Table of contents for Spring 2015 in MILIEU

There is talent to be found everywhere in this world. One of the most inspiring and rewarding aspects of my having started MILIEU has been this very realization. In every issue of the magazine, since we launched nearly two years ago, I’ve wanted to highlight interior designers and architects, furniture makers and product designers, artists and sculptors, textile artisans and jewelers who make beautiful things people want to live with. These people live and work in places as diverse as Texas and Turkey, London and Sydney, Atlanta and Los Angeles. Every one of them and every one of their projects inspires me. In MILIEU, I get to share them with you. When you leave behind whatever is most familiar — the rooms of your home, the office where you work,…

Most designers start at an early age, designing a room for their parents or doing something as children that reveals the talent to come. What was the first indication that this was the career you were destined for? I had older sisters, and I would sneak in and secretly empty out their dollhouses and then rearrange the furniture, repositioning the items on plastic tape cassettes. Even when I was three, my mother said I’d draw houses on a blackboard with furniture inside them. And from about the age of twelve, I was so fascinated by decorative things that I would use the few pounds of my allowance to buy, instead of candy, things at the local flea market in Greenwich (England) — a pretty cup and saucer, a silver spoon.…

Patrick Legant knows the effects art has — on viewers and in rooms. As an independent, London-based art consultant for individuals and museums, he understands what happens within the interiors of a home after artworks are placed there. When paintings are hung on a living room wall or sculpture is positioned on plinths in a foyer, those new elements become not just mere décor, but things that actually change the way people live where they live. “It’s almost as if the moment a painting arrives in a home, the furniture in the room begins to shift away,” says Legant. “Good art has a real presence, something that can’t be ignored. The way people once occupied a space in a home changes after art comes into it. It is my experience…

The elegant homes of Buckhead, Atlanta’s most exclusive residential enclave, are surrounded by the verdant nature of its historic nineteenth-century past. Amid the rolling hills, leafy forests, immaculate emerald lawns, and venerable oaks, hickories, and magnolias, there is an abundance of architectural styles — Greek and Georgian Revival, neo-Palladian, Baroque, Federal, Normandy, American Colonial—that make these homes highly coveted. The New York Times bestselling author Emily Giffin, whose novels have sold millions of copies worldwide, and her investment banker husband, Buddy Blaha, joined interior designer Beth Webb and architect Stan Dixon when searching for their new home in Atlanta. The couple was looking for charm, history, and an ample backyard for their three young children — twin sons and a daughter. When they discovered this five-acre Buckhead property, centered on…

ANN DUPUY Since 1978, Ann Dupuy and her business partner, Ann Holden, have practiced from their hometown of New Orleans, though they’ve completed residential and commercial projects throughout the United States, Caribbean, and Mexico. Their work has been featured in numerous national publications and books about interior design. Every project is unique and attuned to the client’s specifications — yet each displays the designers’ signature style. A second generation of designers in their firm continues a tradition of creating timeless, classic projects infused with a dose of whimsy. BEN PAGE Ben Page gleaned a lasting knowledge of the land, natural ecosystems, and horticulture during a childhood on his grandparents’ and great-grandparents’ Tennessee farms, long before he considered landscape architecture as a career. While pursuing a medical degree, he discovered a…

Every time Thomas Hamel walks through the front door of a house in Melbourne, he looks for changes. But he never finds any. Paintings still hang on the same hooks, pillows rest plumped and positioned at the edges of sofas, and seating arrangements remain unchanged. After he finished designing the interiors of this seven-bedroom home in the suburb of Toorak, he expected some of the furnishings to be moved or certain decorative elements altered by the married couple. After all, it was a new home and the young parents have five active children. “Even though the house has been finished for awhile, it’s exactly the same as I left it,” says Hamel, an American-born designer who has lived and worked (and thrived) in Sydney for more than twenty years. “It’s…

CORRECTIONS In the Winter 2015 issue of MILIEU, we unintentionally omitted photographer Ben Hill in our “Revealing Their Approach” article on pages 28 through 32. Hill’s photo can be seen on page 32 of that issue. We also misidentified two pieces of art in “Deco Goes Modern” on pages 98 through 107. The trio of decorative squares on page 100 and 101 are by William Metcalf. The sculpture on the table on page 105 is by Jeremy Thomas. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. COVER Interior Design: Asli Tunca, ASLI TUNCA, aslitunca.com, +90-212-2517057. Photography: Miguel Flores-Vianna, mf-v.com. RECLAIMING REMNANTS Written by: David Masello. Photography: Megan Thompson Lovoi, meganthompsonphoto.com. Hair styled by: Mario Tort, Estilo Salon & Spa, 713-807-7409. Makeup by: Lisa Capuchino, Capuchino Beauty, 832-208-5059. Pages 22-24…

THE NELSON “I have longed to discover this piece. Many came close, but this tallish sofa suits many different room types and sizes. Attractive from varied angles, it boasts a practical tight back and a comfortable seat depth.” — Jane Schwab Cindy Smith is a creative dreamer. But unlike many visionaries, she brings her dreams to life. Last May, while sitting with her business partner, Jane Schwab (the two own Charlotte and Birmingham–based Circa Interiors), she decided there was a great void in the home furnishings marketplace. “What was missing were pieces with more creativity in their forms, more details, something that brings rooms together to give them a spirit,” she says. “You can dream all kinds of things, but dreams need to be worthwhile and attainable.” Before she could…

When designer Ann Dupuy first entered this Austin home, she knew immediately her first task. Given the museum-quality array of African sculptures, Asian artifacts, striking fabrics, and woven wall-hangings the homeowners had collected on their travels and that were on display. Dupuy decided to lighten and brighten the interiors. She chose Benjamin Moore’s White Dove as a way to unify the spacious, soaring interiors and provide a suitable backdrop for the artwork. Against this clean, neutral palette, the shapes, hues, and textures of the collection would emerge in full. As for other conspicuous structural elements, including beamed ceilings and window mullions, the white shade would bring these details into relief. “The paint I used, which is sprayed on in a fine mist,” Dupuy explains, “has a pearlescent quality that shimmers…