Elle Decor's A-Team (Part VII)

I'm seriously running out of intro ideas for these Elle Decor's top 25 interior designers posts... How many more ways are there to say the same thing? It's now clear that we're going through the 2010 list and talking about what we personally find appealing about the designers...right? Anyway - just a couple more weeks to go in covering the rest. It's been a fun summer project!

Here is what we think of the next three...

(If you're new to this, you can catch up with: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V and Part VI.)

Robert Stilin

ED (Elle Decor) describes Stilin's work as "carefully edited, serenely contemporary settings that invite laid-back living...His fuss-free projects are finely tailored and warmly textured, incorporating clean-cut fabrics, strong lined vintage, antique, and modern furniture..., dark metal, natural woods, and grandly scaled art with a compelling graphic presence."








Stilin's work leans more toward contemporary than the Style Key West look, but if there is one thing that we absolutely agree upon, it's a well thought out room that maintains comfort and functionality regardless of aesthetic. The images we selected are those closest to our own style and feature very livable spaces with the perfect balance of universal appeal and individual personality.

Madeline Stuart

ED describes Stuart as "funky, classic, elegant - Stuart produces them all, imbuing her work with romance, history, and a sense of expansive ease. The interiors...can be appropriately dramatic or restrained depending on whether she's designing a Georgian manse or a sleep contemporary beach house...Whatever their style, her rooms usually feature a compelling mix of antiques and bespoke pieces."







This was a hard one to go through since Stuart's range of work is pretty epic. It covers Spanish, Modern, Ranch... But antiques, vintage styles and rich textiles figure prominently in her work. One theme of the portfolio that greatly appealed to us is the attenion to personal spaces such as dressing rooms, bathrooms and bedrooms. There is a level of decadence to styling fantastic spaces that are rarely seen by visitors.

Steven Volpe

ED (Elle Decor) describes Volpe's interiors as "ranging from lusciously palatial homages to the past to edgy exercises in modern living. The San Francisco-based designer was strongly influenced by his years in Paris and is known for a spare sensibility that never forgoes luxury or richness, juxtaposing strong colors with refined detailing, modern works of art, and subtle doses of glamour and shine."







I'm finding myself at a loss on this one... I selected images that I found appealing for their composition, fine art and obvious taste level, but none of them particularly speak to my personal taste. I think the last two images come the closest, but there is little here that reflects the Style Key West design philosophy. Volpe's work is probably best appreciated from afar. It's hard to imagine people living in these rooms. Maybe entertaining...but not sitting around with a cup of coffee and the morning paper. I would find it hard to feel comfortable in these spaces. Everything is "just so". But then again - the images were pulled from a portfolio, and room styling plays a role in this perception.

So what do you think? Any opinions so far on Elle Decor's selected designers?




*Unless otherwise specified, all images procured directly from the designers' websites.