James Andrew studying Bennison Jungle.
Of course I wouldn’t want the title of today’s post to imply that these fabulous floral prints are only for use in Florida; they’d certainly do just as well in any fine interior — from Lyford to Lisbon, Montecito to Manhattan! They’re perfect for creating a touch of the tropics anywhere they might be incorporated. It’s just that a great deal of my work these days happens to be taking me to Florida — in fact I’ve plied my craft there for years in places like Palm Beach, Jupiter, Vero Beach, Naples and Miami. It’s only natural that I should have florals on my mind.
For clients who are looking for something a bit more traditional or transitional, these luscious prints can be used to create the color palette for a whole room. For example, Bennison “Jungle” is something I used to great effect in the main drawing room at the Marsh Island Club in Vero Beach. I had the stucco walls washed in a lime paint the color of Fowler pink and mixed in fabrics of leaf green, aqua and pale teal.
James Andrew interior, Marsh Island Club in Vero Beach
Another favorite of mine is Mandalay, a tropical floral in shades of aqua, natural, pinks, and teals – just perfect for Florida. I used this for a client’s great room in Vero Beach with shell pink stucco walls and furnished the room with loads of rattan, a pair of enormous venetian chandeliers, a teal faux marble top dining table, and a set of Italian painted dining chairs upholstered in this marvelous Mandalay print. Sadly, I ‘m sorry to say I don’t have a good photo of that magnificent room.
Mandalay
Currently I’m suggesting this wonderful Wikiki print in blue (see below) for a client’s living room at the Palm Beach Polo club—the room will be the most perfect play of blue on blue with copious amounts of white—the effect: crisp, impossibly chic, and fresher than fresh. Hopefully I’ll have the opportunity to share more of the details in a future post!
Wikiki
I’m captured here at the Bennison showroom admiring all the glorious colors in the their “Jungle” print. I’m sporting a Gucci hounds tooth wool tweed coat, Mackintosh Scotland brown corduroy vest , Tom Ford forest green mini check shirt with French cuffs and brown wool knit tie, Victorian Scottish agate cuff links, Rolex, Gucci python belt with a silver double horse head buckle, Uniqlo jeans, Tom Ford saddle leather loafers, and my fragrance is Tom Ford Oud.