having another 'freaky Friday' flashback
It's Friday the 13th - and time once again for a 'freaky Friday flashback'! (cue the ghoulish laughter and creaking noises)Despite asking for (and receiving) ideas for this 'fFf' during the previous 'fFf' post, I had pretty much already decided who the lucky 'switch' would be when I hit 'publish' on that post in September. And it's someone I've been crushing on for longer than the lovely Emerson Fry. Without further ado then. Today's 'freaky Friday' flashback is:
Mistress of all things chic and considered. Proprietor of Hamilton Design Associates. It was crush at first sight when I first fell for this room:
And then this one, adjacent to the first:
Together, they became 'the room' for me; the one by which all other rooms are judged. I remember it like it was yesterday, flicking through the November 2003 Elle Decor. My jaw went slack at the sight of those lacquered walls. My eye moved to the floors. And then to those dining chairs. And the coffered ceiling. And the wainscotting. Then I got a closer glimpse of the walls in the dining room. I wanted ... no, needed that wallcovering. Is it paper? Is it fabric? I had to know - and have it on hand to use when I had the right room. It was 'a moral imperative', I declared. I haven't found it. Yet. Because I am ever the inveterate optimist, I hunt for it to this day.
(If anyone knows, leave a comment; I implore you.)
Ahem.Clearly, I was smitten - and with good reason, I think. And then, when I saw her standing on the steps of that brownstone with a Bean tote:
I was convinced that she was the designer for me. In a 2010 interview with NYSD, she opens her home and shares her inspirations. In her heritage she can count a milliner, a furniture designer, an artist, and an architect. Coupled with her talent, it's no wonder then, is it? She and her husband are 'committed urbanists', 'willing to live with a certain amount of contentiousness and discomfort.' It requires resourcefulness, as does design, and making the best of what's available, as does design. 'It's an act of will and a choice.' And with that, I became forever-more an unabashed, unapologetic Ellen Hamilton fan.
These pictures! This style! The detail! It's enough to send me into design fits! I love it! I feel like Agnes from Despicable Me!
And now it's your turn, kids. Who's next on the 'fFf' carousel? Let me know in the comments who you think deserves the switch. You have some time, by the way; the next 'Friday the 13th' is in June 2014. Until then...
Onward.
