Pattern at Play

In the dining room of this Atlanta mid-rise, designer Andrew Howard incorporated treasures from the homeowner’s travels, including a framed tapestry and vintage accent chairs. The dining chairs feature a Christopher Farr Cloth’s fabric and are finished with a vinyl, a mindful touch given the client’s dogs and grandchildren.

A vintage terracotta lamp from Max & Company adds to the condo’s layered appeal.

Howard dressed up the kitchen with Palecek stools and pendants from Arteriors.

In the den, Howard plays up the homeowner’s Western roots with tapestry-like draperies featuring Pierre Frey’s Arapahos pattern. The sofa is upholstered in a durable Perennials fabric.

Cool neutrals lay the groundwork for eclectic patterns in the living/dining room. The draperies feature Jim Thompson’s Otago fabric while the rug is custom by Eliko. The garden stool is from One Kings Lane.

To make this bedroom’s structural column less conspicuous, Howard wrapped it in a Phillip Jeffries wallcovering. A desk by Palecek and chair by Mr. and Mrs. Howard for Sherrill Furniture offers the homeowner a quiet spot to work.

The master bedroom was inspired by the homeowner’s modern art collection. Howard picked up on the skyline’s soft blue hues via a Alan Campbell fabric for the draperies. The bed is Bernhardt and the nightstands are Bungalow 5.

Pierre Frey’s embroidered Tasmania fabric served as the starting point for the guest bedroom’s design. To visually juxtapose its organic nature, Howard selected Zak + Fox’s more structured windowpane fabric, Postage, in olive green for the draperies. The benches are by Lee Industries.

Designed with the homeowner’s grandchildren in mind, Howard selected a playful Ferrick Mason fabric for the headboard.

Celerie Kemble for Schumacher’s Feather Bloom wallpaper infuses pattern into the powder room.

When it comes to decorating, dabbling in a pattern or two is fun, but few have the bravado to dive in headfirst like the owner of this colorful Atlanta pied-à-terre.

“What made this project so fun was that we rarely had to push the restraint button,” says interior designer Andrew Howard. “The client was really up for taking any sort of ‘risky’ fabric and using it not just on a pillow, but in a much bigger way.”

It’s Howard’s knack for effortlessly combining intriguing patterns and colors that led the homeowner to seek him out. After having seen Howard’s work in a neighboring condo (which was previously featured in Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles’ May 2017 issue), she tasked the designer with creating a space that reflected her Western roots and incorporated unique pieces of art she had collected during her world travels.

“Given her love of art, I really wanted the fabrics to have an artistic quality to them. And if you were to frame them, they might look like real paintings,” notes Howard. It’s a concept that really comes to life in the combination living-and-dining room, where painterly patterns grace nearly every inch of space. The effect is never dizzying though, thanks to variations in scale and a focused color palette. “In this room, the pattern on the draperies has a tighter scale than the squares on the rug which helps keep the look from becoming overwhelming,” explains Howard. “And in any project, I like to have one unifying color and then have the rest of the room evolve from there.”  

Howard was also mindful of the homeowner’s desire to decorate with intention. Textiles and accents weren’t selected solely for aesthetics, but also for “the tale they tell,” he says. So in a nod to her former residence out West, window treatments in the den resemble a Western tapestry while a unique woven headboard in a guest room sparks a similar story.

“We decided early on to incorporate some Western touches, but I didn’t think it needed to feel like an old saloon,” says Howard. “So, there was a very fine line to walk where we made it feel more artsy and urban, and reflective of what’s going on in downtown Atlanta, which is amazing, but at the same time an eclectic mix of things that could be from all over the world.”

She travels so much and sees so many different things, that I had to keep up with her,” he adds with a laugh. “It was a really fun experience to design for someone who isn’t afraid to push the envelope.”

INTERIOR DESIGN Andrew Howard, Andrew Howard Interior Design, (904) 389-5100;