From acclaimed French interior designer and decorative arts historian Florence de Dampierre comes an inspiring collection of the best decorative wall treatments. Throughout history, there has been a desire to express the esprit of a period by decorating the walls of our homes. From Italianate murals in Renaissance villas and the whimsical painted panels of the Musée Carnavalet, to English Arts and Crafts wallpaper and Frederic Church’s stenciled homestead Olana, noted connoisseur de Dampierre shows how decorating walls can transform an interior space to dramatic effect that harmoniously creates a rich, sophisticated look.Walls covers a sampling of premier decorative wall designs from around the world that have evolved over the centuries, including fresco, wood paneling, stenciling, and wallpaper. De Dampierre has chosen the best examples that have proven to be the most inspirational and relevant for today’s home interior design. Sidebars will cover such topics as lacquering; chair moldings, pediments, and cornices; borders and friezes; hand-painted linen and cotton hangings; tooled leather, and toile. Each chapter will end with such practical advice as mixing pigments, application tips, maintenance, and restoration. Beautifully photographed, the book offers innumerable wall treatment ideas that can be seamlessly integrated with furnishings of modern interiors to create an original ambience.
Ms.de Dampierre has distinguished herself with solid accomplishments. She is a noted interior designer, furniture historian, and author. Her first book, The Best of Painted Furniture, published in 1987 by Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., has become a bestseller, having sold over a hundred thousand copies. An interior design classic, The Decorators, was published in 1989 (Rizzoli).These titles were followed by Chairs: A History (2006, Harry N. Abrams), which has become the standard reference book on the subject, and French Chic: The Art of Decorating Houses (2008, Rizzoli), which uses her Connecticut home in countless full color photographs to illustrate both principles of design and the techniques she suggests to help one attain a very personal home and one using her "French Chic" visual vocabulary and techniques. Her fifth book, Walls: The Best of Decorative Treatments (2011, Rizzoli) is a lavish journey around the world from the past to the present showcasing such premier decorative wall designs as fresco, wood paneling, stenciling, and wallpaper. De Dampierre shows how decorating walls can transform an interior space to dramatic effect.
A contributing editor to the much missed House & Garden magazine, Ms. de Dampierre writes lifestyle stories for newspapers and magazines. Her Connecticut home has been the subject of many articles.
She began Florence de Dampierre Antiques in New York City in 1985. This was the first American antiques shop devoted solely to eighteenth- and nineteenth-century painted furniture. The shop received great accolades, grew to become a multimillion dollar enterprise, and was housed in its own building in Soho by 1990 with a worldwide clientele. It was the subject of a New York Magazine cover story in 1990.
Ms. de Dampierre had been a contributing designer sponsored by House & Garden magazine for the French Designer Show House, and has a roster of personal design clients. She has lectured extensively around the country and has curated numerous museum exhibitions. Further attesting to her enormous visual sense, Ms. de Dampierre was elected into Eleanor Lambert's Best-dressed List as one of the twelve best-dressed women in the world.
