Book Report: "Mary McDonald Interiors: The Allure of Style"

By Marni Elyse Katz
October 5, 2010

Los Angeles based interior designer Mary McDonald, whose luscious, color-drenched and insanely elegant work you’ve seen in Domino and House Beautiful, has finally published her first book, Mary McDonald Interiors: The Allure of Style, which debuts today. We caught up with the ever fashionable and gracious designer to chat about her inspirations and obsessions, and of course, asked her to shop eBay for pieces that reflect her style.

Our favorite rooms in the book come from McDonald’s own home, the Harvey Mudd estate in Beverly Hills.

Mary McDonald Interiors

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Mary McDonald Interiors The Allure of Style
McDonald chose a green and brown palette for her oak-paneled library. She writes, "It’s the most natural combination in the world (think leafy plants growing in rich soil)." For the upholstery, lampshades, and ceiling she used a mossy, lime green that feels to her like "eternal spring." The furniture is a mix of French and English antiques.Photo Credit: (photo credit: Miguel Flores-Vianna)
McDonald piles her jewelry in her pink Murano ashtray collection.Photo Credit: (photo credit: Melanie Acevedo)
McDonald describes her formal living room as a place “where women in gowns and men in black tie would . . . look absolutely at home. She retained the original "Wayne Manor" paneling, choosing vivid yellow and golds so the room would feel sunny. Two pieces from McDonald’s vintage bone pagoda collection sit on tables on either side of the sofa. The individual framed prints hanging to the left are a map of Paris, framed in gold, which echo the gilded furnishings, like the footstools. Photo Credit: (photo credit: Melanie Acevedo)
A detail of a exotic parrot mural in one of McDonald’s guest rooms. The greens of the foliage and rosy tones of the bird set the palette for the room. The bed (not pictured) was inspired by legendary designer David Hicks.Photo Credit: (photo credit: Melanie Acevedo)
McDonald insists on a practical sitting area in her bedroom suite. The color scheme here was based on a bolt of vintage 1950s brown-and-aqua-striped fabric that she had made into pillows for the sofa.Photo Credit: (photo credit: Melanie Acevedo)
The dressing table comes from the 1926 Buster Keaton estate in Beverly Hills. She hides damage at the top of the mirror with the addition of feathers. She writes, "It's a tad showgirly, but it's amusing for a closet."Photo Credit: (photo credit: Melanie Acevedo)
McDonald’s fabulous dressing room has a lounging area reminiscent of an elegant dress salon. She writes that despite the antique furnishings, the flame-stitch wallpaper keeps the room from seeming too "old-ladyish." She purposefully left off the closet doors so that she could enjoy her wardrobe, which is arranged by color.Photo Credit: (photo credit: Melanie Acevedo)

The Inside Source: You started out your career as a milliner after attending the Fashion Institue of Technology in New York City. What fashion designers inspire your interior work?

Mary McDonald: Vintage Charles James gowns inspire me, Carolina Herrera, every party and floral arrangement of Carolyne Roehm's, Verdura jewelry new and old, Patricia Urquiola's lacy furniture confections, and of course Christian Louboutin. Also, the endless designs of classic Hermes scarves.

TIS: Can you give us some examples of dressmaker details that seep into your rooms?

MM: There are so many ways to translate dressmaking details into fine upholstery and curtain elements: passementerie frogs as skirt pleat closures, buttons and button holes for slipcovers, ruched florets for chandelier chains, topstitching as accents, custom eyelet cut outs for drapery edges, overstiching, double stitching, and custom pleated fabric sewn into trim. Think of all of the clothing details that were used back in the 19th century and transfer that to bedskirt corners, cornice box edges, and slipcover skirts and closures.

TIS: Are there any styles that you simply don’t think you could make work in your rooms?

MM: Stickley furniture. I would have to be looking to make a bonfire. Not my thing.

TIS: You love pink; you use deep blues, orange, greens. Are there any colors you're just not into?

MM: Neon anything.

TIS: How did you begin collecting Murano ashtrays? Do you only collect pink ones?

MM: My grandmother had a big, grand house with loads of Murano ashtrays for parties, which by the way I thought were hideous and disgusting until I unearthed them in boxes years later. I became addicted to finding certain colors, including pink, multi-colored ones, and green. Who knows: I could start on a different color any day now.

TIS: What are your favorite places to shop/find treasures?

MM: Jed in Sag Harbor on Long Island, Nathan Turner and J.F. Chen in Los Angeles. And the funny vintage stores in Silver Lake, but I can’t remember the names.

TIS: What are your favorite movies?

MM: "The English Patient," "Gone With the Wind," "Brazil," and "The Royal Tennenbaums."

TIS: Who are your favorite artists and what’s your favorite museum?

MM: The Victoria and Albert. As for artists, John Singer Sargent, Cy Twombly, and all art by my good friend Konstantin Kakanias for its humor, style, and wit.

TIS: What was your earliest design moment?

MM: My first foray into product design was with chintz-covered cans, jars, and a box that I made as a desk set for my mother's birthday. I still have the covered jar for the pencil holder. Terrible execution, but I had a great color sense in the trim, paint, and fabric, even at age 5.

TIS: And finally, what’s your inspiration right now?

MM: ‘80s chintz. You heard it here first!