Thursday, March 18, 2010

The Rules of Ralph LauREN, or is it LAURen?

The Rules of Ralph LauREN, or is it LAURen?

For a short period of three years, I worked in a wonderful design showroom called St. Dizier Home, a shootoff of Saint Dizier Design in Healdsburg, CA. Being as though we mainly sold quite a bit of Ralph Lauren and Henredon, the company that makes Lauren's upholstery.

Ralph Lauren set the standard for class a long time ago with his clothing line, and with his furniture line. Examples are littered throughout this blog with pictures! His main philosophy, from what I understood, was pretty simple.

To bring that true "Ralph" look to a room, use three things:
1. Texture.
2. Leather. This can also have texture, look into tooled leathers and embossed leathers, cool!
3. Pattern.

Textures are everywhere! As I was feeding the horses yesterday at the ranch, I noticed the beauty of the hay against the red sandy rock ground. (okay I spilled a flake). That sprung all sorts of images in my mind about fabrics and how we use texture in our everyday decor. There are some wonderful accent pieces from Palacek, (National Geographic Collection) that work really well with Lauren type upholstery picks. I am a BIG fan of picking a neutral for your main upholstery pieces, and texture is the way to go with a sofa or chaise.

Leather is so interesting. I could do a whole blog on the different types, what aniline means, how they process it, what quality leather to buy for what purpose, etc. but that is another day! Just look for leathers that do two things. Fit your function, and look great! If your functional life consists of big hairy lovey dogs on your sofa all day, then consider a sealed leather with a bomber jacket look. That way scratches and mishaps just add to the character and don't make you so mad you want to declaw.

Pattern is easy. Pick an inspiration piece that has some color or even a print of something you adore. This way you will always adore your room!

Stay tuned for more Lauren based advice, he is one of my favorites! And don't forget to look for those three things in nature today: Texture, leather and pattern.

For more information about Ralph Lauren Furnishing for the home, please visit http://www.ralphlaurenhome.com/