Wednesday 1 October 2014

Textile designer Carolina Irving's Manhattan home



Textiles, textiles, textiles! Since viewing Dries Van Noten's fashion show in Paris last week I have been going through pretty much everything textile related in my files (a lot!) and I was reminded of an old house tour in the first issue of Lonny in 2009, when the magazine visited textile designer Carolina Irving in her Manhattan home. She studied 17th century Italian art at the École du Louvre in Paris (she was raised there, her parents are from Venezuela). Irving has her own fabric collection, writes the 'In the Air' column for T magazine, and earlier this year she replaced interior designer Miles Redd as the creative director of Oscar de la Renta Home. If that wasn't enough she is also a partner of Irving & Fine, and Irving and Morrison, which has a showroom in London and offers a beautiful range of furnishings and accessories for the home. Irving never had any training in textile design, but before launching her own label in 2006 she had been a style editor at House & Garden for ten years.
A striped rug and a Robert Kime ottoman in the living room.

What mainly interests me about Irving's home is her individual style. Apart from the skirted furniture (not my thing), I love the things she has surrounded herself with. I'm especially fond of all those books (note how she uses the lower bookshelves to create space), the artwork and textiles - I love the striped rug! She is quoted in the feature as saying:
To me, a house becomes a home when you are surrounded by the things you like, not a 'match' decorating scheme … I simply use the things I already own, it's rare that my look ever varies.
Textile designer Carolina Irving with her dog.
A close-up of table styling in Irving's home.


Irving's home studio has a unique chandelier.


Rightly so, the Lonny feature points out: "Even if her home doesn't follow any type of articulated décor scheme, she's perfectly happy within its walls, and knows it's suited just to her style." Her home certainly feels very personal and the article ends with these words, which aren't surprising given that this is a textile designer's home: "Her textiles and their colors usually carry a room, and are often the starting point of how she approaches a space."

Perhaps it's something to think about if you're making changes in your own home.


Are you familiar with a book published two years ago, called The Perfectly Imperfect Home - How to Decorate & Live Well by Deborah Needleman, illustrated by Virginia Johnson? I couldn't resist including her illustration of Carolina Irving's living room.

photo credit:
1-10: Patrick Cline for Lonny, October/November 2009 | 11: illustrator Virginia Johnson, from the book The Perfectly Imperfect Home – How to Decorate & Live Well by Deborah Needleman, published by Jacqui Small via Frances Schultz

2 comments:

  1. Those textile designs look like a visual voyage through unknown countries and cultures - very bohemian and beautiful! Happy hump day, Lisa!

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  2. This is a home that certainly has a very personal feel to it. Although not my style, I love to see a home with so much personality. I'm drawn to all those shelves filled with books though.

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