In Bed With Bryan Batt - Happy Weekend!

I had to do some crappy scanning to show you this:

Bryan Batt in November 2009 House Beautiful
Click on image for larger view

I love me some Bryan Batt!
I've blogged on him in one way or another seven times! Go HERE to read one of those posts, and/or look for the label bearing his name to read more.
Just got my November 2009 issue of House Beautiful, and there is a cute and sexy interview with New Orleans guy Bryan. It's called I Love My Bed. It's not online yet, so I'm retyping it for you all to read, maybe this weekend in the bed you love.
I think you will appreciate and enjoy how down to earth, and warm Bryan is. He also has some great decor advice (he was once an interior designer - I keep thinking he's the next glam movie star-decorator ala Billy Haines). I've bold faced some tidbits in the interview. Enjoy!

A good issue this month! Buy it or subscribe - don't let magazines and books, that you can hold in your hands, die

From House Beautiful:

HB: I LIKE HOW THE PAINTING FITS PERFECTLY OVER YOUR HEADBOARD.
BRYAN: The painting is the whole point of the room. It's by a friend of mine, Suzie Allain, who's a local artist here in New Orleans. She showed some things at Hazelnut, my store here, and I fell in love with this series of bamboo stalks. She did this for me custom and then the room evolved around it.

SO YOU MADE THE BIG SILVERY PILLOWS TO SORT OF GO WITH IT?
Well, the fabric was left over from a design job I did years ago. I loved it and was always trying to find a place to use it. I had just enough for the pillows.

AND WHAT IS THE FABRIC?
I really don't know. I got it from one of those wholesale places on 39th Street in New York. It's stenciled with metallic paint. The ones in the front are by Dransfield & Ross. We sell them at the store.

WHAT IS THE BEAUTIFUL COVERLET?
It's a Sferre Jacquard with the gray that's on the walls and the sheets. The sheets are similar to the wall color, which I believe, is Benjamin Moore Smoke Embers.

THE VARIOUS SHADES OF GRAY ARE VERY CHIC, BUT FEEL COZY TOO.
Your bedroom has to be one of two things. It either has to be bright and full of life or dark like a cocoon, and I always go for the dark. For years, having been in theater, I would go to sleep so late that I had to block out any light coming in so I could sleep in.

ARE YOU COMPULSIVE ABOUT MAKING THE BED IN THE MORNING?
I'm a slob! I'm a little bit like Oscar Madison, and my partner, Tom Cianfichi, is Felix Ungar. I'm the one who would come to bed with a cigar and a beer. Sometimes I do bring a martini, but there's no smoking allowed in bed.

IS WATCHING TV ALLOWED?
We've never had a TV in our bedroom. It's a rule.

BUT NO RULES AGAINST COMPUTERS.
I'm always on the computer in bed.

THE FLOOR-LAMP TABLES ARE A CLEVER SOLUTION TO THE NIGHT TABLE PROBLEM.
They're brass lamps as well as glass-topped tables. We sell them at Hazelnut. They're small, which is good, because we don;t have much room on either side of the bed. I have to have a king size bed. Once you go king, you can't go back.

WHAT'S THE LAST THING YOU DO BEFORE TURNING OFF THE LIGHTS AT NIGHT?
I try to have a little meditative moment, but usually I'm making sure the cell phone is being charged and there's a glass of water bedside.

WHAT'S THE FIRST THING YOU DO WHEN YOU WAKE?
Wish I could sleep longer before I take my walks in Audubon Park.

DO YOU EVER CHANGE THE LOOK OF THE BED?
There's the look when company is coming, and there's the daily look. My Boston terrier, Peggy, likes to live on the bed, and you don't want a dog with a bone on your best bedding.

WHOSE SHEETS ARE THESE?
I don't remember. But they're 620-thread-count-hotel-quality sateen sheets from Bed, Bath & Beyond. I believe in mixing things. It doesn't always have to be the highest end. If it looks good, it's good.

AND THE BED ITSELF?
It's from Crate and Barrel.

WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A BED?
Comfort. I used to think beauty over everything at all times, but at this age you really have to think about your back.

DO YOU HIDE THINGS UNDER THE BED?
Yes! I have big plastic storage containers, filled with photographs.

HAVE YOU IMAGINED WHAT THE BEDROOM OF SALVATORE ROMANO, YOUR MAD MEN CHARACTER WOULD LOOK LIKE?
By the time this comes out, you'll have seen his bedroom. It's tomato red - not a color I would choose, but it's perfect for Sal.

WOULD HE LIKE THIS BEDROOM?
Salvatore absolutely loves it.


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