STYLE COMPASS
Michelle Nussbaumer
By Marcia Sherrill

Michelle Nussbaumer, just back from a jaunt to London, the Middle East and Switzerland, is unruffled by her busy lifestyle. A daughter of West Texas, Nussbaumer knew early on that her life would take an altogether different and more exotic turn than her sorority sisters at preppy, patrician Southern Methodist University. She says, “I studied to be an actress and during my freshman year in Theatre, we had to take classes in set design and there I found my passion.” Her life has all the hallmarks of a cinematic marvel: a Texas girl with big ideas, a cosmopolitan husband, exotic locales and great triumphs ahead.

After meeting her soon-to-be husband, Bernard, a Swiss film producer in Texas, Nussbaumer would leave Texas behind for a whirlwind, around-the-world honeymoon. She continued to pursue her career dreams, plus she now had a storybook romance. She could little have realized that her travels with her husband would help her on her own career trajectory. With her background in theatre design, she knew that design would be it. But how? By remembering her deepest wishes of the past: “When I was in first grade and all the other little girls would be out playing tether ball or climbing the jungle gym, I would make these fantasy houses out of rocks on the playground — a bedroom here and living room there,” remembers Nussbaumer.

The pair would eventually settle in Rome where the film industry was aflame. With a toddler and another baby en route, Nussbaumer quickly absorbed all that Italy had to offer. Nesting in a villa on Via Appia Antica, where Valentino and Zeffirelli were neighbors, Nussbaumer found herself surrounded by the beauty and architecture of ancient Rome, where she would start her career.

The talented young mother would not sit idly by in her own Roman Holiday; soon Nussbaumer was the cynosure for all Texans headed to Italy. She mastered hosting Italian-American visitors, and expats fell in love with the villa she had decorated and sought her out as a guide to Italian treasures. She remembers, “It was before the Internet and 1stdibs and the Italian dealers definitely did not speak English, and I ended up taking all the Americans on shopping excursions. Living and working in Rome was one of the favorite times of my life.”

Moving to Los Angeles when her husband’s work had Hollywood calling, Nussbaumer used those skills culled in the warrens of antique galleries and auctions and opened her own antiques shop and design business, Michelle Nussbaumer Antiques and Designs on La Brea Boulevard — long before it became the bastion of chic furniture and fashion. “Coming from a stage and theatre background, my works tends to be dramatic,” she says. “I like to use period antiques in a modern and unconventional way. I have sold antiques for over twenty years.”

Her antiques soothed her in the hard transition to life Amèricaine . She can vividly recall her sadness, saying, “In LA I cried for a whole year. I would drive home in Rome past the Coliseum and the Catacombs, and then we moved to LA and I was driving past 7-Elevens and Best Buys. It was a huge change, but I did come to love it. Some of my best friends in the world live there today.” As her family grew to four children, her time was spent shuttling between clients on the endless California freeways. “I had the shop and a warehouse and my own furniture collection and clients from Brentwood to Malibu to Beverly Hills but I was missing ballet recitals,” she says. And then about a decade into LA life the calamities began: earthquakes, floods, riots and fires and, she says, “In spite of how much we loved LA, we realized it was time to go home. Maybe someone was trying to tell us something.” She quickly opened her Dallas boutique, Ceylon et Cie, while keeping her LA warehouse and still manufacturing her furniture line in LA. She found that “in Texas I could manage it all.”

She has thrived in Dallas. She was chosen by Elle Decor as one of their five 2009 Women in Design. Elle Decor editors describe Michelle as “a fearless style monger known for her dizzying trove of antiques and her signature line of furniture and lighting.” For their part, Veranda editors say Michelle knows how to “create a sense of drama without forsaking comfort, like many of the great English houses.” And she continues to woo the press, with her design work published in not only Elle Decor and Veranda, but Southern Accents, House and Garden, House Beautiful, Western Interiors and Design, Departures Magazine and The New York Tim).

Combining her furniture line, Ceylon Portfolio, and her exotic line of jewelry, Ceylon Bijoux, and her whirl of client work, Nussbaumer is happiest firing on all cylinders. “I see myself as an artist and the client’s home is my canvas and all the furniture, antiques, textiles and artwork are my palette,” she says. After a recent trip to France, Nussbaumer returned with yet more design ideas — all that has passed her way aesthetically is “Nussbaumer-ized” into her many projects.

A quick trip to see her mother in Bahrain, and she is off with all four children to her chalet in Gstaad (luckily one daughter is working there) and then she is trekking to London for a client who has a period Gothic townhouse on four floors in Chelsea that is being completely renovated. She says, “I knew this client from Texas, so she imported me.” Briefly back in Texas, Nussbaumer finds her staff all smiles when she’s home in the Lone Star State, although not for long. She is off to a conference in Venice, and her designs continue to be a prism through which all of her travels and experiences are reflected. She is humbled by her success, saying, “I have to pinch myself. I am very blessed and thankful. I have a wonderful family, an exciting life, a great staff and we all laugh every day. How did I ever get so lucky?”

FASHION: I've always loved couture. It is unfortunately a dying art. The attention to detail and the quality of the workmanship and fabrics is something that I utilize in my own designs. One of my first jobs while in university was with YSL. His modern use of color was very inspirational. Today I wear Lanvin and Prada mostly.

FABRICS: Antique textiles and tribal fabrics are something I am drawn to in my work. In my new line of ikats, I rely heavily on inspiration from my antique collections of these beautiful fabrics, carpets, embroideries and weavings. I love the colors of Indian minitures and those combinations.

ENTERTAINING: We love to have people over and entertain often. When entertaining I either like things very casual but not forsaking beauty or formal using all of my favorite old silver, heirloom embroidered linens, and antique china. While living in Italy and having many impromptu parties, I realized the best meals are those made simply and without a lot of preparation. Luckily my sister is a talented cook too and we all have a great time in the kitchen. At our home there are usually lots of friends and family, all the children, children's friends, and a few dogs underfoot. The more the merrier!

COLOR: I am an artist and a designer...I love color. I find color very emotional. From the moment I awake in my restful blue bedroom I am surrounded by the vibrance and subtlety of color. This is probably why I am so drawn to India and their love of color. If I had to choose just one color it would be vermillion red... Delecroix's red, pomegranate red, the red in Mexican Colonial houses, the red of a Cartier box, and Burmese rubies. Red is such a passionate color.

TRAVEL: My husband and I have always enjoyed traveling together. I take about five large buying trips a year and sometimes I can talk him into coming along - Istanbul, Fez, Rajasthan, Paris, Damascus. My husband prefers the Seychells, Capri, or any beach. There is usually nothing for me to buy there!

GARDENING or FLORAL: Working in my garden with my English roses, Hollyhocks, vegetables and herbs is very rewarding. Not always easy in the Texas climate though. Flowers... I like loose bouquets of one color and type. Usually tulips or peonies when in season, I have a standing order.

ART or DESIGN: Indian minitures, Ingres, and Picasso.

HOW GREEN ARE YOU?: I try to think green constantly both in my home and business. I always recycle and owning an antique showroom, it is the ultimate recycling. I just finished a project that was all LEED-certified; the flagship coffee shop for Global Peace factory. BOOK: I have a huge design library which I reference and use for inspiration all the time. I have all the old greats. Billy Baldwin, Tony Duquette, Henri Samuel, Rose Cummings, Andre Arbus, Jean-Michel Frank, Gilbert Poillerat, and David Hicks. I could go on and on. When in New York, I never leave town without stopping by Strand to see what vintage or out-of-print books they have. Right now I am reading William Faulkner again and Cecil Beaton's unedited diaries, Beaton in the Sixties.

MUSEUM: Museo del Prado in Madrid, Picasso Museum in Barcelona, and the Menil in Houston has the most divine Cy Twombly Gallery.

RESTAURANT: Olden restaurant in Gstaad, da Nino in Rome.

HOTEL: Umaid Bhawan Palace Jodhpur. One of the last great Palaces Of India. An Art Deco splendor, straight out of the Raj. I have been going there for years and the staff makes me feel so at home. I usually spend several weeks a year there while on buying trips. The Maharaja still resides there.

MUSIC CD: World music always sets the mood for me. Anything from Manu Dibango to Tibetan Bells.

GIFT: Gifts should be personal and well-presented. I like to give gifts from my travels when I see something that reminds me of someone I usually buy it and surprise them with it. On a recent trip to Istanbul, I found these beautiful hammered gold earrings that I bought for myself and my friends. Unexpected gifts are the best.