Darryl Carter's 'The New Traditional' Offers Words To Design By

The New Traditional By Darryl Carter with Trish Donnally (Source)

Darryl Carter's new book, The New Traditional, offers more than just a collection of photographs that exemplifies his signature style of employing textures and every tint and shade of white possible in a balanced way.  It is also brimming with Darryl's perspective on design and life.  It could have easily been named 'Words to Design By."  The book is a perspective from Darryl, who is a master at reinventing space and making connections between antiques and modern design as if they were created to live beside one another in a subtle, yet striking contrast.

 

Modern and Traditional Balance and Blend In Darryl's Book 

In The New Traditional, Darryl has assembled fourteen chapters that redefine design elements.  His list includes considerations such as Define, Blend, Relate, and Relax.  As Darryl takes you on a journey through his design philosophy, it leaves you wanting to leap into action and reconsider many things in your home. 

Shutters lengthen thewindows in this bath 

He enlightens us as he shares simple and modern trompe l'oeil techniques like using shutters to lengthen windows and he surprises us as he encourages the use of life friendly fabrics like vinyls and microsuedes.  His color design is evident throughout the book with the soft washes of color and his use of the word "pale" as he describes a palette in "subtle wall coloring and furnishings".  I really appreciate that his use of off whites and pale hues is anything but a lack of color confidence. 

It actually is rooted in a real understanding of the sophisticated balance of architecture and interiors.  He describes colors in the entire environment when he discusses wall color, leading us to understand the points of continuity, depth, and intensity.  Of course, in my own life, my color palette is more saturated and I do think colors can successfully change from room to room. 

But, then again, Darryl was wise to name his first chapter "Adapt:  Make Your Home Work For You". 

Look for tomorrow's post where I'll share images from some very talented designers who view color very differently from one another.  I'm curious to know your philosophy on color.

 

Comments

[Living in Color]

I know what you mean, Averill. Maybe it's Darryl's confident style or his persuasive talents as a lawyer? He definitely makes a soft color palette come to life. Thanks for stopping by!

[Averill]

I'm generally a huge fan of color, but Carter does such a wonderful job of working in neutrals that he often has me second-guessing my colorful palettes. In many ways it's easy to create an interesting and fun room with color, but very tricky to do it with a neutral palette and white walls. Carter succeeds here where few other designers do and I think it's what has made him so successful.