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Improving with age
Improving with age from Renovation Trends volume 2419
Many of life's pleasures become finer with age, just like a good vintage of wine. High-quality antiques are the same – their age, craftsmanship and rarity make them sought after. And like a fine wine, antiques should be enjoyed.
Antique dealer and interior designer Roy Williams assisted the owners of this 1940s home in returning it to splendour. They reclaimed what seemed like short, unfinished rooms to create a Neo-Georgian-inspired home with specific functional spaces, including a living room, dining room, library and drawing room, and furnished them accordingly. Williams says the interior is comfortable and contemporary, despite much of the furniture being from between 1730 and 1830.
"Antiques do not exist in isolation, but are part of a space, to be used and enjoyed. But you do need a spirit of adventure to achieve this look successfully," he says.
Most of the existing collection originated from Europe, while larger pieces, such as the dining room table, were custom designed to ensure a good fit.
Newly acquired art and antiques sit alongside pieces the owners have acquired over the years, all of which are well used.
Williams says it is not uncommon to mix authentic antiques with modern or half-age reproductions, both as a cost benefit, and to create pieces for a specific use. Antiques that are half age were reproductions at the time they were produced, which could be more than 100 years ago.
"The skill is in combining them all together," says Williams. "Taste means being able to juxtapose objects, colours and patterns harmoniously. The texture comes from the mix of cultural references."
Cornices and mouldings were added throughout, and in the drawing room a false fireplace was set and framed in the centre of the room. The low ceiling in the library was coffered to make it seem higher. To further increase the impression of height, mirrors are hung between the window and ceiling in some of the rooms. Diaphanous curtains then enhance the penetration of natural light.
Each room has a different scheme and flavour, and its own story to tell. Williams says the arrangements are limited only by the integrity of the furniture. Each piece has been placed carefully in relation to the pieces around it, and accessories make appropriate references to the eras or locations of the larger pieces. Chandeliers and wallpaper add a decorative touch.
Side tables, reading lamps and wall cabinets leave the centre of the public rooms free, allowing guests to mill around, and those who are seated never have far to reach to enjoy their glass of wine.
This house, furnished in antiques by Roy Williams, is not static, despite furniture dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. To the left of the picture is an Italian love seat and on the right, a French Louis Philippe fauteuil.
Plaster mouldings and cornices provide a traditional finish, while the bold candy-stripe wallpaper is a copy from one seen in an illustration on an 18th-century porcelain panel.
The circa 1815 George III beechwood sofa is painted to look like rosewood, a common practice during the Napoleonic wars, when this popular timber was hard to come by.
The library ceiling has been replaced by a coffered ceiling, popular in the Jacobean era.
Many of the rooms have chandeliers, which are again in vogue. Side lamps add a warm ambience to each room.
A reproduction 1820s dining table does not look amiss alongside authentic 19th-century French cabinetry and an Italian chandelier.
This cinnabar lacquer Chinese four-panel screen is one of several screens which the homeowners use to manipulate the different spaces, directing traffic and light through the house. It is complemented by an 19th-century porcelain Ch'ing dynasty vase.
Credit List
Furniture
:
Antiques by Roy's Antiques Pty Ltd and homeowners' own collection
Plasterer
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Supplied by Picton & Hopkins and installed by Chris Weaver
Reproductions
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Sourced by Roy's Antiques
Wallpaper in the dining room
:
Ridell Marly
Story by Frederique Gulcher
Photography by Andrew Ashton
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