A few months back I went to a book signing for Martina Mondadori Sartogo’s Cabana Anthology. The book (and the magazine from which it is based) is TO DIE FOR but that is a story for another day. The book signing took place at a classic, Georgian house in Highland Park that, while pretty, was not all that remarkable from the outside. One step inside the front door, however, and – WHOOSH – a feeling of familiarity came over me.
I turned to my friend Leah and whispered “I know this house!”
Her casual reply: “Oh right, I think that designer you really like did it…”
Friends, I was standing in the foyer of this Tom Scheerer decorated dreamboat. I remembered it from House Beautiful and Tom’s book and it has always been a favorite. Seriously, click HERE and enjoy! The ivory lacquered living room radiated warmth, I ooo’d and ahhh’d over the Lyford Trellis wallpaper in the sunroom, and the whole place had Tom Scheerer’s famous JE NE SAIS QUOI. One element I was particularly taken with was a pair of Ingo Maurer Uchiwa pendant lights over the kitchen island.
Ingo Maurer is a German lighting designer who released his Uchiwa series, inspired by Japanese fans, in the 1970s. They are super delicate, made of bamboo and lacquered rice paper, and as we know super delicate = super expensive. Sigh. Over the past few months I’ve seen vintage Uchiwa lighting in photos of other Tom Scheerer projects and, going full circle here, in Martina Mondadori Sartogo’s apartment. They are the epitome of laid-back, bohemian elegance and I can’t get enough. Maybe one day I will pull the trigger on a Uchiwa sconce or two but for now I will keep my fingers crossed that a 70s stoner has an estate sale and I can get lucky.
