The newest issue of my fav magazine “Antique Shops and Designers” is now out and online with gorgeous photographs of interior designer Carol Glasser’s new house! Whoa! Who misses Southern Accents when you can read this magazine????? To die for!
I know you know how much I LOVE Glasser’s aesthetic – and have for the past 25 or so years. Her former house was shown multiple times – tweaked just a little bit for each photoshoot – and then she totally redid it, only to move right afterwards. I could have DIED! I loved that house. And it’s killed me to watch it come up for sale a few times since…each time just a little bit more expensive…and each time more out of my price range. Oh well. The one that got away.
Carol’s been in her new house for quite a while now – and I’ve been patiently waiting for someone to photograph it – Veranda? House Beautiful? Come on guys! Leave it to our Antique Shops and Designers to get the scoop!!! Love them so much!
Her new house is so different from the last one. First, it’s bigger. Much. There’s a proper dining room finally, something she really didn’t have in the last one. The living room is expansive, but warm and cozy and WELCOMING! There’s a large entry hall and a gorgeous study (which isn’t photographed here, but shows up on her web site) – and there’s a fabulous kitchen, even more fab than her last her one, if that is possible.
What I love about the house is it isn’t the Houston Look. At all. It’s totes different. Colorful. There’s soothing aqua blues which run through the house – punched by persimmon and peachy yellow. There’s pattern everywhere – linens with large prints and overscaled wallpaper. The color combinations of the blue & orange are so refreshing. And there’s green. Her bedroom is bathed in it. Some rooms are painted but many are white – with a beautiful stucco finish.
It’s scrumptious. It’s elegant without being hands-off. There’s no dressiness to it, but it’s refined. And edited. Not as cluttered as her last house, but not sparse either. It’s just the proper balance. The woman has taste. More taste than anyone should be allowed in one lifetime. It’s a house to study and drool over and learn from and get inspiration from and throw out all your old preconceived notions of what a house with French and Swedish and English antiques should look like.
I love the fabric choices. Some are familiar, but others less so. Checks and prints and stripes – all from the best houses, nothing is low end here, I’m afraid to say. There’s no proud hi-low here, but who cares? Sometimes you just want to see the best fabrics somewhere else besides in the decorative centers.
A huge thank you to the group from Antique Shops and Designers. We’ve been waiting!!!
Photographed by Fran Brennan
The entry – has a beautiful aqua and white overscaled wallpaper. With an antique mirror and French gilt settee. Now…the pictures on the web site are slightly different, so I want to show those…
I think this might be how the entry actually looks. I kind of hope so because that console table is one of my favorites ever. It’s gorgeous.
And in another photograph from her web site – you can see the console is here too – looking into the living room. Hold on – we’ll get there!
The wallpapered entry leads to a larger stair hall with another antique Oushak rug that picks up the two color tones that run throughout the house – the aqua blues and the peachy oranges.
An antique painted Swedish demilune is used as a library table. I love seeing what she is reading these days! The study is seen through the door on the left.
Along one wall of the stair hall is a painted antique with a Santos. Here – you can see where the bench is usually along this wall. This is from Glasser’s web site.
And a close up of her tablescapes – simple, not cluttered. That lamp!!
Off the entry hall is the living room – warm and cozy in persimmon and aqua. I remember the first time I saw this on her web site, I gasped! I really thought she was going to go in the monochrome direction – all grays and whites – and this just made my eyes pop. It is so gorgeous. Flanking the window are two Swedish red cabinets symmetrically sited with herbiers and matching lamps. The walls are soft yellowish peach. Instead of the expected seagrass (after all Carol brought seagrass to Houston!) – is a more chunky textured rug.
Another beautiful mirror. This house is loaded with mirrors – one prettier than the next. I love the aqua and white striped slipped chair next to the brighter oranges. Elegant candlesticks on the mantel – and nothing else.
And that velvet sofa!!!!! LOVE.
From her web site – a close up of the beautiful painted French antique chair in checks. OK – everything HERE is an antique! No need to keep saying it.
And this – OMG! – a tufted settee in a linen stripe with beautiful pillows, sitting under more herbiers. Who needs oil paintings when you have mirrors and herbiers?
Not shown in the magazine is the library with the same colors – aqua and persimmon.
Wish we could see more – those chairs!!!!! That mirror!!! That rug!!! That desk!!!
The dining room is all aqua – painted walls and checked fabric. Matching mirrors, demi lunes and candle lit chandeliers.
In the mirror you can see a cabinet filled with blue and white pieces. Wish we could see more. Love those chairs.
A close up of the mirrors and the linen print at the windows. Love the touch of green in the vases.
The kitchen/sitting area is reminiscent of Carol’s former house, but I have to say – I like this better!! Never thought I would say that!! That mantel! The floors! This really does look so French.
Love the table with the painted base. And I LOVE the chairs!!!
Looking towards the sitting area with the fabulous cabinet and lamps.
No upper cabinets – those were removed and a large window was installed instead. White marble countertops. I love that the kitchen isn’t too faux. Some of the kitchens today are just too much. This strikes a perfect balance. And she has the perfect confit pot for roses, of course.
And looking towards the range and stucco hood. Through the door you can glimpse the dining room.
Carol used an aqua Bennison print, Songbird, on all her pieces here. Love this fabric so much. Of course it’s Bennison – she was one of the first in Houston to use it!
Antique doors lead to the pantry where she keeps her dishes – since the upper cabinets are missing. Great idea. I love how all the wood tones are in the same family in this room. And through the same door where the dining room is – you can glimpse the stair hall.
The family room is casual in white slips and blues. Across from the sofa is a large console filled with a few more Santos. Outside is the large back yard. A ceiling fan???? This is for her husband, I’m positive. This is Houston. You can’t imagine how hot it gets here.
Close up of her tablescapes – filled with books and small Santos.
Notice how tailored these slips are. You wouldn’t know they were slips if they weren’t in white.
Carol’s bedroom is a big change from her last one. That bedroom was all one Bennison fabric – Roses – but this time she went for a collection of different fabrics in greens and creams.
I love the sofa fabric – mixed with a yellow and cream check.
Close up of the mantel – so cute! Cute dog too! I recognize these chairs from the last house. I really don’t recognize a lot of furniture though. It’s a much larger house, so there are a lot of new pieces – many Swedish pieces mixed in with her English and French antiques.
From her web site – you can see her bed, dressed in white. That chandelier is so pretty and I love the French bench in stripes.
Also from her web site – the master bedroom with the Swedish? painted armoire. Might be French – not sure.
And finally, her master bath with a beautiful day bed in linen. Marble tub and crystal chandelier. That might be first crystal chandy I’ve seen her do in her own house? More antique shutter doors add warmth, as does the seagrass rug. Looks more like a room than a bathroom.
What can I say? I’m in love! I wish she would write a book showing all her work. The houses are rarely published and it would be such a treat if she would. Come on Carol! Please????
Of course there is much more to this issue than Carol Glasser’s house.
There’s a wonderful story on the house where Downton Abbey is filmed – with luscious photographs of the rooms we all love. Can’t wait for Season Four!! But, poor Matthew. I’m going to miss him.
And there’s a photoshoot of Jill Brown’s wonderful house. She’s the owner of BROWN in Houston, THE place to buy lighting fixtures and all kinds of antiques. HERE.
And there’s this story about a palace in Venice – redone with a contemporary twist!
Great stories and beautiful advertisements (my favorite part of the magazine!)
To read the latest Antique Shops and Designers – go HERE.
As always, a huge thank you to the staff at AS&D for letting me show your beautiful photographs.
