Living Room Portraits

What fun to capture these shots of my Naples living room at different times of the day. It's such a pleasure for me to watch the light change in the afternoon, as this room faces west, and we do get some glorious sunsets here, plus, when the sun hits my chandelier, it often creates small prisms of rainbow colored light all over the room like a disco ball! Which then reminds me of Albert and James and the holograph ceilings...DF*****

Pinky, Treillage, and Rearranging the Salon

Lisa and Giggy

Bunny and John's big sale!

Room designed by Dean Farris, private residence

Living the good life in sunny Naples

Lisa Van der Pump of Beverly Hills, known as Pinky, is my favorite new reality star, and someone I'd love to know. She's lived in Monte Carlo and the South of France, and is just the most elegant and beautiful woman. Here's a great shot of her from the magazine she writes a column for called Beverly Hills Lifestyle. Friends John and Bunny are having a sale at their shop in New York, Treillage, which offers wonderful fun things for the garden and home. 50% off on select goodies. Here too, I show you how for absolutely no money I rearranged my living room - which I call affectionately my "salon". Previously the small settee was along the wall under the mirror. I am enjoying the burst of Springtime color the skirted table introduced, packing a wallop of Palm Beach punch! Enjoy! DF*****

Dean Farris on Decorator Tag Sale

Sandra Oster, a decorator based in Greenwich, has created an amazing site called Decorator Tag Sale. http://www.decoratortagsale.com/ and I am listed on it, along with Philip Gorrivan, Amanda Nisbet, Michael Whaley, and others you may have read or heard about. What a great way to start off the new year! Here are a few of the items from our warehouse that will be offered for sale at deep discounts via this new site. Exciting news! Stay tuned for more. DF***** PS Amanda Nisbet just sold a pair of sconces on DTS for $13,000.00 !!!

The Last Day!

Chair, William R. Eubanks, Palm Beach

I enjoyed this year very much, and was fortunate to have some wonderful clients to work for and with. I look forward to 2011 with great interest, and all that the new year brings. I wish you all a very happy, healthy, and financially rewarding year. Take each day as it comes, and make the most of it. ENJOY! DF*****

Dean in Ralph Lauren Circa 1993

Well here I am in 1993, having just completed a large house in South Carolina for some of my oldest and dearest clients. We did the kitchen in a palette of cool blue and white, and I chose to dress myself in a Ralph Lauren silk shirt with a blue and white porcelain motif. I paired this with white linen shorts, and a pair of laceless white Keds...notice my 1930's styled hair, probably due to having such an elegant fashion model client, and always driving the Rolls over to the paint store to pick up more supplies! What a character I must have been. Here too, is a nighttime shot of my mothers Christmas tree, she did an unbelievable job of it this year, it was IMPOSSIBLE to tell that it was artificial! It really looked real, other than the fragrance, which was missing. I suppose I'll never forget the time I was walking up First Avenue in NYC, and down the same side came Ralph and Ricky Lauren. I was dressed in head to toe Ralph, very shabby preppy, and the look Ralph gave me was one that made me feel as if I had been devoured, cannibalized, eaten alive... it was one of those unforgettable New York moments that you get when you actually live there. ENJOY! DF*****

Frances Elkins, My Favorite Gift This Year

My absolute favorite gift this year, besides getting to be with my adorable family, was receiving a fresh off the press copy of FRANCES ELKINS INTERIOR DESIGN, by Stephen M. Salny, with a foreword by Albert Hadley. This book is so beautiful, even as an object in its own right. Also, we had a white Christmas! the first since 1969... it was so beautiful. And I did eat everything in sight. We celebrated my birthday at an old favorite, Vincenzos, with yummy southern Italian cuisine. Richard is such a warm and gracious host. Looking forward to ringing in the new year. Be safe, and be well. DF*****

Charm of Vignettes and Tablescapes

Photography and design by Dean Farris

I really enjoy creating these miniature tableaux of objects gathered together by my own eye, and how one can so easily manipulate the compositions... this is certainly an endless source of pleasure and a way to train ones eye as to what "works" and what doesn't. Enjoy these personal landscapes I meditated on this morning over coffee and hot buttered grits. DF*****

Transcendence: Sean Johnson

Transcendence: Sean Johnson

My amazing friend, the super talented Sean Johnson, just sent this to me. I am beyond impressed, of course I've always known that he possesses a superior sense of style.

Sister Parish

I'm sure Mrs. P would have loved this from Todd Romano

A constant source of inspiration is the legacy left by Mrs. Henry Parish,II. "Sister" was quite the grande dame and her taste and style have influenced generations of decorators. When I asked Albert Hadley about her, he never really said a word. Albert is a gentleman. Here she is looking busy, and showing how work is the ultimate form of glamour. I wish I could have known her, however my late friend Tice Alexander, who worked in her office for years, said when I asked him about her and what she was really like "She would not have liked you"! Who knows what he meant by this ominous statement. All I know is that when my old college friend Bob Shatzer, who worked in the PH drafting department, showed me her pink glazed office with the painted floor and the chintz I was forever imprinted with her fabulous style! DF***** See more about Sister Parish on the site http://www.lauracaseyinteriors.com/blog

Enid Haupt and Florence Broadhurst

Photo by Dean Farris (top)

Haupt Conservatory at N.Y. Botanical Garden

Sister Parish did the most beautiful job of decorating the New York apartment of philanthropist Enid Haupt. I so admire the use of sparse furnishings mixed with beautiful orchids in their greenhouse clay pots. Her curtains are of unlined taffeta, DIVINE! In my own room I was inspired by Sister and Mrs. Haupt to place a simple potted orchid on my table. AND, dear friend Mary has given me a beautiful Christmas present of a book about the Australian wallpaper designer, Florence Broadhurst, which I am, as usual, DEVOURING! I, in turn, gave Mary a book by Armistead Maupin called "MaryAnn in Autumn" which is his latest from the tales of the city series, and is so good you feel dirty after reading it! As Michael Taylor always said, "elegance is simplicity" (I paraphrase) and so you don't really have to have an aubusson rug on your polished wood floors, you can have, like Mrs. Haupt, no rug, and let the beauty of the glowing wood reflect light and create sheen in your room. I think this is all very well with a Douglas Fir christmas tree, the little italian white lights reflecting into the polished floor. Food for thought. Pauline de Rothschild in her Albany set had some animal hide rugs with a lot of wood showing, and it was the height of chic. Think subtraction to add style. Forget about your rules, go with your intuition and enjoy the feeling of abstraction and elegance. DF*****

Leta Austin Foster boutique - Christmas gifts!

Leta Austin Foster boutique, located at 64 Via Mizner North, in Palm Beach, has the most perfect and original items for the holiday gift list. If you can't make it in to the shop, just off Worth Avenue, then visit her online shopping site at http://www.letaaustinfosterboutique.com/ where you'll discover childrens clothing, fine linens, custom embroidery service, Votivo candles, Fauchon chocolates and delicacies, and many other wonderful, unique gifts and all hand picked by Leta herself, a top interior decorator with offices in New York and Palm beach. Vanessa or Betty will be happy to assist you by calling them at (561) 655-7367. There is also an amazing designer blog called Decorating With Sheets, and I have the link listed here on my blog. Anything from Leta's shop would be a special gift indeed!

More Elephants Foot Treasures!

Dear Billy poses next to an 18thc armoire

Now, what could be better for a nice Christmas gift than something beautiful from The Elephants Foot, West palm beach? Here, I selected some of my fave things that I would like to get from a generous and jolly old Santa this year, or any year! Of course, things are just that, THINGS, and I do so treasure my friends and family and good health more than just material things, although I do have a deep weakness for all that is beautiful, old, patinated, and elegant. Functionality is nice too, but not at the top of my list of priorities! I'd rather stay up all night staring at a gorgeous new acquisition than just about anything! Even if it's just some old chair or some out of print book I never thought I'd own. These things make for an enriched life, and a life of passion, deep satisfaction, and joy beyond description. When I was a boy, my mother hired a decorator to do up our house, and I loved the cork walls and black doors in my room so much, that I stayed up all night just looking at them and thinking how amazing they were! His name was Jonathan Arbuthnot, and he drove a canary yellow Buick convertible - I was forever trying to tell him what I thought he should do, and was very precocious. The last time I saw him he was living in Arlington, outside Washington, D.C. I must look him up and see what he's been up to. Enjoy these shots from the EF, here in sunny south Florida. DF *****