Update! Bronson Pinchot - The Camelback Chair

UPDATE! I think Bronnie must be reading because a new photo was added to his web site/blog of the library for his art reference books. Thank you Sharon in Chicago for sending it to me! I also found another photo of a little valence in his kitchen that is made from the same fabric he used for the panels for the windows in the library (and for the sofa pictured below). I think he said the fabric comes from some old bed hangings. He seems to be using it all through the house.

The art reference library of Bronson Pinchot- You can see the book shelves designed to show the front of the book instead of the spines, and the back of that yummy camelback chair

This is the fabric Bronnie used for the curtain panels in the library, shown here used as a valence over the kitchen window

This is Bronson Pinchot's kitchen - You can see the antique blue check fabric that he seems to have a ton of

 What I posted previously:

Any chair or sofa or couch with a curved back with a center "hump" might be considered a camelback.
But like anything else, there are distinctions between some awful contemporary pieces from the big box chain stores, and the excellent antique or vintage pieces.

My favorite is camelback chair is one with a full upholstered arm, more of the 18th century kind. It's like a mini camelback sofa.

Bronson Pinchot's gorgeous 18th century camelback chair reupholstered in fabric from 1830 - He said the chair was skanky before it was redone and  is worth $10K - I found this photo from the web site  his upholsterer Kinetic Comfort Upholstery who did an amazing job on this fabulous old chair -

My newest heartthrob Bronson Pinchot has such a chair that he featured in Episode 8 Last But Not Least on the DIY Network  show The Bronson Pinchot Project. He was doing a room that he called a library for his art collection and his collection of books.

Sadly DIY Network doesn't do much in web support of their shows. No way to watch an episode, and certainly no photos. And Bronnie is a naughty boy because he started a blog and doesn't do a thing with it. He should be posting photos and back stories.

Look at this gorgeous couch somewhere in Bronson Pinchot's  spectacular Greek Revival home - The same fabric is used that the curtains for the library are made from - I got this photo from the blog Good &  Pretty written by his excellent seamstress Nicole, and have asked her to send more photos of the work she is doing for Bronson along with a some tech tips

So I had to dig deep to find a picture of Bronnie's chair. He had it upholstered in fabric from 1830. Of course he loves the old rips that have old repairs in the way of a spot hit with the darning needle. He likes to show these in a prominent space.

Old fabric can be tricky to work with. Sometimes it is just too rotted away, even when it looks stable. I would love to hear about how Bronson chooses the antique fabric he uses. He also used a beautiful blue and white check woven textile from the 1800's to make curtain panels, and yet another fabric that he fashioned into a valance. Alas I have no photos of the window treatments.

This is a photo of another example of a camelback chair in a more modern interpretation done by the excellent New Orleans designer Melissa Rufty as shown in the fab new book Be Your Own Decorator by Susanna Salk

Bronnie likes the fabric not to be pulled too tight on the reupholstered pieces. I believe he said to the upholsterer: "Don't make it look like a Hollywood face lift". He likes there to be some give to the fabric, as if the chair had been sat in for a long time.

The whole room by Melissa Rufty as seen in Be Your Own Decorator - If you see a camelback chair like this one or Bronnie's, snap it up - If you can't use it let me know and I'll take it off your hands

I love how the library came out. The bookshelves are awesome. You'll have to catch a rerun, or find Episode 8 online somewhere.

Please add my NEW address to your blog list:
http://thevisualvamp.blogspot.com
And please become a Follower again (or for the first time) on this new blog

Get Him To The Greek - I Heart Bronson Pinchot

Bronnie, as he signs off on his blog, was big star in the 1980's and 1990's. All the while he had a secret passion. He was a decorator, a designer, a restoration freak! He started collecting antiques when he was a kid. Except for the TV and movies part, his story reminds me of my dear Michael Pelkey who would build a house around the perfect little round antique window he had stashed away in one of his many warehouses awaiting the perfect moment of use.

Bronson Pinchot loves old things

Bronson Pinchot owns a good part of a small town in Pennsylvania, where he spends most of his free time restoring antique homes, by using pieces of other old homes that have be demolished. He owns the cutest teeny post office, and four other 19th century homes, and one incredible 1840's Greek Revival beauty that is home base.

The town in Pennsylvania that Bronnie is fixing up one house at a time

Greek Revival is a very popular style in the South, from the humble shotgun cottage, to a mansion in any town or city, to the incredible plantation homes that dot the Mississippi River (and other locales in the South), to the style of tombs that prevail in New Orleans.

A wonderful book to own about Greek Revival - get it on Amazon

It is my favorite style of architecture, and my dream house is a Greek Revival center hall house.

So whilst flipping channels one day, I lighted upon The Bronson Pinchot Project on the DIY Network. There was Bronnie and his crew rebuilding, decorating, and restoring these grand white houses, using architectural salvage, vintage lighting and furnishings, and turning things on their ear so to speak.

Don't miss this show on the DIY Network

This is no stale text book restoration. Bronnie reinterprets spaces and makes them fresh and unusual by mixing all the antique elements in just the right way. He has a keen eye for using natural light, and his instincts for proportion are organic and fluid. Plus he's funny and charming and passionate.

Bronson Pinchot knows how to use light

The show was kind of in a pilot rotation on Saturday mornings, but it is taking over a Saturday night prime time slot, so check your local listings.

Bronnie's house - swoon

Terrible screen shot of how Bronson installed a stone cameo of Apollo over an old fireplace - He also added a skylight and a mirror so that the light would hit it just ever so perfectly - Apollo weighs a ton, but Bronson's incredible crew found a way to install it - It is pure genius, and Bronson please post a better picture of this!

A little cupola in the back yard, salvaged and saved and perfect

A view of the cupola from the house

Bronson calls this a library though it doesn't have one bookshelf - He installed old windows all around, restored the  floor, added the stove and brick floor hearth, and simple furnishings - It is a nice room to read in and just think away the hours

This is a kitchen he created in one of the four houses he owns in the town - all the appliances are hidden behind complex cabinetry built from reclaimed old wood

Here's Bronnie all happy in front of a house that needs his TLC on the DIY

In case you were absent on the day this was covered in class, here's a quick primer on Greek Revival

In the meantime, I am dreaming of my Greek Revival house that has white Venetian plaster walls, beautiful old wood floors, fan light windows, in fact lots of windows, handsome columns, quirky lighting fixtures, gauzy curtains, and lots of candlelight. Michael Pelkey and Bronnie are there with Alberto and the crew, and we are having a wonderful time, and laughing until we cry.

The Library - the walls are Venetian plaster

Please add my NEW address to your blog list:
http://thevisualvamp.blogspot.com
And please become a Follower again (or for the first time) on this new blog