OKA Direct

One of my favorite pastimes is perusing catalogues.  Wisteria, based out of Dallas Texas, is owned by a young power couple Shannon and Andrew Newsom.  Andrew is the son of Veranda magazine's founder and editor, Lisa Newsom, and Shannon is the daughter of fabulous Houston interior designer  Jane Moore.  It's no wonder that Wisteria is filled with wonderful things for the home.    It is probably my top  decor catalogue right now.  But, there is another one that I adore equally:  OKA Direct.  The problem is that OKA Direct  is based out of England and, well, shipping can be a problem with larger items.    I have purchased from them before, quite easily in fact - so it definitely can be done.  Which is great news if you like their merchandise as much as I do.  OKA Direct was started in 1999 by three woman, one of whom is the titled, Annabel Astor, Viscountess Astor, mother-in-law to Britain's Conservative Party leader David Cameron.  So, with a Viscountess as its CEO, is it any wonder that OKA Direct is not just some mediocre, fly by night catalogue company?  The three woman design and commission each item they sell.  The quality is high, the prices are low.  I adore the pictures in the catalogue - some of which are taken in the homes of the owners.    The web site is equally pleasing to look at, but a word of warning - the pages load so slowly, I've given up on copying the images a few times!

OKA Direct has about nine retail stores around Great Britain and over the years I often thought - what a great company to bring to America!  OK, I'm not up to that formidable task, but someone should make it happen!  Here are some of my favorite shots from the catalogue:

 

 

Yes, this is a catalogue and everything here is for sale.  I love the black chair and desk and the hanging tapestry, which is actually a piece of fabric.

 

Here is their large slipcovered sectional sofa.  All of their sofas are slipcovered.   Great coffee table.  But the hanging prints make this picture, and no, the prints are not for sale!

 

Here is a French inspired oak dining room table.  In the back are fabulous, huge blue and white oriental pieces.

 

I love the nude oil painting in a catalogue picture.  Pottery Barn would never do this!!!  Note the icy blue pillows mixed with the bright colored "cushions" as the English call their pillows.   Love the black, oriental trunk used as a coffee table.

 

Here, red and blue ticking striped pillows steal the show.  Love the red table to the left.

 

Typically English - textiles used as bedspread.  Note the seashell candlelit sconces.  The lattice lamps are bestsellers of OKA Direct.

 

Gustavian styled dining room furniture.  I adore the cabinet in the back with its chicken wire doors.  Why can't we get inexpensive gray painted furniture like this in America?  Someone could make a killing manufacturing this here.

 

So English:  oriental rug layered over seagrass.  Paisley textile layered on the sofa.  Jammed bookcases.  Black painted furniture.   Garden seat and red oriental trunk.   The accessories on top of the bookcase are for sale.    Love this room!

 

Matching pillows and curtains for sale.  The red lampshades pop the room's already bright colors.

 

OKA Direct sells this indianne styled fabric in yards and bedding.  Note the French chair and ottoman.  Again - why can't we get great, French-styled furniture on the cheap here? 

 

Slipcovered furniture with wonderful, huge matching ottoman. 

 

 

French styled dining room table and chairs with slipcovers that turn ordinary seats into something special.  Red and white dhurri rug also comes in blue and white. 

 

Matching headboard and drapes and bedding available. 

 

I adore this piece of furniture.  The price is so low - you can buy two, one for each side of the fireplace.

 

Hanging textile - Tree of Life pattern.  Love this!  When have you ever seen something like this for sale in America?

 

Book cases for sale  - I adore the way OKA Direct styled this with books covered in manilla paper.  This is a great way to unify desperate books in a decorative way.   I have never found the willing client to do this though!  Notice the large concrete balls used as book holders.

 

I love the detailed button closure on these slipcovers.  Great painted china cupboard in the back.

 

Another inexpensive chinoiserie styled cabinet.  Again - a lot of look for not much cash.  A great way to get this look until you can afford the "real" thing.

 

Gustavian styled console and mirror.  So pretty.

 

Love this!!!!  A corner of a room showing  chinoiserie pieces by OKA Direct. 

 

Only the English know what to do with a paisley throw.  Here it is used as a bedspread.  Notice the french styled chaise lounge on the left - this is another great piece by OKA Direct.

Oriental dinnerware.   These  fabulous plates are available along with salad, soup bowls, etc.  from OKA Direct.

 

This is a picture of Californian interior designer Michael S. Smith's own breakfast room.   He uses the OKA Direct oriental plates for everyday dishes and claims the dishes are some of his favorite styling pieces.

 

 Cote de Texas' dining room - on the right on the floor is one of a pair of OKA Direct large blue and white oriental jars.  I ordered these and they were delivered about a month later.  It was almost as easy as ordering stateside.  The only difference was after the order was place, I had to confirm it several days later before it was shipped out. 

 

What is your favorite catalogue?  Do you know any that are relatively unknown that you would like to share?

 

Alidad and Chelsea Editions

 

Close up photograph of an Alidad designed room.

 

Chelsea Editions, the England based fabric and furniture company recently announced that both Robert Kime and Alidad were joining their ranks with a new line of embroidered fabrics.   While no mention of the Robert Kime partnership has yet made it onto Chelsea Edition's web site, the Alidad association is now online to be viewed.

The one name Alidad, Persian born and London based, is known for his classic, opulent, and sometimes over the top interiors.   He started his career as head of Sotheby's Islamic Works of Art department before turning his energies to interior design.  Alidad quickly became famous for his richly decorated rooms, which often have a masculine leaning.  Always gorgeous, his interiors are laden with luxurious fabrics and textiles and  layers upon layers of richly textured patterns.  Minimalism is not a term that Alidad has any knowledge of.  Every surface in an Alidad designed room is addressed and is either fauxed, papered, or  upholstered.   Only the most fortunate few can afford the sumptious luxury of an Alidad interior. 

As such, Alidad's association with Chelsea Editions comes as somewhat of a surprise.  Chelsea Editions is famous for their soothing toned checks and stripes and their extensive collection of Indian hand embroidered fabrics with butterflies, flowers, and vines stitched in mostly muted tones.  Hardly the stuff of the velvet damasks and  silk brocades that Alidad prefers to use.   But, being a Persian, Alidad has remained true to his roots and his obvious love of Ottoman design, art, and textiles.   This love influenced his fabric range for Chelsea Editions.   Called "Bosphorous" - his embroidered fabrics have been scaled down for today's interiors, and their colors are muted so as to mix  with antique textiles.  Additionally, Alidad placed the patterns between stripes - perfect for wallcoverings a la Michael Smith's famous Urban Outfitter's Indian Bedspread Room.   With names like Goli, Layla, Cyprus, and Naz, the influence of the Ottoman empire on the fabrics is hard to ignore.  Here's a sneak peak at a few of the new Alidad designed Chelsea fabrics.  Hopefully - we'll get a glimpse of Robert Kime's new collection soon:

 

Saz

 

A close up look of the embroidered detail of the Saz fabric.

Shayla:

Pari:

 

 

An Alidad designed drawing room:  layers upon layers of opulent excess.

 

The same drawing room - with a view to the fireplace and bookcases.

 

An antique suzani from the 19th century was used for a skirted table.  In just this small corner, it's interesting to see how many patterns and textiles Alidad used.  Every square inch is touched by his hand.

 

In this famous Alidad dining room, he illuminated Verre églomisé panels on the walls to give the room  a romantic candle lit effect. 

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For a gentleman's bedroom retreat, Alidad used hand tooled leather panels on the walls.

 

 

For this paneled library, the wooden walls were too plain for Alidad so he designed faux painted panels to simulate an inlaid effect.

 

A closeup of the same library's fireplace:  Alidad placed a painting over an antique mirror.  Layers upon layers are always used to achieve the lush richness of his interiors.

 

For this listed estate, Buscot Park, Alidad was hired for his knowledge of history and the sensitivity he brought to the project.

 

Beside Chelsea Editions, Alidad has designed a line of fabrics for Pierre Frey.   Here, a multi patterned fabric is laden with the typical Alidad attention to detail and luxury.

 

Another Pierre Frey fabric by Alidad. 

 

Additionally,  Alidad has designed a line of velvet covered furniture for  Thomas Messel.   Here - a bookcase covered in red velvet and nailheads, with black paw feet.

 

A candle lit sconce in red velvet.

 

And, lastly, a round hall table with the same details as above.

 

Of course, he also designs wall coverings - here a close up of a leather panel called Pomegranate.

 

A dining room, with the Pomegranate wall covering.

 

And finally - the man of  the hour:  Alidad, handsome with just an air of bemused confidence.  Notice his red velvet hall table to the left of the sofa.  The other two tables are also Alidad designed.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do!!!!

My courtyard with spring flowers going crazy.

 

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my landscaping, bragging really, about how pretty all my flowers were this spring - you can read my braggadocious column here.  I also wrote about how, when close to twenty years ago, we were looking for a lot to build our house on and we specifically chose this one because of a beautiful, huge, old  water oak that was growing smack in the middle of the front yard.  The tree's age and girth even affected the size of our house.  In drawing up the floor plans, we shaved approximately five feet off of our front living room - so as not to be forced to cut any of the tree's roots.   And then, we flipped our floor plan - putting the garage on the right as opposed to how it was originally drawn on the left, so that we could, of course, showcase the oak tree.  As I wrote last April, our tree has been fruitful:   one acorn from it produced a baby water oak at the edge of our yard.  To save Baby Water Oak, when pouring our concrete driveway, we narrowed it from two lanes to one, a solution that hasn't been very successful - a few visitors have lost their rear view mirrors negotiating the narrow drive and the ominous tree trunk.  

 

Baby Water Oak, grown from an acorn off the huge  oak tree on our yard.   It creates an obstacle course for visitors.  Healthy and growing, no stress for this water oak.

 

Another acorn from our prolific old tree  was taken by Mary, my mother in law, seventeen years ago, right about the time my daughter was born.  And grow - they both did.  Elisabeth's Tree, as it is known in the family, towers over Mary's yard, letting little sunlight filter in for grass to grow underneath it's branches.  As you can surmise, we cherish our tree and nurture it.  It's our responsibility.  We prune it and feed it and schedule an annual preventive care regimen given by the tree care man.    Yet, basically, we leave our tree alone to do what trees do:  to shade us, give haven to the squirrels and a nesting home for the birds.   People who visit often remark on the tree's beauty and we always agree, exclaiming our deep and profound appreciation for all that our beautiful water oak has added to our lives and our home. 

 

Better days:  last summer - lots of dark green leaves.

 

So, imagine, our horror at discovering that despite all our good intentions, we were killing our beloved tree.   When I posted the picture of it  last April, I wrote "it's just now getting it's leaves back after winter" - but in truth, the water oak never goes completely bald and by April, the tree should already have had all its new leaves, dark green and shiny.   A few days ago,  I really opened my eyes to the situation and realized, it's almost June, where are all the new leaves?  Why are these leaves so tiny and so light colored?   A rush of dread bubbled up as my mind raced  - something is seriously wrong here and I placed a frantic call to the tree care man who assured me he would come by the next morning to take a look.

 

Stressed out tree - reduced canopy with smaller leaves.

 

The next morning, Ted, the tree man, proclaimed that yes, the tree was definitely stressed out, so stressed out that the leaf canopy was not what is should be.    Most distressing of all was his news that we had caused it.   You see, last year we added outdoor lights to the house and did some basic upkeep landscaping.  Not much grass ever grew underneath the oak, so we decided to add a large flowerbed under the tree.   We had it professionally installed by a landscaper.  But the design perfectionist in me was never happy aesthetically with the flowerbed, and I had our yard man fix it up, move plants around, add more plants, add mulch, raise the bed, you know - just make it better.   But instead, the yard man, not having a degree in Landscape Design or Forestry  from Texas A&M raised the bed too high.  About a foot too high to be exact.  A tree needs its root collar to be exposed to breathe -  who knew?  Otherwise it suffocates and goes into stress and dies.  Hopefully, we may be able to save it at this point, "as long as mushrooms don't start growing on the trunk," the tree man said.   Huh????     Today a crew of those pesky illegal aliens showed up to take away all the gorgeous hydrangeas and ferns and begonias.  What they left me with was a huge circle of dirt in the middle of my yard, and little holes all over, deep in the ground for "aeration."  

 

 

The tree men starting their dirty work - I moved the ferns to the back yard. 

 

Eeek - what I'm left with, an empty flowerbed and lots of holes in the ground.

 

The tree man pulls back the remaining layer of earth around the root collar to show how thick and dense the compacted dirt had become, actually suffocating the tree.  You can  see a line around the base where the soil came up to - almost over a foot too high.

 

And so,  tonight, I'm left with  the barren bed and an almost bare tree.    It's all as ugly as can be, but hopefully, along with a regimen of medicine, our tree will start breathing again and will flourish.  Hopefully.  Otherwise, we're in the market for a either a new tree or a new home.   Learn from our mistake:   don't build up soil around the base of any tree.   The soil should be level or even below level around the root collar.    We were told we could plant ivy on the barren circle, as long as we don't add any soil.  We'll see.  We're going to give it time to just breathe.    Do we think just removing the dirt will cure the stress?   At this point, it's hard to believe - we're just going to have to wait it out.

 

If the tree does die, we're moving.  It will be too hard to live here without it.  We'll be in the market for a house like this, somewhere in the south of France.   It's best to always look on the bright side, I've been told.