Brian Coleman - Barry Dixon Interiors

How lucky for me that I arrived early for the opening night of the Southern Accents Showhouse in Virginia designed by Barry Dixon! He promptly swept me into his world and conducted an insiders tour of his creation. Never have I experienced such a complete immersion into a designers mind and eye.

It was apparent to me, even before he spoke of his childhood as a global nomad, that real-life exposure to peoples and cultures worldwide was responsible for his refined international aesthetic. Having lived in Korea, Pakistan, India, New Caledonia and South Africa with his family, the world was literally his playground and school. Barrys father was a metals expert doing research globally, and very interested in teaching his family about the local history and traditions, while his mothers passion was for the indigenous natural beauty of the land and the crafts of the native population.

Experiencing such diverse lifestyles during his formative years enriched and heightened Barrys understanding of beauty and function. He experienced and embraced these special circumstances with an artists sensitivity and a childs inquisitive mind. No surprise that Barry has retained memories of these exotic lands and incorporates his visions into magical interiors.

He often speaks of the many similarities that exist within humanity worldwide as a common thread that unites us all. The tapestry of life that Barry describes with great enthusiasm includes the master carvers, weavers, carpenters and others that he encountered and admired as a young boythe perfect training ground for his future collaboration with the many trades people necessary to complete a job professionally.

The juxtaposition of antiques and new furnishings in his interiors seems natural and appropriate, as do the pieces that he designs for individual clients. A quirky table that caught my eye during that first meeting was a piece that he literally collaged together with parts salvaged from a favorite table in his grandparents house, where he spent the summer. The glass ball accents and the metal feet were recycled and mixed with galvanized steel to create a unique accent table with great character and style.

One cannot forget another important ingredient that gives Barrys rooms warmth, functionality and soul. His Southern roots make being the perfect gentleman and host completely instinctive and appropriate. Knowledge of the historical past woven into the best of contemporary design and technology results in a body of work that is both timely and timeless.

This book takes the reader and viewer through private interiors that speak to the art of living in an original and believable manner. The inspiration and enjoyment from paging through these rooms should endure for generations to come.

Sherri Donghia Former Executive Vice President and Creative Director of Donghia International

The ritual excitement of setting up house permeated my childhood. Born to parents whose curiosity and wanderlust spurred my fathers longtime employment with an international metals firm, my younger sister and I may as well have been kidnapped by gypsies, as we hopscotched from one continent to the next on a magic-carpet ride of experiment and experience. Bratty kid that I was, I couldnt imagine how this worldly exposure to colors, cultures, regions and realms would shape my personal aesthetic point of view.

The flattering veil of memory edits the ordinary and focuses the sublime. Now were sleeping under the thatched wonder of a rondavel in tropical French Polynesia, next were opening our casement windows to astonishing views of the South African veld, fusing our southern American sensibilities and belongings (I was born in Memphis, Tennessee, after all) with a cacophony of international tricks and truths of everyday lifestyle. With each move and ultimate assimilation of the familiar with the exotic, I saw, lived and learned how to blend the seemingly disparate into a genial bespoke reality.

My personal path of interior enlightenment was littered with mini-epiphanies of what worked and what did not. (The logic of the illogical is sometimes hard to grasp.) Somehow, blue seems to be a bad wall color in a frigid climate. And skirted beds (i.e., a good hiding place for critters) dont make for a good nights sleep in the tropics. Somewhere along the line it finally hit me that, simply put, balance was the key. Not so simple, and still being discovered, by me at least, are the elements that need balance: formal with informal, masculine with feminine, smooth with textured, shiny with matte, old with new, and on and on. The way we mix and stir these design ingredients determines the flavor of our interiorsand can certainly spice up our lives and the lives of those we care for in the process.

Our homes are our personal centers of the universe. They reflect our past, emanate our present and suggest our future. In the better instances, they intimate who we arewhat we value, how we thinkwithout giving away the whole secret, leaving enough mystery to romance a return. In the best instances, they transcend being about us to become about those we invite into our private world, their comforts, their imaginations and fascinations, their unspoken wants and wishes. Perhaps the greatest quality a home might possess is that of innate, soulful hospitality.

Barry Dixon

The staff of Barry Dixon Design gather on the landing at Elway (back to front, left to right): Michael Schmidt and Ellie, Teri Kreitzer, Barry Dixon, Danielle Wise, Rachel Brown, Kristine Weir, Laurel Mitchell, Danny Rodriguez, Jere Enloe, Nicole Rossetti, Sue Wicks, Cathy Foster, Catherine Proctor, and Dabney Doswell.

Barry Dixon Interiors began in 2005 when I first met Barry while we photographed his beautiful home for Farrow & Ball: The Art of Color (Gibbs Smith, 2007). I was fascinated and asked to see more examples of his work. Barry explained that his sense of style began during his childhood, which was spent in countries around the world. It was from this early exposure to a variety of cultures and designs that he developed an international approach, using classical architecture and traditional interiors along with elements of modern design to create elegant and very individual interiors. I was captivated and the idea of this book was born.