Fun, Fine Furniture at Niermann Weeks
Lately Niermann Weeks has been making some intriguing custom orders. They’ve pushed at the envelope of our engineering and creative capabilities, stimulating all of our little grey cells.
Look at this custom Rivoli with 18 arms in a custom, soft vermeil finish. For that finish, first apply goldleaf, and then overleaf it with silverleaf. That finish gives a glow like no other.
We started construction after the client and her designer approved these two renderings. The overall size came to 78″ in diameter by 74″ in overall height.
At the other extreme, for M. J. Interior Designs we made a pair of custom Scalloped Bowfront Commodes as nightstands. If you remember your geometry lessons (which were really hard for me), you remember the difficulties of working with curves. This design features both horizontal and vertical curves, and required LOTS of calculations to develop this custom version sized at 26″ x 18″ deep x 30″ high. One door opens to the left, and the other to the right. And then before installation, we changed the hardware and the hinges to a blackened metal, to reduce their contrast with the lovely dark cherry finish.
Going bigger, how’s this for a Parquet Dining Table? I’d love to have a dining room large enough for it, but our little house couldn’t handle a table 120″ long by 44″ wide. This customer wanted a really smooth top so we hand-planed the inset parquet pieces down as far as we could go.
Mine at home is the normal 84″ wide by 42″ across, but customized with a bleached cherry finish. It’s just the right size for us. Let’s thank photographer Ken Wyner for this image.
My chairs are in our ever-popular Annecy style in the camel and silverleaf finish., Joe was really inspired when he created that finish, which seems to go beautifully with an array of fabrics from the pale satin on my chairs to a dense dark hue to a light silvery silk to a perfect fabric for flower children.
I’m proud of this Follot Settee that we custom designed for a gentleman in Washington. His wife and designer liked the look of our standard Follot Chair, but wanted it more grandly proportioned. Easy and fun for us to do! Their upholstery is a fine, dense white
wool, which means they have a much cleaner house than mine. In just a few minutes in my house, a cat would have shed black or orange or grey or white fur all over the seat.
And to conclude for now, at Bunny Williams’ request we reached into our archives for a Sphinx Console design, to use as a vanity in a powder room. She specified a size of 36″w x 24″d x 30.5″h, with the structure strong enough to hold a thick stone top. She also asked us to insert panels of our antiqued mirror. Someday I’ll see this vanity in its finished installation in an article or book about Bunny’s incomparable style, and again I’ll be so proud!
For more information about the fine people with whom we work, please look on the web.
* M. J. Interior Designs, Bethesda, MD
Capitol File Magazine Highlights Niermann Weeks’ Pieces
The postal lady brought me a delightful surprise today, the spring issue of Capitol File magazine. Page 90 in the Home Style Guide shows my Rivoli Chandelier in a glorious bathroom, and page 92 my Louis XVI Bed plus my Harewood Commode. According to the magazine’s website, A place for power and politics, CAPITOL FILE chronicles and celebrates the most influential players, cultural connoisseurs, fashion sophisticates, and philanthropic leaders in the Washington, DC metropolitan region. See more at www.capitolfile-magazine.com and appreciate why this issue has made me so happy.
As background to my quest for happiness, remember that the DC area has already coped with four hideous snowstorms so far this winter, leaving us residents desperate for better days. So, if today, Monday, starts off so well, I’m hoping it’s an omen for a really good week.
But enough, let me share the photos with you, and urge you to buy your own copy of Capitol File so you can see more. On page 90 you’ll see a real estate ad for the sale of a historic home in Alexandria, VA. It’s being sold by interior designer Pamela Culvahouse of the firm Elements of Style, since she now resides mainly in New York City.
Here’s her sumptuous master bathroom, and how gratifying that she included our Rivoli Chandelier. I’d feel like royalty in this room.
Niermann Weeks Rivoli Chandelier
Niermann Weeks Rivoli Chandelier from our website
The guest room continues my happiness theme, with not one but two of our products in use. Our Louis XVI Bed dominates the room, with its camel and silver leaf finish perfectly contributing to tonal serenity. This room provides more relaxation than a spa. I understand that Pam has re-created this room in her new NYC apartment.
Niermann Weeks' Louis XVI Bed in Camel & Silver Leaf
Shyly nestled in the bottom right corner of this photo, our Harewood Commode supports a bedside lamp. Since I want to show off the Harewood, look this photo from our website. I love the Noire and Gilt finish with its crusty patina and subtle feel to my hands. The three drawers also hold a multitude of goodies: linen, sweaters, toys, whatever.
Niermann Weeks' Harewood Commode
Pam Culvahouse continues to operate Elements of Design in both DC and NYC. Her website includes a multitude of NW products in her portfolio, so you must go look at www.elementsofdesigndc.com. Just to be even busier, Pam, her daughter Lindsay Comparato, and their associate Rocky Jones now also have the on-line store www.ellaandboss.com selling gifts, home accents, and furnishings for home and office.
Interior designer Kristin Peake finalized prepping Pam’s house for this sale, so go to www.kristinpeakeinteriors.com to enjoy more of Kristin’s interior design.
More Romantic Niermann Weeks Beds For Valentine’s Day!
Our Loire Bed dresses up fabulously, although when Joe designed it for our New York apartment he installed an acrylic headboard. He had painted this homage to a heroic Renaissance painting and wanted to be able to clearly enjoy all of it. Personally, I found it disconcerting to sleep under so much muscular energy. However, if I weren’t married to Joe, I would need to use an interior designer to make my spaces creative and comfy. My mind could never have conceived this space.
Niermann Weeks' Loire Canopy Bed in Joe & Eleanor's NY Apartment
A designer who always makes me feel happily inspired is Mario Buatta. Although he’s called The Prince of Chintz, his range is immense. For an AOL showhouse in New York that was subsequently published by Architectural Digest, Mario encased our Loire Bed with upholstery at the headboard and lots of draperies from the testers. With Mario our bed underpins all the fabric, but I bet sleeping inside that sumptuous comfort would make a person feel cherished. He also used our mirrored Satyr Side Table (right foreground) and our Sevigne Screen (left background), again making the structure of the furniture vanish in the overall beauty of his interior design.
Our Loire Canopy Bed, Design by Mario Buatta
Phillip Sides of Montgomery, Alabama customized his Loire bed with an extra 18″ of height to the tester rods, dressing them with masses of a calming blue/white check. Imagine how important you’d feel propped up in this bed, whose photo was shown in the late, great Southern Accents (October 2007).
Our Loire Canopy Bed in Southern Accents Magazine, Design by Phillip Sides
On the other hand, Washington designer Victoria Neale jolted us all awake with this presentation of our Loire bed in a showhouse held in the Washington Design Center. Yellow is among my favorite colors because of all the energy it radiates. I find the solar wattage of this room very attractive.
Our Loire Canopy Bed in the DC Design Center, Design by Victoria Neale
Right now we’re making yet another Loire finished in Venetian silverleaf with a metal headboard. I do hope the designer sends us a photo of her final installation. I predict our headboard will support acres of gorgeous pillows.
Our Loire Canopy Bed in a Custom Venetian Silver Leaf Finish
Please, dear Designer who specified our Louis XVI Bed in Venetian silverleaf with a brown mohair headboard, send me an installation shot. The completed bedroom should look voluptuous and give its owners peaceful repose. Please do share a photo!
We're BEGGING for installation shots of this Louis XVI Bed!
Another designer used our standard finish of Italian walnut with goldleaf, but added the luxury on the inside top of masses of a pale silk gathered into a central knot. Looking up will give the owners great delight in the beautiful fabric and the hidden luxury of the elaborate construction. Wow!
Our Louis XVI Canopy Bed with pale silk gathered into a beautiful knot
Silk gathers on a custom Louis XVI Canopy Bed
Following one of our anniversary trips to France, Joe and I (mostly Joe) developed the Versailles Bed in our camel and silverleaf finish. This finish looks like time has carelessly worn away the silver to expose the camel undertones. This bed also gave Joe a chance to use a central bed crown from his collection at home. He’s always been a sucker for a tester with a central crown, which he further echoed in the curvaceously elegant testers, headboard, and footboard. Allan Knight’s showroom in Dallas introduced our Versailles Bed magnificently in these pale celadon silks and made us all proud of our design.
Our Versailles Bed in a Texas Showroom
Further, our Arezzo Bed also dresses up well. Here Stiles T. Colwill of Baltimore debuted our bed in a Design House at the Washington Design Center. The blue and brown fabric gives a palette to this room that’s both masculine and feminine, which would be a comfort to both spouses.
Our Arezzo Bed in the DC Design Center, Design by Stiles T. Colwill
Now that you have lots of models for romanticizing your bedroom, please use this Niermann Weeks website by going to the Products section. Have fun!
Other good places to search include:
www.allanknightasso.com
www.dcdesigncenter.com
www.phillipsidesinteriordesign.com
www.victorianealeinteriors.com
Berner Sutphin Designs – Stately Homes by the Sea Showhouse, Rumson, NJ
We just received this collection of beautiful photos from our friends at Berner Sutphin Designs of Niermann Weeks’ pieces used in a showhouse that they designed in New Jersey. They’re just so wonderful, especially because we don’t always get to see how our designs are used by our clients. These turned out fabulously!
Luce Console, Annecy Arm Chair, Three Armed Italian Sconce, & Leone Urn
Ferrara Chandelier & Three Armed Italian Sconce
Luce Console & Annecy Arm Chair
Julien Mirror
Leone Urn
Sevigne Screen Panel
Niermann Weeks’ Finish Library – The White Family
Joe loves new finishes, and we have accumulated about 500 different ones. The most popular ones we’ve sampled in our showrooms in display boxes.
The difference from one finish to another, however, can be merely a matter of degree, ie. several shades less green tint. For instance, when I showed Joe our 40+ different variations on antique white, then several things happened:
* He became less eager to create yet another antique white.
* NW gave specific names to specific finishes.
* NW actually discontinued some of the minor variations.
* Clients more easily got the finish they intended.
It was a happy day. Our website today shows a mere 30 finishes in “Creams/Tans” and 70 in the “White/Greys” section.
Chalk rust may be the most popular of the surviving antique whites. We call this a crunchy finish, as it’s composed of many different layers of plaster and paint. It’s supposed to look like the remnants of a fabulous gilded finish from the 18th century which has fallen on hard times. The gilding has eroded away, exposing the inner layers of plaster and dirt and rust.
It’s a great finish for a chandelier like our new Vivaldi, hanging here in our DC showroom.
Because of its crunchiness, it doesn’t translate well onto a piece with a larger, flatter surface area, like this Venetian Bed. We’ve developed the more durable Venetian ivory and gilt for beds.
Camel and Silverleaf is a prime example of a whitish finish that does translate well from design to design, regardless of surface area.
It started out on our Neoclassical Urn Lamp which Joe designed with Charlotte Moss.
We’ve now put that finish on:
A custom tall Charlus Etagere
Our standard Annecy Settee and Chairs
Our Versailles Bed
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