A question posed to me by someone in my inner circle and I thought that was a sign to post something more specific about the subject rather than images alone….(image of pillows is from WestElm.com).

The New York Times described it as: FRETWORK, the open geometric ornamentation found on Chinese antiques, has influenced Western furniture design for centuries.

From Answers.com: Fretwork is an interlaced decorative design that is either carved in low relief on a solid background, or cut out with a fretsaw, jigsaw or scrollsaw. Most fretwork patterns are geometric in design. The materials most commonly used are wood and metal. Fretwork is used to adorn furniture and musical instruments. The term is also used for tracery on glazed windows and doors. Fretwork is also used to adorn/decorate architecture, where specific elements of decor are named according to their use. eg. Eave Bracket, Gable Fretwork, Baluster Fretwork. Any item that is cut out is considered fretwork, although popular usage creates an exception to this rule; when the architectural element is not actually physically cut out, such as reproduction plastic moulded fretwork it is called fretwork, however it was not ‘cut out’ with a fretsaw, jigsaw or scrollsaw so it is technically incorrect. Nor are elements such as a carved corbel considered to be fretwork, even if the initial crafting of the item included using a cut out technique

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“fretwork.” The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Answers.com 29 Aug. 2007. http://www.answers.com/topic/fretwork

I thought this image from House of Fretworks in Australia showed how the Edwardian and Victorian era used fretwork (and is now happily reproduced today for effect, both inside and outside).

My takeaway on this is that depending upon the period you are talking about the fretwork will have a more specific influence….Asian or Victorian. But from a big picture point of view, detail is the trend and shows up as a consequence of our focus on folk art and/or cultural artisans influences.

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While strolling through a Williams Sonoma Home the other day, I came across their fretwork desk and thought it was lovely. Their version is simple enough for people to be able to incorporate it into their modern or traditional decorating styles. While it struck me as being unique, I wondered about incorporating it, the fretwork style or piece, within a traditional setting or if that was just my taste. Then while perusing the NY Times, I came across their piece on fretwork in rugs. They seem to think this style will work along side modern as well as traditional too.

Williams Sonoma Home to me was like walking into an upscale version of my parents home, only in today’s time. It was some really interesting mixture of 50’s, traditional, and 21st century. So the final takeaway was….drum roll please….Modern.

It’s a breath of fresh air from their Pottery Barn stores; and I imagine that sounds blasphemous for all of you Pottery Barn fans, (of which I am one), but still this isn’t Ethan Allen because it’s a little more casual than that but it’s a far cry from Pottery Barn. It’s upscale for sure, but I could put more than one of their room settings in my (fantasy) house by the shore. They have a very wide range of fabrications which I think helps, and colors…but they then pair it with the odd piece, such as a fretwork desk, or a dining room set that in design is very traditional but with the chairs upholstered in tweed, which is very clever. If you put it in leather, then yes, that’s my parents’ house, but tweed, that’s an altogether different style story.

In fact their description of their fretwork desk on their website reads “In homage to the Asian-inspired designs of Thomas Chippendale, this desk is aproned with intricate, hand carved fretwork.” Kudos to William Sonoma Home for walking this fine line and being able to carry it off. There are only eight of these stores in the nation at this point, one of which is in the St. Louis Plaza Frontenac area. Turns out that area is a marketing test site for a number of new luxury outlets….(Nieman Marcus puts all of their Christmas Decorations out in August at the St. Louis location and depending upon what happens there in early August and September sales, so goes the rest of the nation’s merchandise mix).

You may have found this sofa and these chairs in my parent’s house, but not that rug, not that bust on the coffee table (probably not that exact coffee table–in fact WS Home’s description says it’s a sophisticated take on early 20th century architecture ) and certainly not that glass top desk in the background. It’s a delight. You can view more room settings on their website, WSHome, but a visit to their stores is a much better way to understand the abundance of choice within. The stores are strategically positioned around the country, two in CA., one in Fla. (Coral Gables), Indianapolis, Ind., Cincinnati, Ohio, King Of Prussia, PA, and one in Portland, Oregon.

So, no need to fret yourself any longer, not when you have others who can do it for you, and so well at that….

P.S. I can at some point see Williams Sonoma Home going into a Casablanca type decorating style, but that is for another time and another report.

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That’s my new discovery…in addition to the fact that it just keeps showing up, here, there and everywhere.

Gotta run, but will be back to illustrate more.

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Okay, it’s happening again. Another toile find in a completely different manner. This is also right up my alley. From the New York Times, Scott Hill, former director of creative resourcing and design for Ralph Lauren, in upstate New York, has come up with his own formula for toile: upholstering antiques in toile, mattress ticking and Belgian linen that he has silk-screened with historical images and text. It’s an interesting take on an old technique, and different yet from the Timorous Beasties interpretations. Love it.

P.S. I can’t speak for the rest of the NY Times Currents Slide Show, only commenting on the toile by Scott Hill….cause toile seems to be calling out to me, that’s usually when I determine what in it is the trend, and then it takes on a life of its own.

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A few of you know me as a storage junkie and I couldn’t help but make a blog post about this bookcase….it’s too Mondrian to pass up and yet serves a purpose. That’s three of my favorite things all lumped into one, Mondrian, storage and multitasking. Oh, and this book case began as a sideboard. So it’s evolutionary too; my fourth favorite thing. Kast by Maarten Van Severen, 2005.

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