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Design Perspectives

Classically Casual
Even dressed down rooms can offer clients high style and high quality.

by Karla Nielson, Allied Member, ASID; WCAA

It’s a classic!” are words that most interior designers or decorators would love to hear in praise of their work. Classic means enduring, beautiful and universally appealing. Often we associate classic with formal, traditional styles that have withstood the test of time (see “Tradition!” D&WC, May 2003, page 24). Today, however, we can find classic elegance in a very dressed down sort of look; handsome and comfortable.

REDEFINING CASUAL

To walk down a boulevard in New York City or Los Angeles or any city in between, you might not be able to guess who has money. Some people who are dressed up may not have any real wealth, but may be dressing for success in an effort to convince themselves or others that they have means to impress. Or it simply may be required by their jobs to look nice.

On the other hand, many people who are genuinely wealthy often dress down in jeans, T-shirts and jogging shoes because they no longer need to impress. They can be confident in their casual attire. However, you often find that even the jeans, shoes and shirts are very good quality and upper-end design. This is the essence of redefined casual: high style, high quality, less formality.

The great thing about the new classic casual style is that it can have many different looks. Here, we will examine three of these looks and will look at ways to accomplish an interior for a client who may say to you, “This is a classic!” The three categories are Clean Casual, Neo-traditional Casual and Eclectic Casual.

CLEAN CASUAL

A major contribution of the International Modern style was it redirected American thought away from the idea that if a little is good, a lot must be better—á la the Victorian era. When the masters of the Bauhaus in Germany fled to America for asylum during World War II, they brought with them a unique approach to interiors. This new philosophy was “Less is more.” It evoked a theory that all design should be simple, uncluttered and profound.

Coupled with the age of man-made materials and designing for machine mass-production, we entered an era known as Mid-century Modern. During this time, Modern design dictated that all superfluous items be shunned in favor of only a few well-crafted, man-made items with emphasis on form rather than decoration and a frank exposure of construction—exposed joinery, for example.

In this new upscale, spare casual-yet-sophisticated interior natural materials were married to modern furnishing items. Neutral-hued linen, wool, cotton and leather were the favored textiles for boxed and sculptured upholstered pieces. Natural linen draperies at the window often were replaced with a combination of man-made fibers in casement cloth draperies, which filtered the light and allowed some daytime view.

Gradually, draperies with their cumbersome upkeep gave way to the cleaner and simpler look of alternative window treatments. The mini-blind revolution led the way at the window in tandem with vinyl, metal and polyester vertical louvers. Both of these treatments—metal blinds and vertical louvers—though still worthy and widely popular, have gradually been replaced with fabric alternative treatments such as cellular and pleated shades and various manufactured shading treatments.

The reason for this metamorphosis is that as we have re-embraced the Mid-century Modern philosophy some 50 years later we have scrutinized what was worth keeping and what could be improved upon. Fifty years ago there were no computers, fax machines or cellular phones, no remote controls or even microwave ovens. So, back then, the idea of a machine age to come was exciting and empowering. Interiors were hard-edged, cold and decidedly spare and unfriendly as modern citizens drove home the point of embracing the Brave New World.

Now we feel quite the opposite. We have more technology than we sometimes need. We have no need to make a techno-savvy statement, as we likely would not impress anyone. We all have e-mail, so what? Rather, what we are striving to achieve now is the comfort of soft and supple fabrics to smooth away the irritating and rude sound of somebody’s cell phone. We want softness, albeit clean softness that still allows us to be connected to our online lifeline.

This is a great look! Plug in your laptop and place your infrared remote on the coffee table and it looks like a well-planned, well-coordinated accessory item. Spread out on the sofa, a neutral wool rug or as you lounge on the slightly Deco Lawson-style sculptured chair and play around with the remote until you find just the right stopping point for those sleek top-down cellular shades, adjusting not just the view, but the graphic configuration of the window treatments in relationship to the window opening. What a cerebral, control-freak exercise!

Don’t worry about putting color in the interior; there’s plenty of that on the computer screen. And when the online work has fatigued the eyes and fried the brain, wherever the eyes may wander, they’ll find restful, soothing neutrals and softly appealing textures. That’s 21st Century casual!

NEO-TRADITIONAL CASUAL

This interior is a good example of a room that is an updated and casual version of Neoclassic. Federal blue, in this case leaning toward Country Blue—warmer, deeper and more comfortable, is still blue. Stripes on the wall and on the over-scaled ottoman originate from the late 1700s. Likewise, the two arm chairs are classic French Neoclassic fauteiuls (fa-toy’ya). Window treatments are light semi-sheer fabric, also from the same historic period.

With these elements in place, the fun begins. Bringing the interior into the present and making it comfortable have been accomplished with the addition of contemporary Lawson sofa and chair and the overriding use of “forever blue” denim with chenille as the ottoman fabric. Makes you want to take off your shoes, plop down in your own blue-jeans and prop up the feet on the extra soft footstool/coffee table.

Note how the use of pattern plays into this kind of scheme. Floral schiffli embroidery on the sofa denim in bright colors relieves the solid quality of the blue-jeans fabric. Lattice and isolated motifs on the pillows work well with the stripes and solids. The use of textures and motifs in this way is a pattern that can be followed to create casual rooms. It is a focus on texture with supplemental patterns that are not demanding yet add some liveliness and punch to the scheme.

Natural flooring is a sure bet with true-blue denim. The sisal rug over a random plank wood floor is perfect. Blue and beige is a classic color combination.

Complete this look with the white crispness found in the paint color and breezy-style curtains, and any interior can become casual and comfortable. Always remember that alternative window treatments should be used in any living space for nighttime privacy. Good choices would include the products that stack completely out of the way so they are unnoticeable. Mini-blinds, two-inch blinds, cellular and pleated shades, other roller-type shadings and vertical louvers with a center draw are all good choices for light and temperature control as well as the peace-of-mind privacy!

ECLECTIC CASUAL

This look is much more individual than the previous two styles discussed here. It is unique in that no two interiors will ever look alike. Compare the photograph illustrating this style to the following criteria for a great eclectic casual look:

1. Each item has merit as great design on its own. Furnishings do not rely on anything to make their statement. In other words, each item—furnishings, textiles, art and accessories—is inherently beautiful, interesting and fine design.

Eclectic rooms in which this requirement is not met—that is, some items are questionable in design quality—will not be successful eclectic designs.

2. Form and proportion are carefully scrutinized. Shapes interrelate in fascinating and intriguing ways. There is a wonderful balance of negative space (empty, unfilled) and positive space (furnishings) that is the result of the meticulous interrelationship of forms. This quality makes the entire interior a work of art unto itself.

3. Texture plays a key role in unifying the interior. There must be sensitive use of smooth, rough and various in-between textures.

4. Color is the other element that holds the interior together. In this interior, the scheme is beige and a deep coral red. There is continuity to the scheme in the placement of the reds. Notice how the eye connects from lower left, then up and around the window and down the right side. The reddish orange floor stain also connects the circle of color.

All other furnishing elements are kept neutral. In any eclectic casual interior, color will need to act as glue because there may be so many divergent styles. Without the common bond of color the interior would seem disjointed and confusing.

5. Eclectic interiors possess personality. Great eclectic casual is often the result of dedicated sleuthing or searching. Each item must be a unique find and immediately weighed against other items. There are times when the find is a serendipity experience, seemingly falling into the lap of the design professional or client. Other times the search goes on for months until just the right item or fabric is discovered through the process of gathering, pondering and elimination.

This dedication only comes about when those working on the project have a vision that the finished interior will be worth the effort. And it usually is! This kind of room often comes alive with its own distinct flavor, quality and charisma. It also may evolve. Eclectic casual rooms do not have to be stagnant, as many historic settings are. They may never be finished. Rather, they can change with the seasons, with the demographic shift, or with any change in whim from those who selected the furnishings in the first place.

THE FUTURE OF CASUAL

As we view where we’ve been and where we are likely to go, the future of classically casual is bright and potentially explosive in trend acceptance. There has been a major shift toward interiors in which occupants can unwind, relax and feel emotionally supported by their surroundings.

While we still want interiors that are beautiful, we now recognize that casual interiors are easier to live with in many respects. It also is true that any home may have areas that are more formal and other areas that are more casual. The rooms that are more casual will be the rooms where people really live!