Editorâs Miscellany: Tom Scheerer in Boston
March 27, 2014
By Kyle Hoepner
Designer Tom Scheerer. All photos courtesy of The Vendome
Press, unless otherwise noted
Although his roots are in the New YorkâNew JerseyâLong Island region, itâs sometimes hard to believe that Tom Scheerer isnât a New Englanderâor perhaps he was, in a former life. At any rate, he seems to have a direct line to the gods of perfection in what he calls his âno-nonsense Yankee sensibility.â
Scheerer will be at the Boston Design Center next Wednesday afternoon, April 2, to chat with House Beautiful editor-at-large Chesie Breen, with a book signing and cocktails at the buildingâs brand-new Quadrille showroom to follow.
Chesie Breen. Photo from editoratlarge.com
One topic for discussion (although Iâm sure the talk will range far and wide) will be Tom Scheerer Decorates, the recent book on his work by Mimi Read, with sumptuous photography by Francesco Lagnese.
I asked Scheerer earlier this week how he ended up with the kind of tightly constructed, yet easygoing, decorating style that feels so apt for New England. âItâs subconscious, I think; it comes from my upbringing. My grandparents had fairly elaborate houses, but no decorator was involved. Their interiors were improvised, in a way, using furniture that came with the house, or was bought while travelingâpicked up here and there. One of my grandmothers had a knack for making nice, charming houses without, seemingly, too much fuss. She didnât suffer over them the way people suffer over decorating now.â
Entrance hall to a home on Maineâs Mount Desert Island.
A dining room on the Upper East Side
Library of a house on Harbour Island in the Bahamas.
On his connection with Quadrille: âIâve been buying fabrics from John Knott since he purchased the company. Alan Campbell, a mentor early in my career, was big part of Quadrilleâs roster of lines when John bought and combined them. Then, twenty years ago, while I was doing a house in Washington, I discovered that he could have discontinued wallpapers made. I brought him an old Chippendale-style bamboo paper, which I later used again for the Lyford Cay Clubâthen it took off into a kind of cult, using this one wallpaper print! Now once or twice a year Iâll bring them a pattern that they will produce, and the patterns do pretty well. I suppose that makes me a kind of unofficial design associate.â
Grisaille wallpaper in a Brooklyn Heights apartment
A bedroom in Manhattan
A Florida powder room features Lyford Trellis wallpaper, one
of Scheererâs co-creations with Quadrille.
There are still seats left for Tom Scheererâs April 2 appearance in Boston, which is open to the trade and consumers. Please note that separate RSVPs are required for the 4:00 p.m. panel discussion and the 5:00 p.m. Quadrille showroom reception. To register for the panel discussion, please visit http://BDCtsdecorates.eventbrite.com. To register for the reception following, send your RSVP to RSVP@quadrilleinc.com.
And if you simply want a copy of the bookâhighly recommendedâyou can find links to buy it here.
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