|
|
 |
|
NEXT UP: HOUSE OF PAYNE
by Howard Shingle
“In addition to everything else I’ve done over the last two years, there’s absolutely no question that one of my major focuses, if not my major focus, has been the re-doing of my own home, which has been such a project,” says designer Michael Payne, keynote speaker for the 16th Custom Home Furnishings Conference & Trade Show.
“No getting away, it’s a major remodel on my own home while I’m living in it—which, of course, I strongly advise everybody not to do, but there again I did it myself,” he continues.
“I had an idea of what I wanted. In fact, when I did the original elevations of each room, there they were: sketches of what I had in mind. But when Dian Garbarini [Designs by Dian, Mission Viejo, CA] came into the picture—when I met her and told her what I was doing—it was like the sun shining through the clouds.
“You will see all this, by the way, because it’s all being taped and will be in a book and a DVD. The name of the book and DVD is ‘The House of Payne.’ So when you get to see The House of Payne you will get to see one of the major challenges—and it was a challenge from Day 1 for me—my master bedroom. I’ve got these soaring arched windows. Arched windows are difficult to do nicely.
“The house is a 1926 Spanish home, which by Los Angeles standards is really, really old. All the windows have arches and there are big, thick walls, stucco, tile roof—it’s the quintessential Spanish Mediterranean of Southern California home. So here I am with these huge arched windows, and I’m looking at these and I did so many sketches of the best way of treating these windows. Now fast-forward and I’m standing next to Dian and I’m saying, We’ve got to have light control, but I’m not sure the best way of doing this. We can’t possibly draw draperies on rods and things.”
Garbarini suggested installing roller shades using blackout lining as the first treatment. Over the top, she suggested fabric cornices with fabrics hanging down on either side completely hiding the roller shades. Payne objected. Getting to the roller shades is going to be so hard. No problem, Garbarini suggested motorizing them!
“Fast-forward even further, it’s time to go to sleep. I’ve got a single button. I’ve got five roller shades all closing together—or I can close them individually—and then its pitch black. The final draperies are just about to be installed and it’s going to look gorgeous—easy, functional, gorgeous.”
Payne says by the time the house is completed and all the writing and editing it done, it will be the middle of next year before The House of Payne is finished.
In the meantime he continues working on a line of case good furnishings, the Michael Payne collection, with Powell. And, he’s in discussion with upholstery manufacturers. He has always wanted to get into the upholstery world because he enjoys working with fabrics so much and hopes that will lead to a line of his own fabrics.
That, he hopes, will lead to expanding the Michael Payne brand. “I would like to be able to offer as complete a room as I can. I’d love to take out the guesswork. I’d love people to be able to say, I know Michael, I’ve seen his interiors, it doesn’t matter if they are contemporary or traditional, and with that thought in mind—once they’ve decided the direction they want to go—I’d love to be able to provide them essentially with a room with the case goods, with the upholstery, with telling them what paint color to use on the walls so they would be able to create a true Michael Payne environment in their own homes and know from the get-go that it’s going to work.” |
|
|
|
