Gabrielle Blair, Design Mom

Lise lives in a beautiful home near UC Berkeley. She is one half of the the multi-continent textile design firm Sisters Gulassa. We featured her sister and business partner, Cyrille's lovely home a couple of months ago and love getting to see the similarities and differences between their decorating styles.

We think the color on this door is wonderful. Any tricks for getting it so nicely aged?

I also love the color of this door. Turquoise is a very inspirational color and I think this particular shade is beautiful. I painted it directly on top of a brown color that matched the house. I thought I would end up using two coats of paint to hide all the brush strokes, but loved the effect of the brown peaking through giving it that aged look. So, I never did another coat of paint!

The glimpse of your kitchen counter stacked with all sorts of china is terribly charming. How often do you collect new pieces?

It all started when I moved into my first apartment and had no dishes to speak of. I could never settle on one design pattern or "set" of dishes or glasses enough to buy the entire set. My mother had these blue and white hand painted Italian plates with yellow gold accents when I was a little girl and I thought they were beautiful! There wasn't anything like it here at the time -- you had to go to Europe to collect such beautiful patterns -- and thus began my collection! I decided I would make my own set of dishes from all of my travels. A wonderful way to bring the patterns from around the world together and to see the influences especially from a historical perspective.

Tell us about this collection of shopping bags. Which one is your favorite?

There is something so simple and pure and beautiful about a shopping bag. Especially one with beautiful color and design -- design for the everyday! My favorite is the yellow Julius Meinl bag with their iconic profile covering half of the bag. They are a chain of stores in Eastern Europe that I first saw in Hungary and then later in Austria. My sister gave me the yellow one. They change their bags every so often. I also love the "Pe de Boi"  bag with a wood block print from a trip my parents took to see our cousins in Brazil.

This looks like a quiet cozy corner. So inviting! Will you please share the story of that table?

I have been enamored and so inspired with Bloomsbury and the Omega workshop design collective from England, a group of various artists and writers who introduced a new design esthetic and philosophy. They are the British version of the Wiener Werkstatte. Inspired by their painted furniture, my mother one year, painted this table for me as an homage to their style. It has gorgeous nasturtiums that wind their way around the table. It is a pleasure to sit at this table in this inviting corner of the living room and have tea or dinner- with friends and family! The drawing above the table of a banana tree was a gift from my brother David which I love!

Your home is full of beautiful, unusual displays. This is one of our favorites. Who knew broken pieces of tile could be so beautiful?

I started collecting pottery and tiles, and eventually the broken pieces as well to create this sort of mosaic countertop.  Like making a quilt of pottery! I love the mix of patterns and the glazes and quality of the tiles.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

There are so many strong color choices in your home. Love it! Turquoise and pink doors. Red walls. Yellow tables. Where did you develop your love of color?

My mother's use of color greatly influenced me while growing up -- and the California sunshine! I do believe we are very affected by the light and color of our environments. My sister and I realized this more clearly when we sent patterns back and forth how different initially our color palettes were. Especially as it was still cold and grey in Vienna and here it was already sunny and warm by comparison. I remember reading about how much Matisse was effected by the quality of the light the first time he went to the South of France and you can see the color influences in his work!.

In using color in our apartment I also realized at one point that I could use color as a back drop with out having to paint an entire room that color so as not to be too overwhelming. Originally I wanted a blue dining room (inspired by the living room and dinning room in Anis Nin's house from the movie Henry & June) but I realized very quickly that to paint the entire room that color would be too much in our place -- and yet to paint one wall was an effective way to bring color into the room. Later when I wanted a red entryway I did the same thing and painted only the back wall. The table in the foyer is when I put my flowers. My husband will occasionally surprise me with the most gorgeous bouquets! I love that about him!

What a gorgeous room. If we sat down here we wouldn't want to leave. Tell us about the painting. And about the yellow table and chairs.
This is one of our favorite rooms in the house! The center of creative activity, dinner parties and most of our meals. The light is especially beautiful in the morning and again at night where the colors change under low light or candle light but become beautiful in a cosy and intimate way. The painting was a gift that I made for my husband for his birthday. It was intended for his studio, but we hung it there one time for a party and he requested that it stay there.

The canary yellow dining room table and chairs I inherited from one of my aunties who in turn inherited it from her parents who originally bought it new in the 50's. She later had it lacquered that canary yellow color. I don't know that I would have ever picked out the color initially, but after living with it for so many years, it is one of the most wonderful colors to have on dining room furniture! Really! Of course it helps that the design of the table is such a classically 50's modern design with a gorgeous line and that it then has that totally unexpected color and beautiful lacquered finish!

Wow! That looks like the most fun wardrobe ever. It looks like your love of color runs through your house and into your closet. We love all the glimpses of shimmery fabrics.

My love of pattern and color definitely run through my wardrobe! My back ground in fashion design began because of my interest of textiles and costumes from other cultures. The red and white dress hanging on the door I am particularly fond of -- was one of our Sisters Gulassa early prints that was used by Prairie New York for their holiday collection. The dress design with that particular print design is a lovely combination. The designer, Danielle, always uses silk jersey to print on so the dresses she designs are particularly lovely to wear. 

How would you describe your style?

Colorful & Eclectic! My sister calls it cultural gypsy esthetics, like a magpie collecting treasures. Part of it is due to traveling -- my first trips to Mexico and Europe at a young age when I was so inspired by the different folk art, costumes and beautiful ceramics of other countries. I fall in love with and can appreciate many different cultures through their art and design. And so began my eclectic style!

Do you have a favorite object in the house?

I think my favorite "objets d'art"  are the collective gifts of art from my family and friends -- those are my more treasured pieces! The painted table for example from my mother, and that big ceramic pot under the table in the foyer from my friend artist Wendy Testu and paintings and drawings from my siblings and the list goes on!

Are you a Sisters Gulassa fan? Then good news: they just opened a hot new webshop full of their pretty wares -- don't miss! See more house tours here.