This Weekend: Antiques and Books

Twice each year, the Houston Antiques Dealers Association, aka HADA, puts on our town’s largest antique show at the George R. Brown Convention Center.   HADA is the oldest show in Houston and has over 150 dealers, represented from across the globe.   The Fall show is this weekend,  Friday, Sept. 17 until Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010, along with a by-invitation-only preview party on Thursday night.  

 

For more information and details, see the HADA web site HERE.

 

Most exciting at the HADA show are the stellar star speakers presented by the fab style magazine PaperCity.   On Friday, the following giants in the design world will be speaking and signing their latest books:   Jan Showers,  Hutton Wilkinson, and our favorite – Bobby McAlpine.   The three will also be signing books at the Thursday Preview Party from 6:30 – 9:00 pm.   The venue for the speakers and signings is the PaperCity Book Boutique and Style Salon booth set up inside HADA. 

If you are interested in hearing these three speak – be sure to check out the schedule below:

 

Friday:  September 17:

11:00 HADA’s doors open

11:30 Jan Showers, Glamorous Rooms, followed by her book signing.
1:00 Bobby McAlpine, The Home Within Us, followed by his book signing.
2:30 Hutton Wilkinson, Tony Duquette, followed by his book signing.

Additionally, Paper City’s Catherine Anspon will be pre-selling her upcoming book, Texas Artists Today.

NOTE:   This event is going to be packed with limited seating only, so PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE  RSVP holly@papercitymag.com or call Seth at 713.524.0606 x.239.

 

Dallas based interior and furniture designer Jan Showers will speak Friday, Sept. 17 at 11:30 am.   Showers is famous for her mid-century modernism designs along with her classic eighteenth-century French style.    Her work has been published in numerous magazines and design books.  Showers line of exquisite furniture is sold in fine showrooms throughout the U.S.  To peruse her web site, go HERE.

 

 

Showers will sign her book Glamorous Rooms after her talk.

 

 

One of the Skirted Roundtable’s most favorite guest (listen HERE) architect Bobby McAlpine will be speaking at 1:00 pm.  Besides being tops in the field of architecture,  McAlpine is also an interior and furniture designer.   He heads both McAlpine Tankersley Architecture and McAlpine Booth & Ferrier Interiors and also creates furniture for Lee Industries. McAlpine’s web site is HERE.

 

 

Following his talk will be the book signing of The Home Within Us, one of the best design books to come out this year. 

 

 

And Hutton Wilkinson, 30 year business partner of Tony Duquette, will speak at 2:30 pm.   Wilkinson, a designer, is president of Tony Duquette, Inc. and the Elsie DeWolfe Foundation.  Duquette was a famous interior, jewelry and set designer in Hollywood and Wilkinson has written two beautiful books about Duquette, thus keeping his legacy alive and vital.    He will be signing both books after his talk.

 

 

 

 

 Both of these glamorous books by Hutton Wilkinson will be available for signing.

 

If you are new to Houston, or have never been, HADA is THE antique show not to be missed.  Over the years, my mother, sister and I have practically furnished our houses with the antiques and smalls we’ve bought there.   But, even if you are not in the market to buy, it’s great fun and quite informative to just walk up and down the aisle meeting with knowledgeable dealers from around the world.  

 

Remember:  For reservations to the speaking engagements. email holly@papercitymag.com, or call Seth at 713-524-0606 x 239.

Lars Bolander’s Latest

 

The handsome Swedish interior designer and antiquarian Lars Bolander recently released Scandinavian Design, a beautiful reference book on northern European design – from antique times to modern. 

 

 

Bolander’s book, Scandinavian Design, is available at Amazon, HERE.

 

 

 

Like many, my first exposure to Bolander’s style was this cover story in Southern Accents.  The house featured gorgeous voluminous silk taffeta curtains which still, to this day, serve as a personal inspiration.  

 

 

The Southern Accents cover story house:  the entry had champagne colored silk curtains. 

 

 

 

The large living room, appropriately filled with enough furniture to make it cozy and inviting.

 

 

 

The dining room – so lovely, light, and sophisticated. 

 

 

To Die For:   the dining room featured this gorgeous Venetian mirror and painted French chest with light blue silk taffeta curtains.

 

 

 

A hallway with the beautiful peach taffeta curtains and a glimpse into the bedroom.

 

  The master bedroom’s four poster bed is placed in front of a half-canopy. 

 

 

The loggia featured large Belgian styled slipcovered sofas and armchairs. 

 

 

 

 

Besides having clients’ houses published, Bolander’s numerous private residences were often seen in magazines, giving the public a view into the world of Lars and his wife Nadine.   This house, located in southern Florida, is no longer owned by the Bolanders, but it remains a favorite of mine.   Filled with antiques and eye catching art work, it is as inspirational today as it was when  first seen. 

 

  The opposite view of the living area. 

 

  Leading outside from the living room. 

 

 

A view from the Bolanders’ study into the bedroom – Swedish and French antiques mix easily.   It’s so interesting how the chairs serve as art here. 

 

 

 

This vignette in Bolander’s house was photographed two different times – which do you prefer?  This …..

 

 

or this?   I love these French sconces so much!  This is my favorite vignette.

 

Two years ago, I wrote an extensive blog story on Lars Bolander, detailing his life in design.   To read that story, please go HERE.   As a long devotee of Bolander, I was recently thrilled to read about his newly published book.  To be sure,  Scandinavian Design doesn’t disappoint.   It is a wonderful compilation of everything Scandinavian, both antique and modern, and will remain a useful reference book long into the future.   Each aspect of design is given its own section – each room, each element – and Bolander carefully and succinctly explains  its  history from then to now.    Nothing has been missed:   there are separate sections on the famous Swedish wood stoves and the Mora clocks.   There are sections on beds, lighting, chairs, and textiles, to name a few more.  And each room, such as the entry, the bedroom, the kitchen, is given its own chapter.  

 

This antique blue Mora is featured in the clock section.

 

 

 

      Most sections are filled with pictorial examples such as this.  Whoa!  What eye candy!

 

 

In the chapter on kitchens, special attention is shown to the plate rack.

 

 

More examples of Scandinavian plate racks through the decades.

 

If you are fan of Swedish design or Lars Bolander, I think you will truly enjoy this book,  I know I did.    To order a copy, go HERE.

And, be sure to visit Bolander’s extensive web site HERE.    To read the Cote de Texas blog story on Bolander, please go HERE.