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Inside design: Larry Laslo
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When world-renowned interior and product designer Larry Laslo came to Toronto to launch his eponymous collection of home fabrics for Robert Allen, STYLE AT HOME got the scoop on – as Larry puts it – "glamour, guts and gossip."
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By Style at Home
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Style at Home: What does the Larry Laslo fabric collection mean for windows?
Larry Laslo: My signature treatment is the layering of a patterned sheer over an opaque fabric, instead of the more conventional opaque over sheer. I love wide, layered fabrications. I'll extend the rod a foot and a half beyond either side of the window so that the draperies can collect and the whole window treatment can be opened to let in light. And I always use enough drapery to close it completely. No faux draperies allowed!
S@H: Your fabric collection ranges from soft, glazed linens shot with gold to lively lavenders. You have an affinity for neutrals and intense colour, but what's the key to successfully using both?
LL: The world is more comfortable with neutrals, but neutrals don't have to be boring. You can do a whole house in greys and beiges, with strong black and white, and pump it up with colour in a very simple way - flowers and art, which can come and go. But when you really "do" colour, you have to saturate the room. It has to be knock-your-eyes-out brilliant. If the walls are painted Hermès orange, the chairs can be silk taffeta in magenta, yellow and turquoise. Go for that shocking contrast. But a turquoise wall isn't for everyone; just because a Larry Laslo Design's Formations collection for Robert Allen.
S@H: In your designs, you pull pieces from different periods and styles. How do you get them to work together?
LL: Conviction. You really have to like the pieces. Certain things mix easily - like midcentury with sleek, simple and modern - but I love putting the unorthodox together, too. Colour can marry things; for example, you can pair an antique chair with a modern sofa, and if the colours marry, they'll look right.
S@H: What's the best way to display collections?
LL: People always want to put too much on a table. I gave that up a long time ago. When I travel, I'm always bringing things home, so when I bring one new toy home, I have to get rid of an old one; that's the way I keep it clean. Rooms have to breathe, too.
S@H: Do you collect anything in particular?
LL: No, I love everything. It's unfortunate. And expensive! Suddenly, I can be turned on to 1940s pottery, when I loved Mexican silver. It's always the "next" that intrigues me. And there always is a next. Ten years ago, we looked at all the Scandinavian pottery and thought, "This is so ugly," but here it is. Nothing dies; it just gets revived.
Image courtesy of Larry Laslo Designs.
Click here to read more about Larry Laslo.
Read more:
Inside design: Preston Bailey
Inside design: Alfred Sung
Inside design: Kevin Karst
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