Decorate Like a Decorator | Dara Caponigro
Intro: Welcome to the one and only interior design book podcast, Decorating by the Book, hosted by Suzy Chase from her dining room table in New York City. Join Suzy for conversations about the latest and greatest interior design books with the authors who wrote them.
Dara Caponigro: I'm Dara Caponigro. I'm the editor in chief of Frederic Magazine, and I'm here to talk with Suzy today about my new book, Decorate Like a Decorator.
Suzy Chase: So for Decorate Like a Decorator, you culled from Frederic magazine to share more than a hundred pro moves, from how to use stripes on a bias, to how to upholster doors. In the introduction you talk about how it might be impossible to put your finger on exactly how the best pros do what they do, but you say there are certain strategies that you've shared in the book. Now, how did this book come to life, I would imagine the research, gathering the strategies took some time?
Dara Caponigro: It's not my first rodeo, I've done books before. And my first book actually was the Domino Book of Decorating, which launched probably, oh goodness, I don't know, 15 years ago or so. And that was more of a how-to book that really took people through how to design a room through case studies. And so this book I think is a little lighter on the educational bit, but it really dissects the different things that decorators do to design a room. And it could be anything from valances, to sheers, to stripes on a bias. But it was really meant to kind of break it down for people so that even if they weren't doing it themselves, they could understand the different elements that go into a room.
Suzy Chase: Speaking of valances, I found it intriguing that you kicked off the book with the first chapter devoted to pelmets and valances. To me, it seems more like a finishing touch than a starting point for a room. Talk a little bit about that.
Dara Caponigro: Well, I think it is a finishing touch, but it also can be a focal point. So if you're really into high style, a pelmet is a way to go. And a pelmet is almost a piece of sculpture for your window. So very often it's its shape and it can be outfitted with trim and it has curtain panels underneath it. It's not something that's easily done, although there are simple ones, like you could build a pelmet with just a very simple square box and then upholster it or wrap the fabric around it. And I think it is an early decision because if that's a look you want to go for, you want to decide that right away. And the cool thing about pelmets is they're so architectural that they can really bring architecture to a room that doesn't have any. And they're also showstoppers, so if you like drama, a pelmet is a really easy way to get drama.
Suzy Chase: And if you want to see drama, on page 12, Nick Olson created a floor to ceiling pelmet, and turned it into a geometric, almost art deco, geometric blue shade. That was something I never would have envisioned in my own mind, especially because this room is really traditional.
Dara Caponigro: Yeah, it's so chic. I've never seen a pelmet like that before. And that was actually a late addition to the book. And I found it after the book was laid out, and I was like, "Well, we just have to include this because this is so sublime." And his pelmet was a little bit different because it doesn't have the soft side panels of a traditional one. It's almost like it's a piece of sculpture for the window, the entire thing. And it is a surprise, but it really grounds the room. I mean, the whole room is a surprise with that aubergine sofa and the antique rug and the bright blue pelmets. It's really a very special room.
Suzy Chase: It's just wonderful that you devoted another chapter to sheers and casements. I feel like delicate sheers are a bit out of fashion these days, but as you say in the book, sheers add softness without obscuring the architecture or the view.
Dara Caponigro: It was fun putting this chapter together because there are so many of the greats represented here, we have Nicky Haslam, we have Veere Grenney, we have Stephen Sills, we have Thomas O'Brien. So it shows that sheers are not out of fashion really. But I think they need to be looked at again. So in Nicky Haslam's living room, for example, he did floor to ceiling sheers, and it's a very interesting room, but very pale. And the sheers are, they add volume and they add softness at the window without having to introduce a pattern or another fabric. So they're just like, they make it feel finished without being overpowering.
And then Thomas O'Brien loves to use cafe curtains, and he very often uses them in bathrooms. And the idea there is privacy. So the bottom half of the window is a sheer that you can't really, it's not so sheer that you can see through, but it still lets the light in.
Suzy Chase: Oh, I love a cafe curtain.
Dara Caponigro: Me too.
Suzy Chase: When I was growing up, it was all the rage in living rooms with the big bay windows to have sheers.
Dara Caponigro: And I think there's a place for them again, I really do. And the other thing, very often people think about sheers in hotel rooms. So very often in hotel rooms you'll have the double treatment, a regular curtain with a sheer underneath, which I do think is super practical. But they can be beautiful on their own. And also you can find sheers with pretty embroideries, you can find sheers with patterns now, there's so many ways to use them. And I think they're ready to make a comeback.
Suzy Chase: On this podcast I want the world to know that you don't have to break the bank renovating to make a room feel redone, cosier, or even larger. And case in point is trim. There are many ways you can spiff up a room with trim. Can you chat a little bit about that?
Dara Caponigro: It was fun, again, pulling this chapter together, because it really shows you how creative designers are. So there's trim on the walls, there's trim on pillows, trim on lampshades, trim on upholstery. One of my favorite uses is trim on walls because I think it's a surprising way to use it and people don't think about it very often. But it's so easy to install a piece of trim underneath crown molding or any kind of molding or above a baseboard to really add an architectural element to a room. Or it's a great way to outline the shape of a sofa or it's a great way to embellish a pillow. There's so many fabulous ways to use it. The leading edge of a curtain is a very typical way to use it. So if you have plain curtains, for example, and you want to zhuzhem up a little bit, just add some trim to the inside, the leading edge it's called, it's sort of the inside vertical part of the curtain, and you have something really fabulous.
Suzy Chase: And case in point, Barrie Benson, simple red tape trim, that's hard to say, that's a lot, simple red tape trim, which sort of modernized a very classic room.
Dara Caponigro: Right. So that whole house was a traditional house and she injected a youthfulness to it. And one of the things that she did was she added graphic elements. So if you took away that red trim in that living room, I think it would be really pretty but not nearly as sensational. So she even outlined the fireplace with it, and it creates this wonderful, I don't know, it's almost like a line drawing around the room, so it adds graphicness.
Suzy Chase: And here's one that scares me, stripes on a bias. What are some different ways we can incorporate stripes on a bias in our home?
Dara Caponigro: It is a little scary I think, it's not something that is intuitive. That's why the book is called Decorate Like a Decorator because these are really tricks that decorators do and do so well. But you could use a stripe on a bias on upholstery, on ceilings, on lampshades, all sorts of ways, even on floors, you could paint a floor with a stripe on the bias. And some fabrics even come on the bias, meaning you don't have to turn the fabric to upholster your piece with a stripe on the bias, if that makes sense.
Suzy Chase: Okay. Now to tie backs, an often forgotten yet major upgrade to any drape. I feel like the tie back is even more important than an impressive valance, what do you think?
Dara Caponigro: Well, what's nice about a tie back is it's so practical. It makes it so easy to draw a curtain. It makes it fall into place so nicely. And they're beautiful. You could really make a statement with them. They're gorgeous rosettes that you can buy or you could keep it simple. There's a project in the book by Tom Shearer where he just has simple little brass hooks that he uses for tie backs. But they allow the fabric of a curtain to drape so beautifully and they create a certain neatness by having it tied back. It can be simple and pretty and kind of pulled together.
Suzy Chase: I had Emma Bazilian and Steph Diaz on a few years ago to chat about the book, Charm School, another amazing book.
Dara Caponigro: Thank you.
Suzy Chase: And Emma said the most successful spaces are the ones where it doesn't look too studied or too intentional. And that phrase kind of makes me think of skirted tables, from dressing tables, to bedside tables, to center tables and more. Could you chat just a little bit about skirting?
Dara Caponigro: Sure. There are so many ways to skirt a table. You could do a ruffle skirted table, you could do something that's a little bit less ruffled, which is called shirring. You could do a box pleated skirted table. In my own home, I have just a canvas kind of cloth, it's not actually canvas, but it's a linen that's glazed that almost looks like a painter's cloth, and it's just draped without any seams. It feels like it was just thrown over the table. And for me, it feels a little bit more modern. And I like the yin and yang of modern things with classic things. So it worked for me.
But they add softness, they are actually quite affordable. If you can't find the perfect piece of furniture that you want, do a skirted bedside table, do a skirted dressing table. At least until you can find something else that you're excited about. But they're particularly good in rooms that have a lot of case goods, meaning like wood furniture because they add a wonderful softness to it. And there are also a great way to inject pattern into a room.
Suzy Chase: Now, are there rules for the skirts, can it puddle on the floor, does it have to be an inch above the floor?
Dara Caponigro: I think they should just graze the floor, at least the very front of it should just hit the floor. They definitely should not be too short. They should not be shorter than that. And they could puddle a little bit, it depends on your look. If you puddle it, it's a little bit more messy, so you have to be willing to live with that. But I think the best ones really kind of hit the floor at the front. I'm thinking about mine, which is just a cloth that's draped over the table without any seams, and it's intentionally messy, so the corners puddle, but the front of it hits the floor, just grazes.
Suzy Chase: The painted ceiling trend is popping up all over the place lately. It's interesting how paint can go from unremarkable to a showstopper. What are some ways we can unleash the transformative effects of paint on our ceiling? And this is another one that scares me.
Dara Caponigro: Well, it shouldn't scare you because it's so easy and it could be painted white again in a second. So I encourage you to experiment with it. And it can be loud or it can be quiet. We have a project in here by Jeffrey Bilhuber, and he painted the ceiling, it's a mostly white room with pretty white linen slip covers, and he painted the ceiling in just a whisper pink. And it makes the whole room feel so alive and, I don't know, just like enchanting and dreamy. Some people put stripes on the ceiling, which is really fun and cool. Other people will wallpaper their ceilings. I think it's a great way to express your personality and also add energy to a room. And as I said, paint is easy because you can just paint right over it. And it's also not a huge investment.
Suzy Chase: Now let's say I put stripes on the ceiling. Now do I have to have a stripe in the room in some kind of fabric somewhere to pull it together or does it just not matter?
Dara Caponigro: I don't think so. I think what you need is something graphic, it could be a black and white room with a yellow and white stripe ceiling for example. It needs something that kind of carries that strong sensibility elsewhere in the room, but it doesn't need to be a stripe.
Suzy Chase: So what's your favorite element in the book?
Dara Caponigro: That's a hard question. I love so many of these chapters. I mean, I'm particularly partial to decorating with plates. I used to be the tabletop editor of House Beautiful, and I have a real penchant for tableware. And the decorating with plates, again, it's an easy trick that a lot of decorators do, and where they use plates as art. They might hang them in interesting configurations on the wall. It's a great way to display a collection that you've collected over time. There are fun ways to put the plates on the wall.
In the project in the book, we have the Mayflower Hotel by Celerie Kemble, and she used all these sweet little striped bows to adhere the plates to the wall. So they can really inject a lot of personality into a room. And what I think is fun about them is you could start on one wall with a small collection, and then you could just let it grow. But the important thing I think is to have some kind of theme. So the plates can be different, but if they're different, they should probably be one type like majolica or earthenware or something like that.
Suzy Chase: And if you don't have any plates, you can always get the plates and platters wallpaper. I think that's from Schumacher.
Dara Caponigro: That's right.
Suzy Chase: I love it.
Dara Caponigro: That's by Johnson Hartig of fashion label, Libertine. And I love it too, it's so fun. And what he did in his house is he hung that wallpaper and then he put his own collection of blue and white delftware on top of the wallpaper. So it's like a double whammy of plates on plates.
Suzy Chase: So now to a little bit about you. You are the editor-in-chief of Frederic magazine and the creative director of Schumacher. You are a long-time trailblazer in the magazine industry as the former editor-in-chief of Veranda, a founding editor of Domino and the decoration director of both Elle Decor and House Beautiful. I live around the corner from the great Casa magazines, and when I walk in there, it blows my mind to see how many magazines are still out in the world and thriving. There's always been something special about shelter and food magazines for me, it's been the ability to dream and clip ideas for my vision board and decorating journal. So what does the world of magazines look like today?
Dara Caponigro: Well, I think print is alive and well, as you say. But the print that's really doing well are the publications that have a real point of view and that have really embraced quality. One of the things that makes Frederic special, I think, is that it's oversized, it's printed on the most beautiful paper. People collect it, they keep it. And it's expensive because so much goes into it. A lot of magazines now don't commission their own photography. We commission all of our own photography, we're very, very picky about our photos. It's part of the art of the magazine. And we're selective about our projects too. They have a point of view, they feel personal, but they feel elevated and gorgeous. And not always expensive, but always stylish. And, I don't know, people love decorating, and I find that people who love the home love the tactile experience of a print magazine.
Suzy Chase: Totally. I was at a book talk for Kathryn Ireland at Rizzoli the other night, and I was talking to this real estate agent, she said, "Oh, I'm running out of room in my apartment, I have too many design books and all my Frederic magazines, it's taking up so much room."
Dara Caponigro: That's nice to hear, I appreciate that.
Suzy Chase: So what do you think is a sign of great decorating?
Dara Caponigro: Well, I can tell you what a sign of not great decorating is. I mean, it's so hard, but I think decorating that just follows the trends maybe isn't the most exciting. I wouldn't say it's not great decorating, I'm sure there are great rooms that are very trend-driven. I know there are. But I think if you're a slave to trends, especially for the home which lasts for such a long time, it might not be the most gratifying experience in the long run.
I also think great decorating, the more you have the stamp of the homeowner and the passion of the person who lives there, or renter, it doesn't have to be a homeowner obviously, the better the project is and the better the place is, the more you want to be there. If it doesn't feel like you or feel like the person who lives there, it could be anywhere. And I personally love personal spaces, but sorry for the redundancy. But it's important that a home is a reflection of the person who lives there.
It's funny because my daughter says she doesn't know what her taste is. I was like, "Well, spend some time on Instagram, on Pinterest and start pulling things that you respond to." And she showed me all her pictures the other day and I was like, "You see, you do know what you like." Sometimes it just takes a little homework.
Suzy Chase: You call yourself a sentimentalist, what exactly does that mean?
Dara Caponigro: Well, I love things that my parents had in their houses. I love things that people gave me, especially if it's people that I like. It's funny because I needed bedside lamps a few years ago, and I bought some bedside lamps that were really nice in the room, but they were designed by somebody that I didn't particularly like. And after about six months I had to get rid of them, I just could not have that energy in my house. I don't know, I'm sentimental in that way. I mean, I can't have ugly things in my house either. So not everything makes the cut. So I guess I'm not a total sentimentalist, but I am to a degree.
Suzy Chase: For me, I'm of a certain age, and I like to look around, and I have a lamp right here on my desk, and my mom got this lamp in the eighties, and I love it. And I think the older we get, kind of maybe the more sentimental we might get, if we've lost our parents or family or whatever.
Dara Caponigro: Right. I think that's true. I mean, I've always been like that. I'm very aware of the people who made things, and the time and the craft that went into making something. So I have a lot of antiques in my house. It's not all antiques, but there's a mix.
And my son, actually my entire family except maybe my daughter, is famous for breaking things around my house. And my son will say to me, "You're so materialistic." And I'm like, "I'm not materialistic at all actually, I'm really just ... I care. Somebody took time to make that thing. Somebody took time to design that thing." And to me, it's the opposite of materialism, it's that idea of cherishing something and being its caretaker through history so that I can then pass it upon.
Suzy Chase: I was just talking with Emily Eerdmans about Mario Buatta, and she was saying Mario was more into things than people, and I kind of feel the same way too. I love everything in my home.
Dara Caponigro: That's so nice. I want to come over.
Suzy Chase: Yeah, and I want to come to your home too.
Dara Caponigro: You're more than welcome.
Suzy Chase: Speaking of home, now to my segment called Home where I ask you to describe one memory of your childhood home, and please start by telling us where it was.
Dara Caponigro: So my first home that I remember was in Spring Valley, New York in Rockland County, it's about 45 minutes northwest of the city. And my mother was a decorator, and she's still alive, she's 92, and has the most amazing taste. And she found a house, it was a very modern house. And it was one of three houses built by the California developer named Eichler. He was known for these very one-story, modernist, cool houses that had a relationship from the inside to the outside, sliding glass doors and lots of vistas. And nobody had a house like that except for the other two houses that were built in the area.
It really informed my sense of design I think. It was special. It had radiant heating, things that you didn't hear of back then. Again, it had sliding glass doors everywhere. And I think it also informed my relationship with nature. I love the outdoors, it's really important for me to have a house that's light and where you can see trees and birds and all that kind of thing.
So when we moved, my parents then built a house, and when we moved, it was so traumatic for me. So, I don't know, that house was really special. And they're very collectible now. I think there are maybe 10,000 Eichler houses in California. People just love them. They're not big, I think the house was 1200 square feet, but it was so beautifully designed.
Suzy Chase: Where can we find you on the web and social media?
Dara Caponigro: So, fredericmagazine.com and Instagram feed is just fredericmagazine and then my own feed is Dara_Caponigro.
Suzy Chase: Well, this has been just wonderful. Thanks so much, Dara, for coming on Decorating by the Book Podcast.
Dara Caponigro: Thank you, Suzy, it was really fun. Thank you.
Outro: Follow Decorating by the Book on Instagram. And thanks for listening to the one and only interior design book podcast, Decorating by the Book.
