The former Vogue home editor and Elle Decor design editor at large describes restyling her home in Dutchess County, New York …
“What is it about home – a universe unto itself contained by walls, doors, and windows – that is so fascinating? It is surely in winter when I contemplate this the most. The ostentatious bang of Christmas and New Year’s that commences each winter quickly gives way to the quieter mood that marks the rest of the season.”
“It is in winter when I do the most tinkering, moving paintings here and there, rearranging mantels and tabletop surfaces. It is a time to play with the objects at home and the narratives they can tell when put together in new configurations. It’s an excellent time to take down all your art and rearrange it. The very act of moving around objects, artwork, and textiles allows your eyes to see things anew. I love the beautiful, rich blue of the François Rouan painting above the fireplace.”
“I love to entertain in the cold, dark months. I will move our dining table around to new locations in the living room to accommodate larger groups – for Christmas dinner or birthday parties. It’s so fun seeing a room arranged just a little differently than it normally is. And though I love a densely patterned tablecloth, I also love setting a delicate white linen or lace cloth on the table, dressed in polished silver and fine, fussy plates and crystal. A fancy party in a decidedly unfussy barn once meant for hay and livestock feels right to me.”
“I love to forage in the winter. Bittersweet vine, which my husband wars with each summer for choking our trees and bushes to death, makes for a fabulously sculptural flourish even after its berries have shriveled to little crimson droplets. For Christmas, I chop down evergreen branches for large-scale and festive urn arrangements (beware the sap). I have a soft spot for traditional bulbs – potted amaryllis, paperwhites. Our geraniums come in, refugees from the cold, and they winter on our living room floor. There’s something beautiful about the repetition of it all, reminding me of the temporary yet cyclical nature of all things.”
“One of my favourite collections is my series of ‘lady portraits.’ I spend a good deal of time in the winter looking at them. I have always been drawn to these pictures of unknown sitters, charting moments from childhood to old age. It’s comforting to see the continuum. Some of them hold animals – birds, pets – some hold flowers, some write. Their garments are the only giveaway of their time on earth. Like my objects, I wonder about these forgotten ladies, their memory contained now only on canvas, hung together in my upstate New York barn. I like to think that they, too, talk to each other.”
Mieke’s top tips for hosting this Christmas:
1. A tableau of foraged evergreen and pink amaryllis is a classic and simple way to embrace the season with maximum effect.
2. For the amateur florist, I recommend buying inexpensive floral buckets in various sizes. They are extremely practical, stackable, and useful. I like to use bowls, pitchers, and other kinds of unexpected vessels to plant my paperwhites and amaryllis bulbs; they feel more personal and unusual in such containers than when planted in ordinary terra-cotta pots. I use an antique red jacquard for a tree skirt.
3. Think about using one surprising colour as a punctuation mark in a room; it adds levity and often prevents the space from taking itself too seriously.
4. I think of fireplace mantels as landscapes, an opportunity to play with scale, context, and humour. In this instance, the primary colour story of red and blue acts as the connector between the various objects and shapes.
5. For parties, I like to move my dining table around to new locations. This simple change makes the room somehow more animated and fun. A white linen tablecloth – not quite perfectly pressed – lends a timeless simplicity to the Christmas table. The slipcovers on the chair seats, which I had made for multiple chair shapes, are from Arjumand’s World. While I like to mix chair styles, a matching slipcover pattern unites them.
6. My favourite part of winter is hosting candlelit dinner parties. The candlelight makes the lustre application on these Wedgwood plates sparkle, along with the silver and Baccarat crystal. Winter is about catching and reflecting light wherever possible, especially at night.
Interiors Styled By Mieke Ten Have, principal photography by Frank Frances, Vendome Press, €45.
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