Designer Spotlight: Kelly Wearstler

May 6, 2010 Designer Spotlight: Kelly Wearstler

My aesthetic definitely leans towards the updated Americana of designers like Jeffrey Bilhuber, Miles Redd, Billy Baldwin, and Albert Hadley, but I can’t resist the over-the-top style of Kelly Wearstler.  The California based designer has a flair for the bold and overly elaborate.  Her style can be best described as Hollywood Regency with feet clearly in both the 70′s and 80′s.  She is an author of three books, most recently Hue. The growing design empire that is KWID (Kelly Wearstler Interior Design) has grown to include products ranging from fabrics from both Schumacher and Lee Jofa, bed and table linens by Sferra, dinnerware, rugs, and objects found at her shop within Bergdorf-Goodman, where she also did the redesign for the BG restaurant.  Wearstler also collaborates with her hotelier husband to design hotels and restaurants.  Those include the Viceroy chain, Tides in Miami, and others.  She became more of a household name when she became a judge on Top Design. Below are some of my favorites of these mentioned products and projects.

Wearstler in a bedroom of her design

I too love the bold color and pattern that is found in almost all Wearstler does.

Wearstler with her children in a bold foyer

The crazy wallcovering she used here in her own home is something I want to try within my own aesthetic.

office by Wearstler

Her use of bold furniture is very inspiring.  I could see these bird chairs in a more spare room that has a more modern meets traditional feel.

bedroom by Wearstler

Another example of a bold fabric used to cover the walls…and ceiling.

plate display outside at the Viceroy hotel in Santa Monica

A wall of plates is always a beautiful way to decorate a wall in a dining room or kitchen, and is less expected than a painting.  Why not take that idea outside if you can?

an object by Wearstler

I’m coveting these boxes covered in stones, and other objects of her creation.

room by Wearstler

Bold patterns can work well together when in the same palette.

bedroom by Wearstler

Wearstler’s bedroom in her former home has walls covered in stone slabs.  The color scheme of browns and ambers is a relaxing and earthy one.

trellis fabric by Wearstler for Schumacher

bedroom by Wearstler

I always appreciate her edited eye for art and objects.  The silver Tony Duquette mirror and rock crystal lamp look striking on the shagreen chest against a silk covered wall.   Texture, texture, texture!

lamps Wearstler would approve of...and that I love too!

dinnerware by Wearstler

linens by Wearstler for Sferra

Setting your table with Wearstler’s designs is an easy way to bring her eye for the luxurious home.

BG restaurant at Bergdorf-Goodman

BG restaurant

Wearstler's shop within Bergdorf-Goodman

I want everything!!

Kelly Wearstler's shop

lobby of the Tides hotel in Miami

the Tides by Kelly Wearstler

restaurant at the Tides hotel in Miami

My favorite part is the walls covered in tortoise shells and the brown leather canopy-like chairs.

bowling alley by Kelly Wearstler

Kelly Wearstler

Kelly, always fashionable in Lanvin, Chanel, and vintage clothing, is always perfectly over-the-top!

a tableau by Wearstler

The way she creates tablescapes with out of this world objects is my favorite Wearstler signature.

objects

office by Wearstler

bedding collection by Wearstler for Sferra

Julianne Moore in A Single Man

a still from A Single Man

a still from A Single Man

If you haven’t seen the directorial debut of Tom Ford A Single Man, you must for many reasons.  The directing, acting, writing, etc. is fantastic, but the sets are almost the starring character.  Julianne Moore’s character Charlie had my favorite home in the film.  It was over the top with ikat fabrics, fur upholstered pieces, Moroccan mirrors, screens and lanterns, rock crystals, a semi-circular sofa in the living room, a dining atrium filled with orchids, and a hall lined with potted orange trees.  So many of these elements reminded me of Kelly Wearstler, and the time period she is so inspired by.  The orange trees especially made me think of the room within her former Los Angeles home called the Hillcrest estate that she named the Orangerie.

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