Posted 12:15 am Friday, July 20, 2012
Send to Kindle
PAGE TWO: Jonathan Adler’s ‘Happy Chic’ Inspires A Big Design Splash
“By the side of the everlasting Why there is a Yes ...”
-- E.M. Forster, “A Room With A View”
By KATHRYN GARVIN
kgarvin@tylerpaper.com
Saying yes to a more-is-more aesthetic is second nature for a man who grew up in eclectic interiors packed with objects.
Decorator, product designer and author Jonathan Adler has spent his life filling the world with decorative accessories. At the core of his design philosophy is the belief that conformity is a bore and minimalism breeds pessimism. Put simply, your home should make you happy.
-- E.M. Forster, “A Room With A View”
By KATHRYN GARVIN
kgarvin@tylerpaper.com
Saying yes to a more-is-more aesthetic is second nature for a man who grew up in eclectic interiors packed with objects.
Decorator, product designer and author Jonathan Adler has spent his life filling the world with decorative accessories. At the core of his design philosophy is the belief that conformity is a bore and minimalism breeds pessimism. Put simply, your home should make you happy.
Adler bemoans the anonymity in the relentless pursuit of tastefulness and he asks, “Where’s the heart, where’s the fun and the joie de vivre?” His antidote — 9% chic + 5% happy = nirvana or ‘Happy Chic’— is a formula for the visual feast that is “Jonathan Adler On Happy Chic Accessorizing,” published by Sterling Publishing Co., $17.95.
Known for his modernist forms and tongue-in-cheek aesthetic, Adler teaches the classic rules of decorating and then shows you how to break those rules. He believes chic should be accessible and the key to accessibility is to inject your personality into the design.
Known for his modernist forms and tongue-in-cheek aesthetic, Adler teaches the classic rules of decorating and then shows you how to break those rules. He believes chic should be accessible and the key to accessibility is to inject your personality into the design.
Adler’s book serves as a visual guide to develop the formal rigor that will become your springboard for play. It is packed with images of interiors and objects for the home. He dazzles us with brilliant color and well-edited design. His interiors pop with eccentric objects. Tablescapes and accessories tell Adler’s unique story and he encourages us to tell ours.
So, unlock you inner chic — express yourself and enjoy the process.
So, unlock you inner chic — express yourself and enjoy the process.
TIPS & TRICKS
Aim for put-togetherness and then tweak it to brand it with your style
Collecting and displaying art is one of the most effective means of injecting Happy Chic into the home
Neon rules
Paint directly on your walls
Screens and Mirrors = magic + dazzle
There’s always room for another lamp
Ignore disdainful neighbors
Layer, layer, layer
Collecting and displaying art is one of the most effective means of injecting Happy Chic into the home
Neon rules
Paint directly on your walls
Screens and Mirrors = magic + dazzle
There’s always room for another lamp
Ignore disdainful neighbors
Layer, layer, layer
