Remembering Suzanne Rheinstein
photo from a welcoming elegance shot by pieter estersohn
If you could have a second home anywhere, where would you live? I have always adored Montecito — and now I am lucky enough to have a house there with the mountain views I love to see!
What are three words to describe your style?
1. Welcoming
2. Timeless
3. Stylish
Tell us about your childhood bedroom? I was an only daughter for many years. For my eleventh birthday I was surprised with hand blocked French wallpaper with a trompe l’oeil design of draped, white lace, held up with roses over a pink background and a bed with pink sheets and a white Organdy bedspread!
What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house? I already loved antiques and one of kind pieces when we married and my husband and I redid lots of second hand upholstery — anything after that was an investment piece. “Fewer but Better.”
In the history of design, if you could hire any designer other than yourself, who would it be? Elsie de Wolfe when she was also incorporating non-French objects, like Tony Duquette’s extraordinary painted cabinets and other, plaster pieces.
No room is complete without a comfortable place to sit.
People think of me as having all the ideas, but I am really a collaborator.
Things you omit from:
A flower arrangement: Most dyed flowers
An hours d’oeuvre platter: Some smoked salmon has a very strong fishy scent and it is important to be aware of it in close up conversations.
A bar cabinet: Moonshine
A song for:
Dinner at home: Any real jazz instrumental from the Great American Songbook.
Working at your desk: A medley of Baroque pieces
Going for a run? No need to play something for a run (something I’ve never done!) When I used to power walk it was Tina Turner all the way, blasting.
Biggest Vice? Dark chocolate
If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy? If it were a real high, I would buy a wardrobe from The Row.
Do you clothes reflect your design sensibility, if so, how? Yes, because they are simple styles, classically cut, foundational to a wardrobe and ready to be adorned with gold jewelry — Georgian English on to retro and beyond — or to jazzier modern things.
Who is your star crush? Humphrey Bogart, the image!
What is the thing you would never do on a project, but don’t detest when you see others do it?
All-Star contemporary furniture in All-Colors and patterns rammed into one room
If there were a fire, and you could only keep one design book, what would it be? It would definitely be one that showed images of living in the 1970’s\ 1980’s\1990’s.
For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for? Gracious comfort, no matter the style!
photo from a welcoming elegance shot by pieter estersohn
A Few Favorites:
Movie: Casablanca
Book: Anna Karenina
Scent: Do Son from Diptyque
The fabric you always come back to: Garden Roses by Suzanne Rheinstein\Hollyhock for Lee Jofa, designed to look like block printed linen on the reverse side, so it is a soft print.
Dream project: A client with a warehouse full of interesting and engaging antiques and a wonderful old house!
Meal: New Orleans Shrimp Creole and Cheese Grits
Drink: Ice cold martini straight up
Hotel: The Grand Hotel a Villa Feltrinelli on Lake Garda
Travel Destination: London
Artist: Zurbaran, the Spanish artist
A cause near and dear to me: The Children’s Institute, serving 30,000 children across greater Los Angeles
Things to collect obsessively: Books — on décor, architecture, gardens, and biographies
Era in the history of design: Regency — high and low
Museum: The Frick
Paint Color that always looks great: Grant Beige, Benjamin Moore
Favorite person to follow on Instagram: @KRBNYC
Dogs, Cats, or No Pets? No pets… But love both!
