By Judy Carmack Bross
Brittany Bromley and daughters with parents, Libby and David Horn, Chicagoans long recognized for their informed philanthropy through such organizations as the Alliance Francaise and their own great style.
Brittany Bromley, known for her “classic with a kick” designs, gives credit to her Chicago parents Libby and David Horn in the introduction to Relaxed Elegance –a glorious trip through her interiors from New York, to Palm Beach to St. Louis, just published by Rizzoli. Recalling that she was more interested in the Barbie dreamhouse than Barbie herself, Bromley found her Gold Coast home the perfect drawing board for her dream to be a designer.
“We lived in a brownstone that dated from 1888, and my brother and I would make elaborate maps of where in the house we imagined treasures and secret passageways might be located. His cartography was always very direct—a series of rectangular rooms arranged in grids—whereas mine almost always included architectural flourishes and all of the furniture—an early indicator of my passion for a good floor plan.”
Creator of Brittany Bromley Interiors in her hometowns of Bedford, New York and Palm Beach, Bromley began the gorgeously photographed Relaxed Elegance by inviting readers into her Bedford home, an historic landmark colonial built in 1790. “Designers often call their own homes their design laboratories, and in this instance there were no limits on my creativity except perhaps budgetary restraints,” she wrote. “In the primary suite, my talented and saintly mother helped me hand paint the antique French headboard the perfect aged Swedish blue gray.”
A view into Brittany Bromley’s Bedford home
We love how Bromley writes of the key aspects of design including pattern mixing:
“Finding patterns that work well together is a bit like doing the seating chart for a dinner party. You want your guests to have things in common but you also want their conversations to engage one another and create an almost chemical reaction from which all benefit. And just with dinner party companions, when you are mixing motifs, it goes back to that old adage: if you love it, it will work. I’m sure that there are people out there who would say that a marbleized wallpaper with a floral hand-blocked batik and avid-yellow velvet is too much. But for me, it’s just right.”
Park Avenue apartment designed by Brittany Bromley
We couldn’t wait to talk with Bromley about Relaxed Elegance and creativity.
CCM: You write beautifully about your parents’ beautiful taste, and I wondered if you might say anything about Chicago trends and designs that have most influenced you growing up in addition to your own lovely home. Are there major influences on Chicago interiors.
BB: I was very fortunate to grow up in my parent’s homes, which were always well collected through their travels, and well-considered, since they both have a great eye for design. Many of their homes are very European in feeling, fitting as they are both very much Francophiles! I think Chicago is an urban environment which lends itself to a certain level of sophistication in its design aesthetic. In our homes, there was always a bold use of color, unusual textures, like jute or sisal floor coverings, and pops of animal print. Undoubtedly these homes influence who I am as a designer today, and the pieces to which I gravitate in my projects.
CCM: When putting together a book how do you choose what clients to feature—is it all about a story you want to tell? I see that you have featured your house, a New York City apartment, a second home and others. Your book is so well put together, it is like a novel with a story to tell. Were you conscious of the story you wanted to tell and then chose the homes?
BB: When choosing projects for this book, we were very conscious of wanting to show the depth and breadth of the amazing locations in which we are fortunate enough to work. Each of those locations has a certain vernacular, and the ability to be fluent in multiple vernaculars is one of the things I love most about being a designer. The elements that we would choose for an apartment in New York City are very different than those we would choose for a more rural country home, and the same again for a beach house. However, when reviewing all of these projects, as one does in preparation to publish the book, it became clear that there is very much “a river that runs through it” as it relates to our design ethos. Whether we are at the beach or on Park Avenue, there’s a certain collected, curated final product which is always the aim of any design concept. And it’s very important to us that that final product reflects the desires and personalities of our individual clients, rather than that of our own.
CCM: You write about choosing patterns in a fascinating way, is that something that particularly appeals?
BB: I love pattern play, I find it to be such a rewarding endeavor when you can combine different patterns in a pleasing way. The result is a visual feast, and often the juxtaposition makes both more interesting than they would be in their singular forms.
Entering into Bromley’s Bedford home is a delight
CCM: Many of your homes are both historic and classic, what are ways that you most like to give a little twist?
BB: One thing that I’ve learned from working in a number of historic homes is that you have to learn to embrace the idiosyncrasies! They will never be expansive, large, white kitchens , and there are often multiple floor levels with which to contend, and viewing these peculiar house peccadillos as opportunities rather than obstacles helps us to embrace them in creative ways. An example of this would be that in historic homes, you often have sections of the home that have been added onto over time, and one of the ways that these separate periods of history are often most visible is in the flooring material and width. One method that we have employed to great result is to find a way to seamlessly blend two different ages of a home by creating a decorative floor pattern in paint which disguises the different size and species of wood floors and marries the separate spaces, helping them to feel more connected.
CCM: If you could give one piece of advice to someone who has the winter blues and wants to make a quick change in their home, what might they do?
BB: I’m a firm believer in the quick pick-me up that is a new wall covering! Wallpaper is both more readily available and less expensive than ever, and the quickest way to bring about changing any space is always to choose a new wallcovering. And in fact, there are now so many options that are not permanent, that this avenue formerly only available to homeowners is also a quick and easy fix for people renting a space and not looking to invest in the equity of the home!
CCM: You have a store as well, what type of items are selling most and does that tell you about current trends?
BB: Our store in Palm Beach has been a wonderful opportunity for us to create a space and design it as though it were home, but also have everything in that space be for sale. Some of the things which we sell most are patterned lampshades, rugs, artwork, mirrors, tableware and glasses, and linens. And of course, pillows! We sell an awful lot of pillows!
The frontispiece of Relaxed Elegance features a vase of white anemones, and a gorgeous bowl of ranunculus in different shades of coral Bromley calls her “kryptonite” appear set against a backdrop of Pierre Frey wallpapers, illustrating the beautiful touches in Bromley’s designs found throughout her debut book.
