Renowned International interior designer Bunny Williams has a special spot in her heart for the Lowcountry, having visited Beaufort and the surrounding islands when her friend (and now husband), famed antiquarian John Rosselli, had a home in Savannah.  She's also a best-selling author, whose two previous books "On Garden Style” and “An Affair With A House” are local best sellers at M Gallery in downtown Beaufort, along with her latest, "Point of View',” an incredibly info-packed book summing up what she's learned over the past 30 years as one of the world's best designers.  I recently attended a seminar that Bunny gave in Charlotte and wanted to pass on some of her great ideas to you.

"Scale is so important," says Bunny. "Scale should be strong and bold, but also balanced.  So much about decorating is scale and balance."   She says that it's important to think about where the furniture will go, and that "bigger pieces plus lighter pieces add balance to the room." Organization and editing are very important to the process. She likes to use lots of chairs to create conversation groups, and to use the corners of rooms that are often overlooked.  "With a card table and some smaller chairs you suddenly have a place to put your laptop instead of a neglected corner," says Bunny.

"The room should also be comfortable, exciting, and welcoming," she says, and comfort has always been a hallmark of her work.  One of the ways she achieves this is through layering – of fabrics, colors, textures, and differently scaled furniture, mixing antiques with modern pieces and lighting.  "Lighting is so important; you have to get lighting from several sources in a room and heights. Bad lighting can ruin a room.”

"You need to get light down to eye level,” says Bunny. She bemoans the "Swiss cheese effect," that happens when ceiling spotlights are put in a grid across the entire ceiling. "I just place them around the perimeter of the ceiling," she says. Then she adds more flattering lamps at different heights.

Other tips for achieving comfortable rooms include using old flooring to give age to a new house, or stone floors with a honed finish.  Bunny also thinks exposed wooden ceilings are better than sheetrock.  She marveled at the realistic look of the new vinyl 'Antigo' wide plank floors with beveled edges from Artisan Floor's Madison Collection.

Color also adds a lot to the mood of a room, and two of Bunny’s current favorites are pale shiny gray and Benjamin Moore's  “Sea Breeze.”

Bunny grew up in Charlottesville Virginia, and the first house she ever decorated was her playhouse in the corner of the garden out back; there she gave tea parties for friends and spent many happy hours rearranging her things.  Her new book, “Bunny Williams' Point of View – Three Decades of Decorating Elegant and Comfortable Houses,” is filled with photos and wisdom gained during her long design career, plus beautiful photographs of her own homes in Manhattan, Connecticut and Punta Cana.

Bunny now has her own furniture and accessories collection called Beeline Home and will be unveiling many new pieces in October's High Point Market in North Carolina.

For more information, visit www.bunnywilliams.com

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I visited her home recently as part of Open Garden Days and this is what I saw:
http://www.brucebarone.com/BunnyWilliamsCountryHome.htm

Bruce Barone , July 14, 2010

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