MILIEU Summer 2022

I recently delved into the beautiful pages of iconic designer Rose Tarlow’s new book, Three Houses. Reading her prose and looking at the photographs (many of which were taken by Miguel Flores-Vianna, a longtime MILIEU contributing photographer) brought me back to earlier days in my design career when, even then, I loved wonderful “brown” antiques, especially when mixed with different textures and periods. Brown antiques is an endearing term that refers to a certain type of classic vintage furniture and accessory with traditional forms. For years, during my full-time work as an interior designer, I used Rose’s first book, The Private House (published in 2001), as a constant source of inspiration. Just as it seems to have delighted Rose some 20 years ago, it delights me, too, to see the current…

RUARD VELTMAN and JULIA PALEN WOOD In 2005, Ruard Veltman founded Ruard Veltman Architecture + Interiors, a Charlotte, North Carolina–based firm that specializes in residential architecture, interior design, and custom furniture. Veltman (owner and lead principal architect), Julian Palen Wood (senior interior designer), and the experienced team members at the firm are passionate about incorporating traditional and timeless design with organic and modernistic elements throughout their architecture and interior design commissions. The firm’s projects can be found all over the country. SHANNON BOWERS Shannon Bowers honors the lifestyles of her clients and the architecture of their homes with impeccably tailored interiors. Her work does not adhere to a signature style or aesthetic, for every project requires unique concepts and solutions. With the support of her talented team, she creates beautiful, authentic spaces filled…

LAURELS FOR LAURA For the interior design industry, the equivalent of an Oscar at the Academy Awards is likely the honor of being named Designer of the Year at the annual Maison&Object fair held during Paris Design Week. In 2019, young Paris-based Laura Gonzalez received the coveted designation; since that time, her design work and ever-growing furniture accessories collection have continued to flourish. A simple look at any of her recent creations—lamps, tables, chairs, lighting fixtures, sofas, ceramic objects—reveals immediately her complex aesthetic. As an interior designer and an architect, she often cites her Italian, Spanish, and French heritage as a kind of innate influence on her work. Art Deco, ancient Greco-Roman architecture, classic Colonial forms, and other traditional motifs characterize her interiors and objects. While she designs what she wants,…

It is midday, and one of the great rituals of the Arniano Painting School is just beginning. Our hostess, Amber Guinness, of that famous brewing family, rings a tiny handbell. My fellow painters and I lay down our brushes and proceed like cardinals to a table shaded by lemon trees at the side of the 18th-c. Tuscan farmhouse. There is a reassuring pop and the first of the day’s bottles of Soave is opened. Guinness—whose new cookbook, A House Party in Tuscany (Thames & Hudson), is out now—drifts around dispensing wine into our rapidly drained glasses. “My father used to have a horror at seeing an empty glass,” she says. It is like being at a private house party. Only much more interesting. The other attendees on this week-long course are like…