Customer Reviews

The New Traditional: Reinvent-Balance-Define Your Home

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Daryl Carter has created a new genre and a signature style that is elegant, classical, and comfortable, where the new mixes with the old, and less is certainly more. His equal parts of restraint and creativity create an amazing combination. This book is like a slow, beautiful, casual walk through a well designed yet livable home. I wanted to stop, sit down and enjoy being in many of those rooms. Daryl Carter is already important as furniture designer, lighting designer, and interior designer and if this book is any indication likely the next Martha Stewart like figure for home furnishing.

I have long admired Darryl Carter for his sophistication, sense of restraint and cool modern take on neoclassicism. That said, I found myself searching each photograph for something just a little more interesting -- just one object or piece of furniture that was a little less generic and basic. The best shot is on the cover, juxtaposing the solid honey brown footed pedestal table and the delicate painted regency klismos chair. A little bit more humor and interplay between shapes, forms, texture and color would go a long way toward activating these interiors and making them spring to life. As is, everything is just a fraction too still and plain. But I'm still a fan.

Darryl Carter is a revolutionary in the design world. Creating classic, visualy engaging, and completely livable environments for his clients has transfered well to the book world. Easy and informative reading, stunning photography, and realistic living environments make this a book not about Darryl Carter (like many interior design books) but about well lived and well crafted interiors. This book is how it should be!

I adore this book! In fact after reading this book I tossed out my enormous collection of country and antique design books because I realized that they would never again do. I live in a 200 year old home filled with antiques. I am a relatively young mother of three and, while I love my antiques, I have been craving a more updated, fresh look. This book made me realize that to achieve this I didnt have to "start over" and get rid of most of my stuff (or sell my home!). This book really inspires me to use my old things in a fresh new way. "The New Traditional" is a perfect name for this book. Carter uses imperfect antiques in old homes and gives it all new life in a way that no other designer seems to have captured. Thank you Darryl Carter!!

I found The New Traditional to be completely refreshing... not only for the beautifully captured images, but for the thoughtful writing. Here is a work that I can understand. Mr. Carter takes his ideology and lets the reader pull elements from it that can be executed in their own style - it's a universal message really. That shared, I find his work to be just what the title proclaims - the new traditional. Classic forms brought up to date with the use of neutral textiles - allowing us to appreciate the graceful lines of a camel-back sofa or wing chair rather than being in a competition with pattern on pattern and superfluous trims. The bold juxtaposition of a dark oyster veneered table rising off of a whitewashed floor takes on a sculptural quality. Those that "just see white" clearly don't look at details beyond the surface. Here is someone who understands the subtly of neutrals and washes - of texture interplay, shape, scale and form. I see the new traditional as a movement in a new era of American design which embraces and honors the past with a vision toward the future... I see Mr. Carter as being at the forefront of this design movement. Leave the fussy toile and tassels in your grandmother's attic! Congratulations Mr. Carter!

For too long, minimalism has been fused to modernism. Following Bauhaus dictates that "form must follow function" and that "ornament is a crime", modernists have embraced the mimimalist call. At its best, modernist minimalism can be stunning (Mies' Barcelona Pavillion) and at its worst it can be brutal and cold. Although the modernists have been the leading proponents of this design philosophy, we need to acknowledge that America has a rich minimalist tradition that pre-dates the modernists. Clean, simple and honest design goes back to our nation's colonial roots. Darryl Carter in "The New Traditional" emcraces both minimalist traditions. He is not afraid to mix high art modernism with warm antiques. It is this measured mix of both cool and warm that makes Carter's approach so appealing. This is one of the best interior design books that I have seen in a long time. Highly recommended.

I was delighted to see that Darryl Carter's book The New Traditional was identified as "destined to be a classic" in the current issue of Oprah's magazine O at Home - and in the company of books by such design luminaries as Parish-Hadley, Mark Hampton and Terence Conran.

I think this is a keeper for your style files. Lots and lots of photos to Carter's unique style. While a lot of designers are mixing old+new and antique+modern, I can't think of anyone who is doing so in such a distinctive way. I'm not saying Carter's style is my favorite, but it is beautifully executed, tasteful, memorable, daring, and modern. It's Gustavian, Belgium, traditional, rustic, modern, regency, french, neo-classical all rolled into one amazing book.

Beautiful photography and a great read. I not only fell in love with Carter's decorative style, but also his diction. Darryl Carter is a brilliant and innovative decorator and an articulate author. The New Traditional reads with a refreshingly empowering and intelligent voice on design.

Darryl,

This is a fabulous book! My favorite section is Chapter 13, Invite. I am a mother of a 2 year-old and a proud owner of an ultra suede beige sectional. Owning light colored upholstery may sound impossible for most parents, especially to those like me who don't have "off-limit areas" to children, but you don't have to sacrifice style or comfort in order to have a kid-friendly and inviting living space. In this chapter, Darryl explains how not to sacrifice style for durability and how to choose stain resistant fabrics.
After reading this book last September, I proceeded with the purchase of my beige sectional with great confidence and ever since, my daughter... let's just say...has enjoyed her share of the couch. You would be surprised what stains and marks I am able to get out with just simple soap and water and it still looks new!

Thanks Darryl!!