A Study in Comfort & Ease
Libraries Allow Functional Living for Today’s Complex Lifestyles
BY MEG McAULEY KAICHER
Whether it is tapping into your local library resources online for health research or simply curling up with a good book, significant study spaces allow us to perform a range of tasks necessary to daily life. By integrating a library into the home’s basic design, one can improve effectiveness and efficiency ten-fold while utilizing the “smart home” trends increasingly abundant.
With Leigh Douglas Overland Architects, experience the “…warmth of traditional architecture with the excitement of contemporary living.” Having worked on numerous commercial and industrial projects as well as residential architectural work over the past 25 years, Overland brings a unique perspective as he ably incorporates the best available technologies into maximized user-friendly studies.
Recently featured as the architect for ABC Television’s Extreme Home Makeover: Home Edition project in Bridgeport, CT, Overland works on custom additions and renovations as well as larger-scale projects.
His clients are rewarded with well-designed spaces that perfectly suit their particular lifestyles.
These admirably crafted sites may provide a private sanctuary for the owner of the house with a warm paneled fireplace enhancing a desk area, or may provide a comfortable relaxed entertaining place for guests in an airy octagonal-windowed sitting room advantageously embracing outdoor views.
Interior Designer Julianne Stirling cleverly conceals all manner of technological applications in the high-tech libraries frequently designed with her clients.
Rooms may be equipped for family members to work comfortably alongside one another. iPods, BlackBerries, flat screens, cell phones and laptops all coexist happily. No jumbled wires, no cluttered mess: everything has its own place.
Sometimes the space is outfitted as an office away from a homeowner’s place of work. Other times, the space is designed as a complete home office from where a business is headquartered.
For example, one successful entrepreneur with whom she works needed multiple copiers, computer screens and other office equipment at his fingertips for immediate access yet desired a streamlined space. With ingenious combinations of cabinetry’s drop-down sliders and cubbies along with lovely hidden storage, a sleek executive style was achieved while complementing business functionality.
It is this ability to enhance daily living without compromising beautiful style that marks Stirling Design Associates, based in Fairfield, as a “go-to” resource for media like HGTV and Renovation Style, on whose cover Stirling’s design work recently was featured.
At Christopher Peacock Cabinetry, many clients realize that after renovating the kitchen and master bathroom, adding or renovating a library is a fantastic way to add value and comfort to the home.
“We design, build and install hundreds of libraries and studies all over the world each year,” comments Christopher Peacock spokesperson Lane Brooks. “They are some of the most gratifying rooms we create.”
Inspiration is driven by collaborative energy generated between designer and client, as the Christopher Peacock magic construes personal style through elements like handsome crown molding and elegant fireplace surrounds. Ornate or simple, material choices are quite varied but may include white oak, cherry, hickory or pine.
“Typically, for a paneled library, we use a great deal of quarter-sawn raised panel, flat panel, with or without coffered ceilings, rough-hewn beams, simple crown, heavier crown—the choice largely depends on the home’s location and design in light of the client’s taste,” states Brooks. He continues, “So much of the feel and quality of this particular type of room depends on the species of wood and the finish. We have exceptional finishers.”
Similarly, George Krawiec at Hemingway Cabinetry finds the wood grain to be of tremendous import. The company performs design, build and installation with extraordinary craftsmanship, enlivening wood’s natural qualities by enhancing its inherent vitality through expert shaping and design.
Extraordinary wood grains are fashioned into dramatic applications for cabinetry, drawers and desk areas, as with a recently remodeled 1800s Wilton house where the drama is driven by the striking patterns in “curly” maple.
Hemingway Cabinetry renovated a New Canaan study also in curly maple where Krawiec built a Biedermeyer-style desk and armoire unit along with the room paneling.
This particular home also had a second “hers” office built with a more modern look. The trend for “his” and “hers” separate study spaces seems requested with increasing frequency, as noted by both Hemingway Cabinetry and Christopher Peacock Cabinetry.
These separate spaces may be executed with distinction at Estate Treasures of Greenwich, a 25-year-old antique consignment shop that also imports antiques and antique reproduction furniture from England, Italy and Holland. An antique reproduction partners desk in the English style carved of yew wood, mahogany or burled elm could complement a masculine fireplace.
Or for the feminine side, a delicate ladies’ writing desk of Italian wood such as chestnut, briarwood or myrtle. Estate Treasures is a distributor for Lee Industries’ line of upholstered goods from which pillows and other soft goods may be selected.
Truly reflecting a client’s personality is key to Nest of Southport’s design excellence. Interior designer Elizabeth Santa promotes their particular “Hip Historic” look.
“We let the existing architecture set the tone, and then we curate,” describes Santa.
“Rooms,” Santa continues, “are filled with meaningful personal objects—photos, heirlooms, books, paintings, maps. A complex combination of items old and new, along with furniture collected over time, showcase the owner’s unique personality and taste.”
Recently engaged by a young, stylish, well-traveled Westport couple with small children, Santa knew that this house may not be their last, and that they wished to spend their design budget wisely on items that may be re-purposed for future use in different space.
Santa incorporated a gorgeous open bookcase (found at El Marangon, a small atelier in Treviso outside of Venice) whose warm black lacquer finish has a slightly distressed edge that subtly reveals its natural cherry wood. Beautifully finished front and back, it can double as a room divider in another setting.
With the bookcase as focal piece, the sophisticated palette of bronze, black and brown in all natural materials emerged.
- The Tuxedo sofa, considered classically modern, is covered sensibly in a gold texture with dark brown contrast welt to give it a tailored, masculine effect.
- The client’s grandmother’s rattan chairs are redone in a charcoal-colored Donghia block print.
- Walls are covered in a bronze grass cloth chosen from Ralph Lauren Home.
- All large-scale moldings and fireplace are painted with Benjamin Moore Hasbrouck Brown.
- A dramatic map of Fairfield County circa late 1800s, found in a local schoolroom, fills one wall.
- Extravagant pillows in large-scale tropical botanical textiles from Nina Campbell and Larsen add panache.
- A mix of metals—antiqued brass, polished silver and nickel—adds interest.
- Exquisite end tables of black granite and polished nickel play off the fabulous lamps from Motif.
- Sheer drapery panels in fawn-colored linen add height and soften the room without sacrificing natural light.
- The clients’ own cognac brown leather armchairs sit atop the clients’ existing sisal area carpet.
- The zebra-patterned, pony-skin upholstered ottoman evokes exotic travel.
“At Nest we believe in making the most of a design budget by looking to the future,” says Santa.
Santa discovers many decorative antique accessories at Léonce Antiques of Westport. Bernard, the owner, has an incredible eye for very special pieces that complement Nest of Southport’s designs.
“Splurge on what you love that will serve for years to come (in this case, the bookcase) while pulling back on other items less consequential (the well-priced sofa fabric).”
Smart shopping is easy to do at Safavieh, either in the Stamford showroom or one of their other 13 locations. The most magnificent rug can anchor a library space and set the room’s tone. With the help of Safavieh’s design service, one can refurbish a study space completely with furniture and accessories, or simply freshen a library with a timeless antique rug.
Including artwork in a library may elevate one’s energy or provide soothing meditation.
At RJ Fine Arts, director Amy Rutledge Jebrine can provide art consulting services from the acquisition stage right through installation.
“We specialize in modern and contemporary Latin American art, focusing on the genres of geometric abstraction, appropriation and the use of found objects,” states Jebrine.
“Through exhibition projects, we seek to expand the understanding of the Latin American artistic contribution to the contemporary world.”
Original artwork from Leyla Cardenas or Luis Fernando Roldan can provide a study’s focal point. RJ Fine Arts is a conduit to these and other prominent Latin American artists.
Jebrine is careful to understand her clients’ particular stylistic and financial parameters when working with them to establish a collection. Consideration such as this makes her expertise invaluable, especially with highly acclaimed emerging artists.
A. Gallery, which opened recently, conveniently near the Saugatuck train station, offers diverse artworks that appeal to varied tastes and budgets.
Antigone Trivellas, owner and gallery director, knows that even in a crowded market her gallery provides outstanding choice, quality and affordable prices in fine contemporary art.
“The pleasure and feelings fine art can evoke should be attainable by everyone,” she declares.
A. Gallery showcases paintings in a wide range of themes, from landscapes and portraits to abstract art in all media, as well as photography, sculpture and works of wood and glass. Along with continual rotation of shows and artists to keep collectors coming back for something fresh, the gallery offers discounts to the trade and prides itself on nothing less than excellent customer service.
A varied stylistic palette reflects the owner’s deep passion and dedication in guiding each individual to find his or her personal meaning in every thought-provoking artwork.
“No gallery can recreate the vibrancy of an artist’s studio or a museum’s display,” says Trivellas, “but a. gallery tries to convey the thrill of living with art.” [Lower case a. gallery?]
Sophisticated ambience is further enhanced with music. Whether in combination with a topnotch audio visual system or simple piano for your offspring to diligently practice scales in advance of those concertos, a Steinway piano is a perfect choice to complete a library.
The Steinway & Sons Model-D Music System packs remarkable state-of-the-art technology into a contemporary, elegant design. By combining the best digital amplification with advanced room-correction technology, this software solution reaches music replication heretofore unseen by a computerized system. The brainchild of audio trailblazer Peter Lyngdorf, it will be made available to select clients through Steinway & Sons.
Known since 1934 in prominent social circles as “The Smart Gift Shop of New York,” Scully and Scully is the source of choice for collectibles, gifts, furnishings and home décor. Several of their unique items can be sourced exclusively through them, but with their online and print catalogs available, the spectacular selection of home furnishings and accessories is accessible to all.
Whether enhancing bookshelves with perfect leather picture frames or adding a special brass timepiece, a broad array of exceptional effects are available to finish off the complete study. Scully and Scully’s exceptional English library desks, such as their mahogany computer center, incorporate utility spaces in a refined fashion evoking traditional European flair.
Fine leather waste paper baskets, letter boxes, bookends and other accoutrements all are available to achieve a complete study. Topped with a Florentine desk set including pencil cup, letter trays and blotter, the timeless desk looks professional and complete.
Even with the increased prevalence of technological information—web searches, blogs, constant data streams—at its core a study must function. By integrating multiple aspects from the outset of planning its design, a library’s significance can foster contemplation and productivity. Its style impacts performance.
Meg McAuley Kaicher, Capital Consulting Group, 201 Shore Road, Greenwich, CT 06830, 203-625-3375/cell 203-554-5300, megmk@optonline.net
