We may have awarded the top three entries of our Happy Chic Home contest, but there still are so many uniquely chic spaces that need to be commended! These nine entries displayed fearless style, smile-inducing decor, witty details, and relentless passion for the place they call home. Click here for our supremely honorable mentions.
Choosing paint is the first step in laying the foundation of home decoration–a basic concept but agonizing to execute. As you may remember from a previous blog, I wanted to take the tangerine color from an Antonia Hutt dining room design and paint my kitchen with it. It was so dramatic and delicious but a few sample pots and hundreds of paint chips later, we realized it would have been completely wrong for our apartment. The layout of our brownstone is a wide railroad style; we have wonderful natural light entering our bedrooms and our living room but our kitchen is at the center of the window sandwich. This makes it the darkest and most central room in the house and maybe not the ideal place to have my fiery color moment. The kitchen had to be inviting, livable, and most of all complement to the adjacent living room. So after some prodding, I decided to stop having my fling with the color of the moment and go back to the colors I know and love.
If there is one color that dominates my wardrobe or one shade that draws me to a boutique shelf, it’s a silvery green. My strawberry-blonde mother is the same way and with her decorating background she knew exactly what paint color that translated to: Restoration Hardware’s Silver Sage. She has always said Restoration Hardware doesn’t have a lot of colors to choose from but whatever they have is good. Mike and I went to their store and chose this cool beautiful gray green for the living room and a very light yellow called Butter Cream for the kitchen and connecting hallway. With pure white trim, the palette is soft, inviting, and perfect for the hub of the house.
So when it came to painting the bathroom, I had to shake things up. It was an impulse decision half way through the day but I took one look at my neutral hub and I went to the hardware store and bought the deepest, richest plum purple I could find (Nairobi Dusk from the Ralph Lauren Paint). We painted the ceiling all the way down to the white chair rail. The dark color overhead broken up a white chair rail and a latte brown below gives this small bath real drama–its’ just the mini-color rebellion I was looking for.
The bedroom colors were taken from my two favorite wallpapers. They are still rolled up in a box so when they go up, we’ll talk pattern and palette.
After two months of searching, we have found the Happiest Chicest Home in America! But it wasn’t easy. We’ve been tearing our tassels out deciding between these talented contestants! The colors have never been bolder, the patterns sassier, nor the tchotchkes cheekier than in this group of submissions. To all of you who surround yourself with smile-inducing decor, we commend you! And to the top three, may you revel in your Happy Chic glory and your Jonathan Adler loot!
Jonathan Adler, the lead judge and muse for the Happy Chic Home Contest, reveals the winners . . .
FIRST PRIZE WINNER: Clayton Berry
“Clayton Berry is the FIRST PRIZE WINNER of the ‘Happy Chic’ contest and the recipient of a $2,500 gift certificate for use at moi’s stores and website, jonathanadler.com, and a signed copy of my coffee table book My Prescription for Anti-Depressive Living! You may have taken the tour of this Maximalist Midwestern home with me last week, but we’ll do it again, because one could live happily ever after in a Maximalist delirium. Our clever Clayton created the ultimate in design echoing moi’s advice about making your home your own: Personal style means having a space that’s very comfy but that is filled with stuff that has personal meaning and created by passionate people; it should make you happy and happiness is chic. The vignettes styled throughout this home play and interact with good design amid unexpected touches of his own personal style. I oft prescribe the advice to layer, layer, layer. Unexpected touches are the soul of the Maximalist home: A painting hung on a bookcase, a chandelier in a closet, a brass lions head door knocker in a modern apartment. Me thinks this is a study of Happy Chic in a well-edited space that doesn’t feel cluttered or overwhelmed. J’adore this very groovy, happy home.”
SECOND PRIZE WINNER : Amy Almsteier
“Amy Almsteier is the SECOND PRIZE WINNER of the ‘Happy Chic’ contest, and recipient of a $500 gift certificate for use at moi’s stores and website, jonathanadler.com, and a signed copy of my book. Clever Amy sent us pics of her chic California home with a decor enhanced by inherited pieces of mid-century modern furniture, groovy Russel Wright dishes and a painting by her grandfather, who was an artist. The following rooms have been put together with a sense of panache and confidence that I commend. Be graphic, be bold, and put those things in your home that make you happy. Bravo!”
BEDROOM (above)
“With a series of color pops in this bedroom, Amy exudes some design exuberance. I spy an unexpected touch of color with the waved vertical stripes on the headboard. Brilliant detail–it feels carefree and consistent with the color accents throughout the room. The bedside table is nicely edited using a similar color theme as found on the headboard. Yellow, green, blue… these colors are happy colors. Moi’s take is that this room is about clean lines, bold colors, and a sense of humor–the antidote to not taking this decorating too seriously. It’s advice I give everyday: paint a wall orange, hang a chandelier in the bedroom, express yourself by being out of the ordinary. Have fun!”
BUFFET
“I’m a pink-and-purple fanatic! This color combination is innately fun. Even more j’adorable is the idea of lining the buffet drawer with this color combo and instantly adding glamour to anyone who pulls it open. It echoes moi’s advice to mix and match with panache–even a dish drawer can come alive with a pattern.”
THIRD PRIZE WINNER: Michelle Adams
“Michelle Adams is the THIRD PRIZE WINNER of the ‘Happy Chic’ contest, and recipient of a $100 gift certificate for use at moi’s stores and website, jonathanadler.com, and a signed copy of my book. We toured this apartment in one of my earlier blogs, and I want to tour it again… it is a gesture of Maximalist merriment! This apartments decor is all about transforming a small 325-square-foot space into a happy home.
LIVING ROOM (above)
It’s important to note once more how the pin board hung behind the desk is a clever way to display your creativity! Voila! You have art! Michelle reminds us that a Happy Chic home is one full of unusual bits edited throughout a consistent color story. And I’ve blogged it once, but I’ll blog it again: That bookcase from Design Within Reach stacked with a fave collection of books, is a masterful way of dividing this roomscape.”
HALLWAY TO BEDROOM
This hallway is all about layers, layers, and layers of love. The salon-style hung art is an eclectic mix of fashion photo finds, watercolor sketches, and personal framed pics of friends–making for an especially happy vignette because it’s unexpected. I recommend using hallways for a creative moment; it gives the space a personality, an eccentric personality. I also go crazy for wild prints, and think that zebra rug is j’adorable.”
Note to Winners:
You’ll be contacted via e-mail by the team at Jonathan Adler regarding the delivery of your prize.
CLOSING STYLE NOTE
“This contest was an opportunity for design lovers to show off their bold and ingenious decorating ideas and tricks and to show me some Happy Chic style! We were thrilled to receive such an idiosyncratic mix of pics showing off spacious homes and studio apartments with new ways to interpret my design philosophy and my work!”
“A special note to those creative and clever entrants who submitted photos of their happy chic homes and apartments: I’m serious about design and about bringing style, craft, joy, and a general feeling of grooviness to your home. It was a pleasure to see how each of you recharged and redesigned living spaces to be your own happy retreats. Remember, minimalism is a bummer… and a chic home is one that is decorated to express who you are and makes you happy when you walk in the door. Merci to those who approach their home with a similar design sensibility and want to show it off!”
So we might not have been able to award all the style-tastic entries, but they were too good to keep to ourselves. Come back next Thursday for our gallery of supremely honorable mentions.
Anne E. Collins (design editor) and Jonathan Adler (Product and Interior Designer)
When today’s Happy Chic Home contestants, Clayton and Carolyn, wrote of ceramic zebras, tennis balls, knights of shining armor, and Cornel Mustard guiding their design aesthetic–Jonathan and I were a bit skeptical. But when we opened the photos, we saw personal style at its best. A cleverly edited selection of decor from their travels, friends, and pastimes elevate funky to the respectable genre we know it is.
Here, Jonathan Adler puts this Missouri home to the Happy Chic Test
DEN
Let’s look at what Clayton refers to as his den for some inspiration! Frisky and fancy, this room works because it’s about adding a touch of eccentricity here and a dash of modern sensibility there. That is a j’adorable cluster of moi’s vases on the lacquer cocktail table. I always encourage creating a cluster of your favorite finds.
Do I spy tennis balls in a glass vase perched on a console, and a knight statuette poised on its own–Bravo! This vignette clever Clayton has styled throughout this room allows it to play and interact with the space.
BASEMENT
This basement is also about playful moments that make the space fun and easy. I’ve mentioned it before, and it’s perfectly represented here, styling your possessions together creates order where there could be chaos. Me thinks it’s important to mention Maximalism is not about how many objets you have in a room, but how you display the many objets in a room. Our entrant is using his keen eye and making sure the colors in the room are edited consistently on the shelves. They don’t look cluttered or too overwhelmed.
MASTER BEDROOM
Most people stop decorating too soon. Once you have the walls and floors and furniture in place, it’s the finishing touches that can really make a room your’s. J’adore the grandeur in this room with the two Bel Air lamps in white with baby blue lampshades, moi’s design (merci!), placed on the bedside tables. Their size and proportion to the rest of the space make this a bold gesture. Going for grandeur is the sign of a Maximalist! You’ve no doubt read moi’s advice on the signature color scheme of chocolate brown and baby blue. They are perfect together. They’re classic and fashion forward. With this scheme in mind, clever Clayton has transformed this bedroom with a unique color combination. We saw it with last weeks’ designer and we see it again here; replace those white walls and add some color! Also, those decorative pillows with silhouettes are a brilliant find.
GUEST BEDROOM
I’ve blogged before that I love a good color narrative throughout a room. The guest bedroom of this Happy Chic abode is about navy, red, and white. Its simple, clean, and non-obtrusive, exactly how you want your guests to feel. Do I spy moi’s product styled throughout this color narrative? Merci! But important to note: consistency of a color palette brings the space together. Look at the red tassels hanging from the lamps, and the red trim on the X-Bench, and finally, the red detailing of the pillows on the bed–your perspective of this room comes full circle. Happy Chic is also about making your guest-staying-overnight-room feel right at home.
STYLE NOTE
This Midwesterner reminds us that Maximalism is about fun! Styled throughout the home is dedicated Happy Chic design. Its both exuberant and ornate, a mixture of personal and eclectic taste. I am a designer who wants to bring a perspective of style, craft, joy, and a general feeling of grooviness to the home, and our clever entrant, Clayton, echoes moi’s sentiments.
LAST CALL
Today is the final day to enter the Happy Chic Home Contest so send in your photos and style story to irresistible@jonathanadler.com before midnight tonight! Check back next Thursday to see who wins the $2,500 gift certificate to Jonathan Adler stores and the grand title of Happiest Chicest Home in America (and the two runners-up)!
Anne E. Collins (Editor) and Jonathan Adler (Product and Interior Designer)