BUNNY WILLIAMS / USE THIS VERSION
by Susanna Salk for 1stdibs
“It’s fine to have a wonderful house but if you don’t nurture it, what’s the point?!,” declares Bunny Williams with her trademark sensibility. It’s her passion for living not just well, but right, which compels her to impart the treasure trove of knowledge she has acquired from over 30 years of renowned design work and almost as many years nurturing her own weekend abode from a sorry 18th-century wreck into one of the most beautiful homes in the world. When Williams speaks, you listen carefully, because you are going to learn something that will make your life a little better. Even if you aren’t lucky enough to have your own country home or an herb garden, her advice on those subjects transcends the specifics to embrace a joie de vivre that is both down-home and infectious. “I am willing to tell about all the mistakes I made,” she says. This is a woman who doesn’t just make a phone call to order up a picture-perfect dinner party. For Williams, it’s about serving a fuss-free meal to the people she loves (on china she actually uses) in rooms that are breathtakingly gorgeous, but above all comfortable. (Her dogs think so too and she is more than happy to share sofa space with them)  So while Williams is lucky enough to have a gardener to cut roses for the centerpieces, the flowers come straight from her garden which she designed and where she’d happily spend all day weeding if she weren’t so darn busy. This “flaw” we forgive because we so benefit from it.  Williams is spending much of her time these days writing books that open doors onto her world, not so that we’ll stand behind a velvet rope in awe, but in hopes that we’ll come right in, have a seat and be inspired.
“We were always at home growing up,” says the Virginia native. “Our town was a dry one so we never went out. Most of my cousins lived there too and one of my favorite childhood memories was Sunday lunch at the home of our family matriarch, Aunt Berta.  It was babies to octogenarians around the table and the food was always delicious.” Williams’ own mother was a style force in her own right. “Our house was so pretty and she had great flair,” Williams remembers.  “It was always an event to watch her set a table. There were always cheese straws in the cupboard for last minute guests. It was all about the warmth the house could give you.”
And while she admits she was lucky enough to be surrounded by effortless style (along with antiques and horse pictures) Williams describes her own design education as self-taught. “I came to New York and worked at Stair & Co. and then I went to the University of Parish Hadley.” Williams walked into the venerable design firm spearheaded at the time by the iconic Sister Parish and her business partner, the equally influential Albert Hadley. Luckily, Hadley needed a secretary and Williams found herself a job. She spent the next 20 years there, absorbing everything from her unique vantage point. “I knew after being there a little while that I was going to make a career of it,” says Williams. “The learning wasn’t going to stop at office hours. I was entrenched full time.” Before long she was helping shop for fabrics and promoted to Parish’s assistant. William’s first real project happened during a new client meeting when it became apparent that the woman did not quite have the budget to realize Parish’s vision. Unruffled, Parish simply said, “I have somebody who is good with a dollar.” Then she brought in Williams and a sensible design star was born. Williams immediately embraced the challenges of that task. “The woman had placed quaint taste in a modern house. I don’t think you can ever ignore an architect’s vision. So I had to get us both to move in that direction. I let her keep collecting her china chickens but I just arranged them on brackets in a more modern way.” The two went on to become fast friends and Williams’ knack for thoughtful, personable decorating went on to endure her to a lucky legion of homeowners.  Bunny Williams was able to hang her own shingle in 1988.

If Parish Hadley was a landmark in Williams’ career, then meeting her husband, venerable antiques dealer John Roselli was another.
The two initially met, as Williams had always been a frequent customer in Rosselli’s antique shop.  Then in 1991, they found themselves commiserating at the Chelsea Flower Show in London about how hard it was finding wonderful garden sources in America. Both being professional shoppers, it wasn’t long before Treillage Ltd., their high-style garden shop on the Upper East Side, was born. (They recently opened another outpost of Treillage nearby, offering home furnishings and tabletop) “With John it was like have the baby first and then getting married,” says Williams with a smile. “We were traveling together so much; we had so many common interests and had such fun.”  Rosselli soon became an invaluable part of Williams’ life not just in Manhattan and abroad but in her beloved Connecticut home, the transformation of which she magnificently detailed in her 2005 smash hit book, An Affair of the House.(ITALICS)  “I’m still shocked when I see it in some small town bookshop,” says Williams modestly. “But I think it did well because I spoke from the heart.”
She continues her mission of sharing her personal style souvenirs with her next book (out in fall, 2010 from Stewart Tabori & Chang) called Scrapbook for Living.(ITALICS) “It’s literally about the essence of living and what you can do for your home,” explains Williams. “People tend to be afraid. So if I can help them with advice on how to make a bed or set a table, I’m happy.” Interspersed with her helpful prose will be snapshots of her own rooms that always aim to encourage, not intimidate.
Amidst the creative whirl of compiling the book, Williams has just produced yet another stylish offspring, this time in the form of her own limited edition furniture and accessories, BeeLine Home. “I am certain I am not the only designer who has had trouble finding those much needed pieces that will make a room special,” she says. “My tastes are unabashedly eclectic. I wanted pieces that would work together not because they are alike but because they are different.” Ranging from sofas to side tables, lamps to mirrors, BeeLine Home presents the sum of all that inspires Williams, pieces that she covets herself. In fact, as soon as the first samples arrived in her office, Williams promptly swapped out the existing furniture she had for years and arranged BeeLine in its place. The Nailhead Velvet Sofa, Work Horse Desk, Garden Panel, embroidered pillows from India, Tambour side table in ebony, and her favorite hurricane lamps looked instantly at home.
“I just wanted to create things that every room needs,” says Williams. “Besides I like staying busy. If I didn’t decorate I’d spend my life in the country with my dogs.”

END

For 1st Dibs – Jan 2009

What direction is your style compass pointed to –

Fashion – I start with basics, pants and skirts made by my favorite tailor Mr Leung, sweaters from Bendels or Eskandar and then add jackets and coats from Lee Anderson and Michael Boris made of amazing fabrics. I have a huge collection of accessories especially necklaces and earrings which come from vintage shops, auctions, Takashimaya, Barneys and specialty shops I find all over the world. My shoe collection is huge from Blanik to DSW to custom shoes made by Alan Chan in Hong Kong. My fashion sense is like my decorating; putting together textures, colors and wonderful accessories.

Fabrics – I always like to mix textures and colors. Prints from Robert Kime, Raoul or Fortuny. Linens from Rogers and Goffigon. Leathers from Edelman. Embroideries from Chelsea textile and always antique fabrics like silk ikats, Indian prints. Embroideries from Uzbekistan, batik sarongs from Bali, European needlework thrown into the mix for interest and to relax the scheme.

Entertaining – The most important thing in entertaining is that the host or hostess must have a good time. If you are not enjoying the occasion, your guest will not. So entertain in a way that you are comfortable. Don’t make it too formal unless you have great help. No one wants to see the hosts working too hard. Buffets of great simple food, an outrageous dessert and good wine is enough. Always set a special table. This makes guests feel that it is special. Use Indian bedspreads for table cloths. Use objects instead of flowers in the center of a table. Use low votive candles for flattering light and make sure the room is not over lit. Lighting creates atmosphere. Mix your guests up at the table for better conversation. The more you entertain the easier it will become.

Color – always a mixture of neutrals, white, beige, grays, greens combined with clear color so there is excitement and the palette never seems drab.

Travel – my trips this past year have taken me to Africa on safari, Belgium and Holland to study the gardens of Jacques Wirtz and Indonesia for my furniture collection. My trips will always take me to places where I can hunt for special artisans and find inspiration for my work.
Addition: Each year I go to Indonesia, India or Vietnam where we have many things made for Treillage and Bee Line. My travels abroad always involve some shopping as I’m always inspired by amazing craftsmen. For relaxation, it is to the Dominican Republic where John and I have a house where I can swim, read, read, read and play with our four adopted dogs.

Gardening – my garden is going through a bit of a transformation - simplifying beds of flowers, strengthening the architecture, removing plants and massing much larger groups of a single variety, modernizing the sensibility. The same for the flowers- one color in an arrangement, simpler and stronger.

Design – the old adage less is more; but in editing, not losing the warmth that I think a home should have. Bolder mixtures of periods and shapes that create strong visual interest but always remembering that I never want a room to become a cliché.
Addition: Creating Bee Line over the past few years and finally seeing the collection completed has been so exciting and I am starting to create the second collection. My basic principles of design do not change but what does change is how people live in more casual, more technically oriented settings and my ideas for interiors reflect that change. I am always reaching for new combinations that meld the modern with a sense of the past.

Books –  books by Iris Origo and a book about Iris Origo by Caroline Moorehead. Paper Illusions, the art of Isabelle de Borchgrave by Barbara and Rene Stoeltie.

Museum – Metropolitan

Restaurant – La Grenouille, Taste

Music CD  - anything by Marvin Gaye or Maria Callas depending on my mood.

Gift - books

Shoppe – our shop Treillage since we buy the things we love from around the world for the store.