Lean Into the Camp of Classical Design With a Column (or Three)
A chaise lounge or canopy bed can create a tongue-in-cheek moment that feels fresh, not stuffy.
A chaise lounge or canopy bed can create a tongue-in-cheek moment that feels fresh, not stuffy.
If you can’t renovate your home to install architectural elements or structures inspired by the classical tradition, there are plenty of furniture and decor accents that playfully nod to antiquity, or at least an idealized version thereof. Fun bonus: By using individual pieces of furniture and decor, you can indulge in the more camp and ironically kitsch aspects of classicism, without having to fully commit to the theme. Overly ornate beds, a chaise, or even a decorative platter can make a lackluster rental unit feel like Arcadia or the court of Louis XIV—all it takes is a little imagination.
Ornamental columns as side tables? Sure!
White Plaster Column
A white plaster fluted Grecian Ionic order column pillar pedestal stand in the neoclassical style, circa 20th century. Column has a matte unglazed surface. A great piece for a sculpture, plant, art, display, etc. Dimensions: 36.5" height.
Columns, whether Doric, Ionic order, or Corinthian, are a foundation of classical architecture. A full-height, load-bearing column can easily veer into movie-set or Liberace territory, but miniature versions are actually elegant, borderline camp, and an unexpected alternative to an Ikea or a Muji side table.
A chaise for all your fainting couch needs
Antique Regency Satinwood Récamier Chaise Lounge
A rare and impressive Regency period Récamier sofa or fainting couch, circa 1820s. Exquisite and vibrant Satinwood sleigh form featuring a scroll crest rail, rolled and flared arms. Upholstered in an elegant blue French brocade. Supported by curvilinear scrolled legs with block feet. Acquired from a 1980s auction after a heated bidding exchange with Ralph Lauren.
Incorporating a chaise lounge that has classical ornamental elements and architectural lines in the living room is a good way to add some variety to your upholstered wares. (After all, those L-shaped viral TikTok couches are nothing to write home about.) And while it won’t rival the comfort of a deep-set chair and a half, at least it will let you stretch your legs.
A Neoclassical (day) bed
French Empire Egyptian Revival Daybed with Demilune Canopy
A rare Empire daybed à 'l'Égyptienne" with a demilune canopy from circa 1815. Made of walnut with intricate carved decoration resembling gilt bronze mounts. The Egyptian heads and crocodile feet were painted as if made of oxidized bronze. The gilded stylised foliate decoration at the front rail are actually carved in wood. The canopy has only been recently discovered by the original owner of the daybed. Since then the daybed has been restored to its former glory, the canopy attached by new rails.
With a bed this excessive and ornamental, you can get away with an otherwise pared-down decor. Note: You need high ceilings in order to pull this style off, lest the canopy swallows the whole height of your room.
An alabaster candle
Trudon The Alabasters Vesta Candle
Trudon unveils a new exclusive addition to The Alabasters range, Vesta embodies a luminous halo and clarity come from afar: discovered in 1807, the Vesta asteroid also hints at the name of a Roman deity. In ancient mythology, Vesta’s presence is symbolized by a holy fire, an eternal flame. The delicate alabaster not only replaces the traditional green-glass but creates a sculptural object complete with a matching top. A fruity chypre accord, the perfume builds on a floral facet with notes of rose, freesia and jasmine further softened by balmy, musky base notes. Greener notes of moss and mandarin give the perfume a luminous and crystallin balance. Fresh and floral, the scent mirrors the transparency of the alabaster container that lights up, composing a warm halo: Vesta suggests a luminous presence.
Alabaster is a lightly colored, translucent, and soft-toned rock used since the Bronze Age primarily for carving decorative artifacts. Trudon created a series of candles with translucent alabaster vessels that filter light for an overall soft glow. Vesta, named after both the asteroid and the Goddess of the holy fire, has notes of rose, freesia and jasmine further softened by balmy, musky base notes—a sophisticated alternative to the viral sunset lamps.
Pastoral wallpaper!
de Gournay Earlham Wallpaper
Elegantly shaped trees reach towards the sky, carrying varieties of the most revered flowers in Chinese culture: peonies, chrysanthemums, and plum blossoms. Delicate and intricately rocks adorn the ground and some of the grandest and most recognizable species of oriental birds play in pairs amongst the branches. The source for Earlham is a set of panels in the Victoria & Albert Museum, dating from the mid 18th century - an amazingly well preserved and excellent example of their type.
Frescoes are lovely, but are extremely resource-intensive and also quite permanent. De Gournay creates hand-painted and hand-embroidered wall coverings, with naturalistic motifs that are inspired by pastoral landscapes of England, sprawling vistas popular in 19th-century France, and stylized garden scenes combining Chinoiserie and neoclassical elements. (Make sure you can install wallpaper in your home before committing, though.)
... or a more architectural option
Fornasetti Wallpaper Procuratie
One of three architectural designs featuring the Procuratie facades of St Mark's Square Venice, this intaglio study creates a classical structure to an interior through its detailed line work and simple palette of Black and White. Width x Length: 68.50 cm x 10 m Pattern Repeat: 101.80 cm Match: Straight
If you love idealized cities and geometry, you might prefer a wallpaper portraying structural elements of buildings or a city rather than a garden basking in the light of an eternal spring. This wallpaper by Atelier Fornasetti depicts a rendition of an intaglio study of the Procuratie facades of St Mark's Square Venice, lending some classical structure to an interior through its detailed line work and simple palette of black and white.
A cheeky lamp
Seletti Grace Lamp
A wink is a strongly representative gesture, an instant click with multiple meanings, full of energy and that establishes an instant connection between two people. Grace is a Goddess who gets off her pedestal and while making a balloon with chewing gum winks at us and makes us feel a little special.
Seletti creates cheeky riffs on classical iconography, and the Grace and Wonder lamps, feature, respectively, a Graeco-Roman warrior and a Greek goddess chewing bubblegum, which is a perfect blend of classical and camp (as if they were ever antithetical: the concept of camp originated in relation to the court of Louis XIV, where the king liked to cosplay as Apollo)
A decorative platter
Ginori Squared Platter
Pure porcelain squared platter from the Labirinto collection in Black. A home décor item with a 30 cm diameter and a striking design, minimalist and stunning in its elegance, to be placed in the foyer of the home, on a table or shelf in the living room or (why not?) to be used as a tray for serving tea or coffee. The secret of its beauty lies in the sequential lines that cross the entire surface and create a graphic pattern with ever-modern appeal. A labyrinth in which you will lose yourself every time you try to follow the path of its lines. The item is also available in a 13.5 cm smaller size. Labirinto is a collection of tableware, tea and coffee sets and home décor items adorned with a pattern that comes from one of the designs created by the famous architect Gio Ponti in 1926 when he was the director of our Studio.
When famed architect Gio Ponti was the artistic director of Ginori Manifattura from 1923 to 1933, he created the sophisticated intricate pattern known as labyrinth, which marries the quintessential Grecian ornamental pattern with the rigor of 20th century neoclassicism. It’s a style that is versatile enough that even those who are averse to a classicized aesthetic can appreciate it.
An ornamental bowl
L'Objet Neptune Bowl
An exceptional decorative masterpiece from L'Objet Atelier Collection. The beauty of nature is always the most difficult to reproduce. Through this family of 3 shells, L’Objet craftsmen demonstrate all their mastery in the work of fine porcelain. Every detail of the shells is reproduced to perfection to create outstanding beauty. Suitable for food service or as a decorative vessel.
Classicism goes hand in hand with biophilia, and, with this in mind, L’Objet created a bowl consisting of the juxtaposition of two shells that contains both classical motifs and zeitgeist-friendly elements of biophilic design. It doubles as a service tray and as a purely decorative vessel, and is available both in white and with an inner gold coating.
A surprisingly sleek bathtub
Simple Ellipse Marble Bathtub
Designed by Visto AW, the Play collection is composed by The Simple Ellipse & Circle tub, the Quick Square & Circle freestanding sinks, the Idro Soft shower Tray and the Easy Square & Circle sinks. In opposition to some eccentric and garish shapes seen recently, the young designer team takes a step back and creates simple and continuous profiles for a series of object with immediate names, talking in a plain but direct way the language of a timeless modernity, with soft and essential lines and, above all, restrained dimensions that perfectly adapt to the often minimum surfaces of the contemporary baths. The Simple Ellipse bath can be customized accordingly to the client desired dimensions, stones and finishes.
Bathtubs have been around since 3000 BCE, and surviving evidence of Roman baths indicate an architecture that is more rooted in geometry and harmony than in ornamentation. If, however, you are more oriented towards modern-era Classicism, a free-standing tub is the way to go.
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