Magazine files: "If it's perfect, it's boring"

Anyone who can get away with plunking down a bathtub in the master bedroom and call it interior decorating is a genius in my book.



That's just what interior designer Lorraine Kirke does in her New York home featured in the July 1999 issue of House & Garden, one of several old magazines I got for free at a thrift store a couple weeks ago. The magazine may be more than 10 years old, but I found Lorraine's decorating style just as relevant and fresh today as it was then.

I admit that having a bathtub in one's master bedroom may not be everyone's idea of genius decorating, but I believe that decorating should always contain an element of surprise and be completely individual. The home featured in this magazine achieves both.



Of course, it helps that this decorator has the money to follow her decorating whims in a home with eight bedrooms but money and style are not always synonymous. In this case, she designed a home that is comfortable for her family of four, including her husband, Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke.



Salvaged architectural pieces play front and center stage, as do items like pillows made from fragments of old textiles.



As you can see, Lorraine has a knack for pairing quirky and slightly off-kilter pieces to create cozy, multi-layered look. As she says in the article, "If it's perfect, it's boring."