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| DFID (c) 2019 |
One of my first inspirations very early on was a small house in North Carolina that I was taken to by a good friend. Gail Dewar was living with her sister, Joan - who was a very talented decorator. Joan had tons of style- she even made her own clothes- For example she would buy a plain taupe
colored linen, make a simple shift from it and then accessorize it with a ton of gold jewelry -she also wore quite a bit of make up and blown out hair (streaked with a bit of silver) in a word she was sophisticated and stylish!!!
Joan's house, which sat up on a hill, backed up to a large estate which was owned by the Gray family and was called Graylyn. What struck me about Joan and her house was that she obviously loved it and took great care of it -her sense of housekeeping was extraordinary. It smelled like a combination of lemon oil and furniture polish. Imagine the chic of a camelback sofa upholstered in a textured yellow fabric backed up to a bay window across from the fireplace with flat taupe walls and a layer of beautiful antique leather bound books with natural light flooding in -she also had a vintage quite small chandelier above a smallish round table- so charming- in her tiny entry hall were applied mouldings filled in with strips of silvery chinoiserie wallpaper - very Otto Zenke- and her kitchen and den were in a glossy oxblood paint ! (Unusual for the mid 1970's). I suppose I've never gotten over the charm and beauty of Joan's house and my wonderful friendship with Gail her sister -what a lovely couple of women they were. DF
