it, usually you can find a place to work it in.” Bullard agrees: “The great find is actually just something that you love,” he says. “There should never be a monetary value on things. If you love it, then it is worth a fortune.”
Sensibility of scale: Bullard says that “the most important thing for interiors is scale.…You need to know the scale and size you want and where you are going to put (something).” Measure the spaces you want to fill, as well as the doorways these items need to pass through, ahead of time. A tape measure will come in handy at the Show, too.
Seeing the light: To create a seamless continuum from indoors to outdoors, Whealon writes in his book, “I always start a project by looking out the windows, which more often than not informs my design decisions for the interiors.”
Bold yellow interior design by Martyn Lawrence Bullard. Photo by Tim Street Porter.
Color your world …“People shouldn’t be afraid of color,” Bullard says. “I think one of the first rules of color is to choose one you look good in.…If you look good wearing it, think how great you’ll look surrounded by it. It really works.”
But don’t forget white: “I like color that gradually reveals itself,” Whealon writes, “and no color has the capacity to do that quite like complex whites.”
Interior design by Timothy Whealon. Photo by William Waldron.
Comfort is king: “The biggest trend in interiors is really comfort,” Bullard says. “People really want to be able to use everything, to be able to sit on everything….The idea of really precious things that you don’t really use is so outdated now.”
