In the living room, a Georgian mahogany bookcase from Christie's pairs with and an Adams mirror with original glass and a Robert Kime custom sofa and ottoman.
Calhoun Sumrall was raised in Baton Rouge, graduated from LSU and then studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, where he spent years working in fashion.
The view from the hall into the dining room takes the eye past several fabric patterns and to the painting at the far end by Wayne Pate, from Octavia Gallery in New Orleans.
Seventeenth Century Ming shipwreck export porcelain plates share a dining-room wall with a side board from Balzac Antiques NOLA. The light fixture is a 19th Century English copper street lantern.
Seventeenth Century Ming shipwreck export porcelain plates share a dining-room wall with a side board from Balzac Antiques NOLA. The light fixture is a 19th Century English copper street lantern.
The former butler's pantry is repurposed into a bookcase. An oil painting of a Sicilian gentleman, from Sud NOLA, is the focal point.
Family photos show Sumerall and his older brother in Baton Rouge when they were 3- and 4 years old.
In the dressing area/hallway, a Swedish armoire and a pair of Swedish Gripsholm armchairs are from Ann Koerner Antiques. The panels are from Cairo from Robert Kime.
Sumrall's primary bedroom decor is pulled from an array of sources. Draperies are in a fabric by Robert Kime. The Thonet settee was found in a Paris flea market, and the custom Dhurrie rug is through From Jaipur with Love.
A pair of 18th Century Chinoiserie side chairs upholstered in Pierre Frey velvet flank a 19th Century Swedish chest. Watercolors, from the 19th Century, were painted by Hercules Brabazon Brabazon.
A Robert Kime custom silk covers the English gilded palace stool, paired with an English marble-top table. Paintings are by Lisa Distafano of Baton Rouge.
In the living room, a Georgian mahogany bookcase from Christie's pairs with and an Adams mirror with original glass and a Robert Kime custom sofa and ottoman.
The view from the hall into the dining room takes the eye past several fabric patterns and to the painting at the far end by Wayne Pate, from Octavia Gallery in New Orleans.
Seventeenth Century Ming shipwreck export porcelain plates share a dining-room wall with a side board from Balzac Antiques NOLA. The light fixture is a 19th Century English copper street lantern.
The former butler's pantry is repurposed into a bookcase. An oil painting of a Sicilian gentleman, from Sud NOLA, is the focal point.
Family photos show Sumerall and his older brother in Baton Rouge when they were 3- and 4 years old.
A pair of 18th Century Chinoiserie side chairs upholstered in Pierre Frey velvet flank a 19th Century Swedish chest. Watercolors, from the 19th Century, were painted by Hercules Brabazon Brabazon.
If you’ve ever thought pro-level fashion prowess could translate into full-on interior design talent, stepping into the Uptown home of designer Calhoun Sumrall will confirm your suspicions. Part of an 1880s house that was subdivided in the 1930s, Sumrall’s apartment is brimming with an inviting mix of rich fabrics, classic shapes, distinctive art and treasured antiques.
It feels elevated, but in an approachable way, and there’s a backstory to pretty much anything your eyes land on as you try to take it all in. Clearly this is a man who knows how to design a space that tells a story.
“At Ralph Lauren, we would always say, ‘What’s the movie?’" recalled Sumrall, who worked in the brand’s New York City headquarters for 15 years, explaining how he and his team of designers would build a collection. “From there, it would be easy to decide if something was either ‘on script’ or ‘not at the same party.’”
Calhoun Sumrall was raised in Baton Rouge, graduated from LSU and then studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, where he spent years working in fashion.
If Sumrall’s home were a movie, it might be a time-traveling period drama with multiple story lines that somehow all come together beautifully in the end. And one thing’s for certain: There would be nothing formulaic about the script. In other words, you’d be hard-pressed to find anything in Sumrall’s home that could be easily ordered from a catalog or online retailer. He prefers handmade over mass produced.
“With antiques or working with artisans — whether it’s a fabric weaver, furniture maker, painter or metal worker — all those energies and talents come together to make something really beautiful. That’s always had such a great appeal to me,” he said. “I like things that have been somewhere. Something that has a history behind it is just more interesting than all of the new furniture that’s everywhere.”
Taking a similar approach to interior design — both in his own home and in the work he does with clients for Katie Koch Home, where he works as a designer — Sumrall is all about making a room look like it has evolved over time.
Seventeenth Century Ming shipwreck export porcelain plates share a dining-room wall with a side board from Balzac Antiques NOLA. The light fixture is a 19th Century English copper street lantern.
“It’s important to be patient and avoid the urge to rush to have everything done to perfection at once,” he said. “The fun of decorating is creating a personal space that reflects the way you live, a space that’s a reflection of your passions.”
It’s obvious that Sumrall is passionate about patterns and textiles. He layers in multiple prints and textures — over a dozen different patterns in his living room alone — in a way that looks neither fussy nor contrived. His enviable nonchalance in creating a room with such eclectic harmony might be traced back to his career in fashion.
Raised in Baton Rouge, Sumrall graduated from LSU and then studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, where he began his career. He headed up a design department at Ann Taylor before moving on to an executive position in the womenswear division at Ralph Lauren, where taking inspiration from vintage textiles was often integral to the work.
Sumrall's primary bedroom decor is pulled from an array of sources. Draperies are in a fabric by Robert Kime. The Thonet settee was found in a Paris flea market, and the custom Dhurrie rug is through From Jaipur with Love.
“We might find a piece of vintage fabric or ribbon that would become the starting point for an embroidered blouse or a print,” Sumrall said. “You’d really have to go back and understand the colors, honor the imperfections, and figure out how to create depth and character with different weaving techniques. It was just a common thread of how we worked at Ralph Lauren, having to do your homework and really sweating the details to create something authentic.”
The bridge between Sumrall’s fashion expertise and his decorative-arts education was built with the help of a few key mentors, most notably the late Robert Kime, an antiques dealer who became one of Britain’s preeminent decorators and whose clients included then-Prince Charles and other royals. In addition to his guidance and example, Kime’s fabric collections are very well represented in Sumrall’s home, from pillow covers and tablecloths to upholstery and lamp shades.
“A big part of it is getting to see where the ideas come from,” Sumrall said of his deep appreciation for Kime’s work. “They’re almost like beautiful documents that come from 16th- or 17th-century fabrics that he’d find in an old house or in a flea market. He might get just a little remnant that would inspire a new print for a fabric he’d have made.”
A Robert Kime custom silk covers the English gilded palace stool, paired with an English marble-top table. Paintings are by Lisa Distafano of Baton Rouge.
Sumrall also seems to have embraced Kime’s old-guard aesthetic and his penchant for curating a perfectly imperfect look with just the right mix of valuable antiques, curious objects and art. Take Sumrall’s dining room, for example. Two abstract paper studies by self-taught Louisiana artist Neal Novak hang with an early 19th-century Indian silk mughal summer carpet, which hangs above a circa 1770 wing chair Sumrall had reupholstered in a blue William Morris fabric.
But the appeal of Sumrall’s current interior is as much about editing as it is about collecting. Before moving to New Orleans, he had to winnow down his treasures significantly.
“I was moving out of an apartment in New York, and I sold my house in Connecticut. So it was 35 years of stuff, and what you see here is the edit,” he said.
Between giving things to friends, sending things to auction and placing a few things with clients, he even managed to downsize his storage unit. Overall, the move to New Orleans is about a fresh start and a slower pace.
“Working with Ralph was very rewarding, but it was a high-pressure job at a publicly traded company. With lots of people involved in lots of decisions, it was design-by-committee, and I was just ready for something more personal,” Sumrall explained. “Working with Katie (Koch) has been great. It’s a smaller business, so I was able to just hit the ground running.”
In the dressing area/hallway, a Swedish armoire and a pair of Swedish Gripsholm armchairs are from Ann Koerner Antiques. The panels are from Cairo from Robert Kime.
Designer Calhoun Sumrall offered these tips on creating the home you want.
ORDER IS IMPORTANT: My mentor Robert Kime always said to start with the rug. He’s right! It’s so hard to find a rug that works after you’ve detailed a room. Picking a paint color for the walls comes later. The furnishings and fabrics will dictate the room color."
MIX IT UP: Don’t be afraid to mix old and new. Good design exists in every era. An interesting room is a mix of great pieces regardless of providence or pedigree.
DON'T BE AFRAID TO EDIT: Have a critical eye. Be willing to say no and not accept things that are executed wrong or are not the quality you expect. It’s all about a creative mix, but don’t put too many things in one room. Most people have too much furniture in a room.
TRUST YOURSELF: Have a point of view. Work with a concept and have a strong vision of the end result, and stay focused. Trust your instincts. Initial ideas can evolve, but your instincts let you know what is good.
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