USING ANTIQUES AS PART OF FRESH INTERIOR DESIGN

• American architect and interior designer John Saladino is multi-talented in all areas of design, but he is a master at placing a few fabulous antique pieces and paintings in an otherwise sparse environment. He understands how astute placement of a piece and meticulous editing of other pieces in the room will draw the visitor's eye right where he wants it to go. Having studied classical design in Italy, Saladino designs feature the concept of enfilade, using visual corridors which lead the viewer from one space to the next, with a terminal point ending in an exquisite statue, tapestry, flower arrangement or garden. The key to his distinctive, dramatic and yet comfortable interiors are summed up by his statement: "I am a romantic by nature, a minimalist by training, but by choice, a classicist," from his beautiful and instructive book, Style By Saladino, Monacelli Press, 2000.

• The use of exquisite, faded antique Persian rugs, finely wrought French lanterns, terra cotta urns and statuary, a Louis XVI cane-backed fauteuil, antique Chinese screens contribute to the sense of timelessness, beauty, harmony, comfort and peace, which pervade his best rooms. An aged look to floors and walls and interior surfaces is important component on his designs, and likewise Saladino prefers his antique pieces in their unrest red state. No perfectly and highly polished mahogany pieces here…

• The late renowned American designer Mark Hampton also loved to incorporate antiques into his rooms, which may have featured French, English and Italian pieces in the same room. A master colorist, Hampton loved to place gilt wood mirrors, against rich wall colors and above period fireplace mantles.

• Along with antique mirrors, Hampton used antique lighting fixtures such as French bouillotte lamps, the charming 18th and 19th century game table lamps with tole shades or lamps made from antique Chinese porcelain pots. His book, Mark Hampton On Decorating, Random House, 1989, is a wonderful primer on the psychology and history of room color and the judicious use of beautiful antique pieces.

Jane Pierce Losson
Interior Design Consulting