Never Plain Jayne

The cottage is seen from the added porch of the main house as furnished by Thomas Jayne. Photo by Pieter Estershohn.

Decorator Thomas Jayne approached a project for a young couple with an 18th century house and adjacent 1920s cottage in Garrison, New York, like conserving a painting rather than restoring it.  Thomas saw the solution more in terms of "pulling together" rather than decorating as most would think of the term.


The interior of the one room cottage with Morris chairs from Sarah Latham Kearns. Photo by Pieter Estersohn.

"Every room has its own character, but we avoided the red room/blue room syndrome," Thomas was quoted in an article written by Suzanne Slesin that appeared in the June, 1997, issue of House & Garden magazine (when it was edited by Dominique Browning).



The living room. Photo by Pieter Estersohn.

In the living room, the Clarence House 'Tree Peonies' linen fabric used for the Roman shades and accent cushions provided the color palette for the whole house.  "If something didn't look good with the fabric, it just didn't get into the house."


The dining room. Photo by Pieter Estersohn.

Delft tiles were added to the facing of the fireplace in the dining room which is always candle-lit.  A set of 19th century Windsor chairs surround the table on a seagrass rug.



The flower room. Photo by Pieter Estersohn.

All the flowers in the shots, it must be noted, are 'lady of the house' arrangements, as they are when the house is not being professionally photographed.  (The issue of flower arrangements created for photo shoots is a subject for a whole essay in the future for The Devoted Classicist).


The master bedroom. Photo by Pieter Estersohn.



A bathroom. Photo by Pieter Estersohn.



A view into the sleeping porch. Photo by Pieter Estershohn.

The whole range of Thomas Jayne's decorating talent is presented in the monograph of his work, AMERICAN DECORATION: A SENSE OF PLACE.  (See a previous post of The Devoted Classicist about the book here).  In celebration of the book's critical and popular success, one of Thomas' biggest fans, Stephanie Jones of the blog me & mrs jones, is hosting a book-signing reception at her delightful shop/studio in Memphis this Saturday afternoon, March 30, 2013, between the hours of 4 to 6.  All are invited to stop by and meet Thomas.