* v i s u a l * v a m p *: MariLynne Kane Decorates: Original Hollywood Regency In Upstate New York

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

MariLynne Kane Decorates: Original Hollywood Regency In Upstate New York

VV - MariLynne, tell me where you got your decorating ideas. Did your Mother decorate like this? Did you go to art school or study interior design?

I went to an art school for a few years, but it was to study fashion illustration. No, my mother didn’t decorate like I do, except when I helped her choose the décor.

VV - Did any decor magazines or books inspire you?

I haven’t seen one in 40 years. I can’t blame my taste on outside influences.

VV - When did you get most of the things you furnished your house with? Like the desk in the entryway?

Many, including the entry-way desk, date from when we were first married and furnished our 2-room apartment. Each time we moved to a larger home, we added new stuff. Note: MariLynne's husband Walter remembers getting this desk in 1952, and he used it until 1972.

VV- Where did you get the idea for the black and white color scheme you use?

I always had a preference for black, white and red. As I matured, gold substituted for the red. The dining room has all the colors.
VV - I know you love your home and your things, but if you were given the opportunity and an open ended budget, how would you decorate today? Do you look at decor magazines? Watch HGTV?

The only room I’d change right now if I could is the kitchen. This one is 37 years old, yet we did white countertops when gold and avocado (yuk) were still popular kitchen colors. If we did it today, it would be granite countertops and slate floors. I’m too busy dancing to read décor magazines. What is HGTV?

VV - What decor style, other than your own, do you really love?

Sometimes pictures of palaces or luxury hotels impress me.

VV - Do you have any advice for the home decorator?

I would tell them to be sure you like what you put in your home, rather than follow trends or someone else’s taste.

VV - Thank you MariLynne, and thank you Walter for taking all the photos, sending them to me, and helping me get the interview to MariLynne.

The desk MariLynne got for Walter in 1952
Note the black and white floors -
she uses these throughout the house

The two desks above come from 1stdibs
The black one is 1940's Deco
the wood one from the 1950's
Both cost several thousand dollars

MariLynne's living room
Noguchi style driftwood base coffee table
Black carpet - very radical when she first did this
Classic Hollywood Regency couch
Over size lamp is an Oriental urn form

Cane high back chair with original upholstery
Note the black and white damask print drapes

Current living room today using
many of the same elements that
MariLynne used 40 years ago -
Damask print drapes, dark rug, etc.

Another modern room with the MariLynne touch:
Damask drapes, shag rug, black accents, tole chandelier

MariLynne's dining room
She chose to use a game table,
and purchased the high back chairs separately -
Note the Hollywood Regency gold tole chandelier

The bedroom using
Classic Hollywood Regency elements:
Gold leaf headboard, damask fabric,
caged hanging lamps

Designer Nate Berkus' current day
version of Hollywood Regency

Today's damask reinterpreted in
many color ways and prints
Drapes, bedding, pillows, accents of all kinds
done in this print continue to be wildly popular

Lamp from Anthropologie $998.
It's very much like the ones MariLynne uses
in her bedroom and family room

Yellow and gray color way
that is so very current and on trend today
MariLynne uses it in the family room,
which Walter calls the rec room
She knitted the throws
in the terrific wide chevron stripe
The coffee table was once their kitchen table -
it was purchased at the same time as Walter's desk
MariLynne chopped off the legs to make a coffee table
Note the black and white shag carpet