Posted on: December 12, 2007

Simply Barbara

Home décor mainstay Barbara Barry explains how California, ovals and the ‘casual elegance’ of luxury intersect in her designs

By Robert Sharoff
CTW Features

For me, beauty is found in the simplest things,” says Los Angeles-based designer Barbara Barry. “I get high on the natural world.” Since founding Barbara Barry Inc. in 1985, Barry has gone on to become one of the most successful and prolific housewares and home furnishings designers in the country.

Over the years, she has designed everything from china and crystal to rugs and furniture for clients such as Baccarat, Limoges, Wedgwood, Baker Furniture and Tufenkian. Most recently, Barry has launched a new collection of fabrics with Kravet, a series of finely crafted lanterns for Boyd Lighting, two new dinnerware patterns for Wedgwood, a home fragrance line to be sold exclusively at Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus, and new additions to her line by Henredon.

She also has created unique and vibrant interiors for a range of private and commercial clients, ranging from a Wyoming farmhouse to a yacht to a New York city loft.

Known for her subdued colors and natural materials, Barry’s work is both modern in its concern for comfort and durability, and timeless in its focus on classic, elegant design.

“It’s all about proportion,” she says. “How does something feel in your hand? How does it relate to your body? That little dialogue is a lifetime’s work.”

HOMESTYLE: You design a huge range of products. What ties everything together in your own mind?

BARBARA BARRY: The fact that it all comes from one hand – my hand – I guess. I have a small office and I draw a lot. Give me a sharpened 4B pencil and a sketchpad and I’m happy. Stylistically, there’s a continuum to my work. Everything works together, nothing stands alone. There’s also an overarching principal of simplicity. I think of it as authentically American.

HS: I see a lot of Art Deco influences in your work.

BB: I hear that a lot, so I guess there must be something to it. But it’s not something I spend a lot of time thinking about. I don’t have any formal training in design. I make everything up as I go along. For me, style starts with [a] line, the line that feels most natural when you’re drawing it. Every designer has a line. Mine tends to be very fluid and curvaceous. But whether it’s Deco or not, I don’t think is that important.

HS: Do you identify it as a female line?

BB: I do. Almost everything I draw starts out as an oval. Oval forms are very organic and sensuous. There is something very female about ovals.

HS: You grew up and continue to live in California. How has that affected your style?

BB: It’s a big influence. In California, the windows are always open and you’re always very aware of nature and the outdoors. The color palette is very subtle and kicked back. I feel like I grew up surrounded by different shades of green. That fabulous celadon sea foam color I use is not an arbitrary choice. It relates to what I see around me.

HS: How important is something like weather when you’re decorating?

BB: Very important. It wasn’t until I worked in New York and London that I started to understand something like a red or egg-yolk-yellow dining room. In a climate where it’s gray for part of the year, you need that hit of color.

HS: The other side of California, of course, is Hollywood. What’s your take on Hollywood glamour?

BB: Well, up until recently, I lived just off the Sunset Strip, so I definitely know Hollywood. My favorite image of Hollywood is kind of frozen in time. I love that whole 1940s era when you had cocktails by the pool while wearing a twinset and pearls. It’s glamorous but also a little formal. For me, the best description of luxury is casual elegance – wearing a great cashmere sweater with a pair of Levi’s or dining outdoors on fine china.

HS: Architects have been pushing Modernism in the last few years. How is that affecting interior design?

BB: I have mixed feelings about it. There’s a beauty and a rigor to the best Modern furniture that – as a designer – you have to respect. But at the same time, a lot of it is not very comfy or cozy.

Also, you can’t add to Modernism. Nothing else works very well with it. In a traditional house, you’re always adding stuff. That doesn’t really happen with Modernism. Once you’ve done a room, it’s done. As a designer, I find that kind of frustrating. I like rooms to evolve and change over time.

HS: What kind of house did you grow up in?

BB: Very simple, very humble. My mother was a painter, an amazing artist. She had an incredible sense of style that had nothing to do with money - we had very little -- and everything to do with confidence and self-expression. She was always painting walls and moving furniture. She also liked to mix her own paint colors and then name them. I still love one she called pond-scum green. My mother was my most vibrant mentor.

HS: You’ve been in business for more than 20 years. How has the design world changed?

BB: People are just a lot more aware of design today. They also – because of the Internet and all the new design publications – have access to a lot of information they didn’t have years ago, and that allows them to make more informed choices. It’s a very different world today.

HS: What’s the hardest part of your job?

BB: Time management. The home is my muse, living is my muse. I get my best ideas from the daily acts of living – cooking breakfast, walking in the garden. When you design as much as I do, re-filling the well is very important. But finding the time to do that gets harder and harder.

HS: How do you relax?

BB: By being very still and quiet. You have to create your own mini spa. Total stillness is important. A good book and a really hot bath are a big help.

SIDE 1

Choice Selections

“How much we have is less important than whether what we have serves us,” says designer Barbara Barry. “You lift the level of luxury by considered choice.” Three things that Barry recommends keeping in mind when redecorating are:

Simplicity

“I like things pared down. It's only when we get caught up in the consumer culture that we keep wanting more of everything. Beauty can be as simple as white walls and polished floors.”

Color

“Still the single most important thing you can do to change the mood of a room.”

Harmony

“Think of the larger whole. When I'm designing, I'm very aware that everything has to work together. The faucet needs to go with the sink, the sink with the vanity, the vanity with the lamp.”

Copyright © CTW Features