Design Mentor: Albert Hadley

Yesterday Kim posted a giveaway and asked "who's your design mentor?" 

I answered Albert Hadley, then went in search of a well-thought out reason for that instinctual response.

Veranda

There are the rooms like this one: perfectly laid out with just the right amount of pop. I especially like how often Hadley used starburst mirrors over fireplaces.

 

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This entry wows me with the color of the front door. I also appreciate the usefulness of the barrel full of umbrellas near the door. 

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I love this vignette with the big blue panel as a feature wall for the console.

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This daybed was in Hadley's NYC guest bedroom. I adore the canopy, which looks even more serene because of the similarity of all the fabrics.

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This is a guest bedroom in his Naples, Florida, home. For an all-white room, there's still a lot of visual interest.

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This one is heavenly. The bright yellow chairs, the wheat sheaf table base. The cranes and the bunnies on the fireplace. I want a room like this.

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"My theory is we're not so interested in lighting as we are in dispelling shadows. We want to get rid of the gloom, to have enough light to feel happy."

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This apartment with its fabulous staircase demonstrates just how important architecture was to Hadley. The room had to work for the people who were going to use it.

Hadley often used zebra rugs in his rooms. It was one of his few "signature" items. His style was otherwise characterized as curious and open-minded. It's a great way to live as well as design.

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Hadley's philosophies are probably the biggest reason I consider him my design mentor. He said things like "Make your home as comfortable and attractive as possible and then get on with living. There's more to life than decorating."

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"The essence of interior design will always be about people and how they live. It is about the realities of what makes for an attractive, civilized, meaningful environment, not about fashion or what's in or what's out. This is not an easy job."

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A close-up on the iconic library in Brooke Astor's NYC apartment. Designed in the 1970s but so timeless. The people Hadley met doing what he loved is also so fascinating to me. I'm adding The Last Mrs. Astor: A New York Story to my reading list.

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Hadley looking dapper on a leopard print rug. Notice the red piping of the rug.  

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Hadley poking out of a hedge at his Naples home.

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Nourishing our souls with beauty.... No wonder I call him my design mentor.