linenandlavender.blogspot.com: Design Daily

Image from the book: Style by Saladino, as seen on linenandlavender.net, http://www.linenandlavender.net/2010/01/design-daily-john-saladino-feature.html

I have appreciated John Saladino's design skills for some time, but it wasn't until recently when I purchased his Style by Saladino book that I became enamored of his philosophy towards design. The book has been around since 2000, but for whatever reason it was not one that I had in my design library. In reading what he calls his "Guiding Principles" (page 9) I understood why I had always felt such a connection to his work:

"Every home should be a sanctuary: entering it you should immediately feel physically and emotionally protected. Inside there should ideally be two different but equally important, kinds of space that metaphorically might be described as a cocoon and a cathedral. We all need space that offers comfort and security, and shelter from the cold, noise or darkness outside. But, paradoxically, we also need space that liberates us from terra firma, allowing our spirits to soar and our imaginations to take flight." -John Saladino, excerpt Style by Saladino

I saw the room featured above a number of years ago. If I remember correctly, the residence was originally a hunting lodge in the early 1920's and had gone through a number of incarnations including previous owners who at some point in the 1960's had made the unfortunate decision to cover the beautiful stone walls with white paint!

In the feature I saw, Mr. Saladino stated that they had elected to leave just a whisper of the white paint behind rather than removing it completely as it added character and spoke to the building's history. I applaud this approach...allowing the design to evolve and unfold rather than blindly pursing some preconceived expectation. So much beauty is missed in a blind pursuit of "perfection."