Art of a Dinner Party
Tulip Evening by C.S Roughan, Roughan Interior Design
The art of creating a dinner party is more than fine cuisine, libations and guests. Its complimenting all the above with table décor, music and creating the perfect environment. The above dinner party was set for an intimate dinner of 8 guests who are smart, fashionable and love to have a good time. The below recipe has the ingredients that I used to create this dinner party, however you may replace with specific elements that will compliment your event.
Tulip Evening
- 8 dinner guests (wise to invite people who have similar interests)
- Music:“Kind of Blue “Miles Davis, you can’t go wrong with Miles Davis
- Set a color palate, ours was silver, green, white and yellow. These colors really compliment the grey walls of the dining room
- Create seating name tags. This is always a great way to spark conversation with your neighbor.
- Fresh flowers of the season works well as a table centerpiece. The simplistic beauty of the yellow tulip accented our existing china.
- Use china that is easy to clean and visually appealing. We like to mix our patterns to create new stylish “looks”
- Use wine and water glasse, make sure they are different heights
- Keep the conversation up through laughter and good food
Enjoy!
Chris
Finding Your Style
Finding Your Style
Photograph Slim Aaarons
Most people in this world have a “Style”. That is not to say that their “Style “is in fashion or something that you as an individual would even like. For example you may adore a Prada bag that a friend has however it may not suit your specific needs therefore you would never purchase it. I always tell clients that a room should reflect who they are as individuals, by reflecting their personalities and being extremely functional. Like people, each room has different requirements that need to be addressed. The great Billy Baldwin not to be confused with the “actor” was one the most sought after interior designers of the 20th century. His client range was incredibly vast from the likes of Babe Paley, Cole Porter to the glamorous past “Vogue Editor” Diana Vreeland One of his many quotes is something that inspires me to create beauty with my designs. "Nothing is in good taste unless it suits the way you live. What's practical is beautiful...and suitability always overrules fashion"‘-Billy Baldwin.”
As a designer, this is my job and I help people find their existing style by bringing their personalities into each room while remaining functional. This is accomplished in 4 Different ways:
- Inspiration
- Color Dynamic
- Furnishing/Space Planning
- Art & Accessories
INSPIRATION: Inspiration comes from travel, music, a trip to the market. I have my clients complete an exercise to assist them with finding their style. The exercise is fun and basically all they have to do is look through magazines which are a great source of inspiration. Pull tear sheets for color, rooms for floor plan and furniture selections. You should not be limited to “Shelter Magazines” fashion editorial, car advertisement, colors of gem stones, nature, art, basically anything that inspires you is the starting point to create a room. Collecting these tear sheets creates an inspiration board and gives a visual indication of what your preferences are. This information is a great source to start designing your room and finding your style.
Inspiration for room interior, Light, Earth and Blue, oil painting by Mark Rothko, 1954
Finished room interior
COLOR DYNAMICS: When designing a room we first determine the color. Color sets the canvas for almost every room. It gives a room emotion that adds to the overall style. It’s the first thing one notices when entering a room and the last thing one remembers.
Inspiration for room interior, Pixie Sticks
Finished room interior
FURNISHINGS/SPACE PLANNING: There are lots of things to take into consideration when planning the layout of an interior. Beautiful rooms represent a perfect balance between the physical space and the elements that go into it. When one tends to dominate the other, the room looks and feels unbalanced. The goal of interior Design is to assemble all of these elements such as furniture, lighting, color, materials and accessories to achieve just that. Every room should have a floor plan, this shows the passageway of the home or room. The before and after below shows a great example of space planning. Our client wanted to sleep 6-10 people and have a cool, chic media room.
Space Planning, before image
Finished room interior
ART & ACCESSORIES: A space can be re-colored and furnished, but it’s the art and accessories that add the finishing personal touches. Personal artifacts through travel, objects one loves and art creates the icing of a room. This gives an interior a personal stamp that will make it complete and yours.
Art & Accessories before image
Finished room interior
When using these 4 steps, you will find your style and transform your interior to represent you and how you live. What a wonderful place to come home to!
Enjoy,
Warmest Regards,
Chris
Estate Treasures Tent Sale
To all of you "Design Doyens" out there, I have come across a great yearly tent sale that I wanted to share with you. The finds at this sale are wonderful and from Estates across the country. Last year I found a wonderful Hollywood Regency patio set from Palm Beach. It looks amazing on my patio in Ct. Enjoy ! Chris
Finding Your Style with Chris Roughan of Roughan interior Design
You are invited to an evening of wine, discussion and learning with three noted interior designers at The Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT.
“Interior Design Transformations: Finding Your Style.”
Meet the designers responsible for some of the most stunning interiors in Greenwich. See photo presentations of their work showing the amazing transformation from original concept to gorgeous completion. Hear their great stories of how they helped local homeowners find their style and create their perfect home interior.
Speakers:
Linda Ruderman, Linda Ruderman Interiors
Robin McGarry, Robin McGarry Interior Design
Christina Roughan, Roughan Interior Design
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
The Bruce Museum, 1 Museum Drive, Greenwich, CT
Wine Reception, 6:00pm
Speakers, 7:00pm
Free Admission. $20 Suggested donation, all proceeds to benefit The Bruce Museum.
Please RSVP flyons@coastalpt.com.
The Greenwich Architecture and Design Lecture Series is an ongoing, local effort to highlight the great architecture and interior design in Greenwich and bring an interesting presentation of that built environment to the local community.
Presented by
Coastal Point Construction, LLC
House Beautiful on Multipurpose Tables
Happy New Year!
May we all clean out our closets and find new and innovative ways to create functional spaces that are beautiful. House Beautiful did just that on a story about multipurpose tables. All of the designers highlighted have wonderful ideas. I especially like the Albrizzi nesting table idea.
"When I saw these Albrizzi nesting tables, I knew they could double as shelves to display some precious items-my Dorothy Thorpe Candlesticks, vintage mercury glass decanter from Aero Studios. But when the mood strikes, I can take some of the cubes and use them as accent tables, or even as bedside tables for guests." Christina Sullivan Roughan of Roughan Interior Design
Pink Aid 2011 Designer Chair Auction at Mitchell's Westport
Slane Chair designed by C.S Roughan for Pink Aid 2011
As it is very important to give back, I am proud to present the Slane chair that was designed specifically for Pink Aid by Roughan Interior Design. Pink Aid is an organization that donates all proceeds toward a cure for breast cancer. This year one of the founding partners of Pink Aid, Ct Cottages & Gardens hosted a designer chair program and fashion show at Mitchell’s in Westport. The designer chairs were auctioned off to benefit Pink Aid. Please visit CT Cottages & Gardens for more information about the event.
Thanksgiving Blue Hill at Stone Barns
I can’t think of a more appropriate post then my dining experience at Blue Hill at Stone Barns. November is the month of “Thanksgiving” and I am thank full to have tasted the agricultural feast that executive Chef Dan Barber and his staff prepared for myself and 5 friends. When entering Stone Barns, the rebuilt barn structures are architecturally beautiful and set the scene perfectly. Luxury farming and agriculture was evident throughout our evening experience.
This was indeed a very special treat from the inspiring simplicity of the menu to the well maintained vegetable gardens of the farm. The above photo shows the home grown vegetables and how each vegetable is cleaned, lightly salted and presented for tasting.
Blue Hill at Stone Barns has no menu, instead the kitchen creates a feast that is catered to your palate and is dictated by the farmers on the premises, only using the food that is grown on the farm from the days harvest. The food presentation was wonderful and we had a tasting of 8 small dishes each delicately prepared and delicious! 
Even the menu was well designed and served as an inspiration to my interiors. It is such a gift when design intervention occurs.
As a designer this was an extraordinary experience for everyones 5 senses and I strongly recommend going. Please visit the website below to learn more about Blue Hill at Stone Barns and the wonderful day visits. It’s worth the trip!
Blue Hill at Stone Barns is located in Pocantico Hills, NY about 1 hour from NYC.
www.bluehillfarm.com
A friendly turkey walks the farm.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Fall Festive Decor
It is my pleasure to be blogging about Home & Garden for OVER40FEMALES. My name is Christina Sullivan Roughan and I have been an interior designer/stylist for over 20 years. Fall is a wonderful time to talk about design as the burst of autumn colors has always inspired my interiors. As we all know, October is the month of Halloween, apple picking and pumpkin carving and has the ability to bring out the Dorothy Draper/Emily Post in all of us. Therefore I have pulled together a few innovative fun ways to bring those beautiful fall colors into your home.
- Welcome to my home in Weston Ct. As you can see from the above photo placing pumpkins on and around your property adds a festive warmth that should last through Thanksgiving. You can place them above the door sills, window sills on porches, steps and out on a stone wall.
- Pumpkin carving is a lot of fun and there are a many great carving kits out there, in fact last night my family and I had some fun with the Season deluxe carving kit. This kit can be purchased through amazon.com. Just look at the wonderful webs that can be carved!
3. Bittersweet Wreaths and cornhusks on doors are a wonderful way to invite the outside in. Also Mums add so much color and last for a long time. I love orange Mums against a colonial blue home. The contrast is extraordinary!
4. Pheasant feathers always create a stir at any Fall party. You can put them in a wreath or in a vase as shown below. 
Happy Fall Decorating !
For more information on Roughan Interior Design, please visit our website and facebook page. www.roughaninteriors.com
