More Jill Brinson

I got a nice anon message!
In fact it was a very good tip about the blogosphere's new favorite designer, Jill Brinson.
My gentle reader gave me the link to the Jill Brinson web site which I would never have found, since it's under her maiden name of Jill Sharp. It's an unusual web site in that it doesn't scream me, me, me, and hence there is not much in the way of chatty biographical information. But from exploring the site, I gathered Jill Sharp is married to photographer Rob Brinson, hence her being credited in the December 2009 issue of House Beautiful as Jill Brinson.

Jill Brinson House Beautiful December 2009

I have gathered some images from the web site for you.


I think I personally respond to Jill's rooms, because we use so many of the same things in decorating our homes. I love white furniture, big clocks, industrial metal things, cowhide rugs, interesting textiles, old shutters, white ironstone, big lanterns, pretty flowers, light bare floors, quirky objects, and pretty rooms.


I've tried to bust out of my cottage lady ways with color and a modern dose of accents, but I always revert back to the things Jill loves.

A different view of Jill Brinson's Living Room
Rolls of wallpaper seem to be hanging from the balcony instead of fabric!

I approach decorating more as a stylist than a designer. Jill Brinson is an uber stylist and style maker, and her interiors reflect an eye for the photo shoot.

One of the things my generous anon commenter stated is that in a recent Skirted Roundtable interview with House Beautiful editor Stephen Drucker, is that we were a bit misled by Stephen saying that he really didn't know of Jill's work until it came "over the transom" at House Beautiful, kind of implying that she was unknown at House Beautiful, and further planting a seed in the minds of us wishful thinkers that anyone might have a chance at the cover (or maybe at least get a mention as a design blogger ha ha) by throwing our work over the transom.


In fact, Jill had been published in House Beautiful before. Maybe before Stephen Drucker's time there (he's been there five years).

Jill Brinson in a earlier House Beautiful editorial
Very pretty Cottage Lady

Since Jill is creative director for Ballard Designs, I like to call her early House Beautiful editorial "Early Ballard" and her present House Beautiful editorial "Later Ballard." Of course she hasn't furnished her homes with stuff from Ballard, but you can see the original objects and furniture she's collected, and how it is translated for the masses via the Ballard catalog.
"Early Ballard" has much more color and cottage lady fussiness, "Later Ballard" is more evolved, more sleek.

Jill Brinson in an earlier editorial in House Beautiful

Very "Early Ballard"

Even though Jill Brinson is not yet a household name in the world of interior design, she has had a great career. Maybe she'll go the way of national success as fellow Atlanta designer Suzanne Kasler.


She and her husband Rob, seem to be well known in Atlanta where they make their home.


So here are a few more photos of their Atlanta home. It's interesting to see it styled differently than the House Beautiful shoot.

Jill Brinson with no fabric hanging from the loft balcony
No paisley pillows from France either and no cowhide of the sofa

But here are the pillows and the quirky wallpaper hanging off the railing
The parsons table desk, the silver pouf, and the side tables are different
And I much prefer the color of flowers to the green plant

The cowhide on the table

The table sans cowhide originally published in Southern Accents

Another different view and styling of the dining area off the living room

Here's an excerpt of the comment that got me to do this post for you:

Anonymous said... Valorie - below is cut & paste copy of a comment left on the SRT Drucker post. Very interesting. Jill's web site is beautiful. Perhaps you can share it with your readers.

Thank you so very much for the excellent tip! I really enjoyed seeing more of Jill Brinson's work, and I'm sure the Visual Vamp readers have too!


Most images from: Jill Sharp Style

Old School With Nicky Haslam

Computer tools are a marvel. With intuitive user friendly sites like sampleboardonline.com or polyvore, just about anybody can make a decent design board.

At the shop I work in (perch.), when we do a first presentation for an interior design project, we gather fabric samples, and photos of furniture and accessories, or grab things we have on the selling floor, and make a verbal face to face presentation.

When I went to design school I had to learn to do renderings of a proposed room (watercolor or colored pencil), and I had to learn to draw in perspective, and take rudimentary courses in architectural drawing and drafting.

Very few designers work this way anymore, so when I came across the watercolors of one of my favorite legendary interior designers, Nicky Haslam, I thought you'd enjoy seeing an old school way of working.

The first watercolor is for a party decoration. Nicky Haslam has this say about setting the scene for a party:
"I go to a great number of parties, but often they are the opening of shops or the launch of a scent. I don’t count them, parties should be private. I have been associated with the scene at Studio 54 but I didn’t like it very much. It was sleazy, with all those boys in satin shorts snorting coke — El Morocco in the 1950s was much choicer. Years ago I did a coming-out ball for Jessica de Rothschild and recreated El Morocco with three tiers of seats and the Gipsy Kings performing. The seats were covered in blue and white giraffe skin and we had white palm trees and white plaster chandeliers — pretty spectacular."

This is a watercolor by Nicky Haslam of a proposed idea for a party he designed for Cartier.
Here's a photo of the party Nicky Haslam designed. I think you will find it interesting, in each case of first seeing the watercolor (the sketch of the idea of what he has in mind), and then seeing how it translates to reality.

Next is a residence in London, a watercolor of a space Nicky calls The Cabinet Room.

Wow! The softness of the watercolor is deceptive! The actual room is so much richer.

Here's another pretty watercolor for a presentation of an idea for a bedroom in a London townhouse.

In this case, the pastel quality of the watercolor is realized in the actual room.


This is a sketch for a rather grand bathroom for a bathroom in a London home. I love the vibrant blue walls.

The finished bathroom by Nicky Haslam certainly has the spirit of his watercolor.

This Nicky Haslan watercolor depicts an ante room in London.
Notice how the cream colored breakfront has reversed position.

Another watercolor of a London residence of the proposed decoration for the library.

I wonder if the client knew how fabulous it would look just from the charming sketch Nicky presented!

A Nicky Haslam watercolor entitled " The Entrance Hall."

"The Entrance Hall" as a finished product. The window treatments and the grandeur of the staircase are pretty much as shown in the watercolor.

Those are all of the examples I could find showing the "before" being the watercolor, and the"after" being the photograph of the finished room.



I am so charmed and impressed by Nicky Haslam as a watercolor artist, that I wanted to share the rest of the watercolors I found on his web site.
The detail is amazing.

The perspective drawing is excellent.

Each watercolor tells a story that draws you in.

You trust the person who takes such care, and so much talent.


I wonder how long it takes Nicky Haslam to execute one of these watercolors.

I wonder if he does them for every client and every project.


Or if he does one for each room of the house he is decorating.

Are there files and boxes of these gems, these workmanlike works of art, stashed somewhere to be discovered and brought to the light of day?


I would so enjoy and treasure a collection of the water colors of Nicky Haslam bound in a beautiful book.

I know some of you were trained the old school way like I was.

Do you still do watrercolor renderings of a project for your clients?


Click on images to see larger views.

Casting Call

The real talent out there is often unsung, and unpublished.

I know many of you decorate and design.


I would love to feature your work.


You won't be judged or mocked. Just published.


I would love to see photos of the following: cowhide rugs, suzani, and ikat. I want to see if you are still using these, and how you use them.

Of course you can send me anything you have been, or are working on, or have completed.

email photos to me: mizvtheb@yahoo.com



Thanks!