apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Her interiors, while interesting, are never peaceful. That graffiti-inspired wall in the bedroom makes me feel angry--definitely NOT an attribute I want in my house!

Too much of a cluttered look! Especially the gravities on the wall and floors. Way too much.

http://kirantarun.com

i know there is universal near-hatred of Wearstler on AT but i adore her - i flipped out at this spread last night while flipping through the new issue. lovers and haters alike have to at least admit there are few, if any, other designers whose work you instantly recognize. at least her vision is singular and perfectly executed - and is interesting.

I love it all except the bathroom.

This screams 80s to me.

Hmm. The business in the bedroom and bathroom shots get to me, but I kind of like the style in the other three photos.

I could see myself watching over her working on my place and saying "stop" about 10% before she would think she's finished. Just a little less of it all would work for me.

I am a fan of Kelly Wearstler, but not of her own homes. I love Modern Glamour, but not Domicilium Decoratum.

Kelly has a great eye for interesting pieces and unexpected color combinations. However, she takes it to the extreme when decorating her homes. It's like everything she has ever liked must end up inside her house. It's overkill.

A) i'm pretty sick of seeing the use of "we" from the bloggers on AT. "we" did not go to Malibu and tour Wearstler's home- "we" reposted an article from Metropolitan home...

B) Kelly Wearstler is a poseur. She has received too much praise and too much credit for far too little original thought and common design-sense. anyone can fill a room with expensive objects when you have an unlimited budget, however a true designer can actually edit those objects to fit the space and context. kelly can not.

I love her. Her spaces create a strong reaction that violently split the crowd. This is something that can be attributed to almost all great designers and artists because they try something new. I think people who don't like her spaces will be replicating watered down versions of their own in a few years and if not their children will. Get with the times people.

Just feels like a lot of expensive stuff in an expensive house in an expensive neighborhood. Doesn't feel pulled together over time.

Tell me again why she has a mansion and a malibu beach home? That look is 80s repossessed drug lord!

also I vote **enuff** with the comments on grammar! calmate!!!!

I really respect a designer's unique approach that gives them a distinct look and statement. Yet, I just can't get her work. I've tried, and can appreciate aspects of some rooms, but they feel so overdone and non-livable.

I am in Camp Kelly all the way! I generally have less respect for stylists vs. designers... but her style sense is extraordinary. A true original who is not afraid to take chances or bend the rules of good taste.

I love her work but this doesn't do it for me...

(i'm lovin mclovin)

I agree with HCVMama that the bedroom wall makes me angry, I couldn't put finger on the emotion, but that's it. The bedroom should be calming. I would never be able to sleep in this room until I painted over the wall. Kelly goes to far; she definitely has a point of view, but I don't agree with it. That said, you know one of her rooms when you see one, but that is not always a good thing. To each his own, at least they are not boring stagnant rooms, but I do agree that with unlimited funds almost anyone could fill a room with clutter and call it a design, I say almost because you do have to know a thing or two about placement and flow.

Tacky, dated and unattractive.

mclovin: snap!

We're thinking it, you're saying it.

It doesn't ALL appeal to me, but I kind of like how it makes me think of the beach yet doesn't use any of the stereotypically "beachy" design elements (for example, there's no blue).

I actually like the bedroom better than most of the rooms, though I'd get rid of those pyramid lamps (or whatever they are) on the side tables.

The only design element that I REALLY loved about this space was the custom staircase - it is flawless. The rest of this was just too 80s and packed together. Oh, I also loved the black and white painting in one of the rooms, I think it was the foyer or the LVRM. Everything else = overrated.

I'm feeling bored with designers I used to enjoy, Wearstler and Wolf among them, their work seems stagnant to me. I'm wondering... who's next? Who's doing something new? Something interesting? Refreshing? Maybe I'm just reading too much 'design' material...

I like her imagination. She thinks outside of the box. However, if I were to hire her I would ask for Wearstler Lite. If she came to me with these ideas, I'd send her back to the drawing board.

What makes me hate this look is the lack of happy, sexy, warm color, the puffy furniture and that it reminds me of the 80's (which imo is the worst decade for style).

Goes back to celebrity and not ingenuity.

It's the Wearstest when we follow the pack, when someone - man or woman - is inculcated into the "it" group and we (magazines, marketers) all blindly uphold a thoughtless decree.

I work in the art world and live in NYC. The starchitects the st-artists are made by media hype.

Well, It's certainly not literal...

...but what is that thing sticking out of the center of the ceiling that looks like her hair?

(Kudos to McLovin)

It's all just so loud and... strenuous. Nothing about it seems natural or livable.

to paraphrase the editor of elle decor, because the taste is not yours does not mean it is bad taste.

and just because i or others like kelly wearstler does not mean we are "blindly" upholding anything or falling into a groupthink (especially when most of this group is very anti-kelly). it means we appreciate and enjoy much of what she does.

lastly, everyone is lovin up mclovin. but at least as far as the comment about the use of "we" is concerned, this is a fairly common practice used to denote a singular editorial voice. few people go to AT just for a particular poster - we come here to read the AT point of view, signified by the collective "we" that is used consistently by the editorial staff.

Forget whoever Kelly is and the messy fabric and patterns - but does anyone know if the chairs in the first photo are a) swivel chairs and if so, b) who makes them?

Thank you, hejiranyc! I'm so happy to see a fellow AT commenter who thinks there's more to life than Marimekko, mid-century Scandinavian sideboards, and owls.

strangely enough, the house doesn't really have much personality at all, and you would think it ought to with such careful and meticulous planning. It looks uncomfortable, and not like anywhere I'd really want to spend any time in. feels very contrived to me.

another vote for mclovin!

The Kelly Wearstler pile-ons make me smile!

The woman needs to get back on her meds!

i like her hotel work, but not recent stuff i've been seeing.

i also love the swivel chairs in the first pic.

this house looks like a set from an old school eddie murphy movie.....oh remember that song in coming to america "just let your soul glo" (last part totally unrealted)

HIDEOUS....

So "we" like mclovin but we don't like "we"

interesting

It takes a lot of work to create a house that ugly.

Never understood her appeal. Every design screams 'I'm trying hard to push buttons here.'

Better than her usual overwearsterlized stuff.

Every time I read "we" on AT I want to ask if they carry a mouse around in their pocket.

Compared to the man-shun it's positively low key.

I am the furthest thing from a minimalist (okay not the FURTHEST thing but close to it) but these rooms feel busy, and hyperactive to me.

And I can like that, if its cheery, colour-filled space with a lot of whimsy and just I don't know, a feeling of HAPPY. But this doesn't feel happy. This feels like somebody on a jag. Manic. I do not enjoy that and especially would not want it in my home.

Love her! Don't exactly love all parts of this beach home, but it definitely has the wow factor.

Ya. The AT crowd misses KW by a mile. Lets see. What is on the runway right now? Oh, right 80's.

The AT crowd sometimes seems happy with what really is a very mainstream version of design. Mass market in many ways.

KW is pushing and pushing. Just as in haute coutoure transfer to pret a porter WK transfers to mass market design.

the 80s don't need to come back. ever. Also, what's on the runway now is tragic; the 80s clothes flatter no body type

As for Wearstler, controversial does not automatically equal awesome. I haven't given out brownie points for being an "individual" since high school. I can only speak for myself but I'm not seeing the genius. It's her home, though; she can decorate it as she pleases...

I like each individual element for it's texture and originality...but it's just TOO MUCH! The girl could stand to do a little editing.

kelly's style is very editorial, which isn't exactly weird when she's styling for an editorial shoot of her projects. it's over the top, but i love her. she designs a fantasy, full of glam and money! it's why she's so good at hotels: you can imagine yourself at that bathroom vanity like you're in a movie scene. it's escapism.

her clients and her designs never pretend to be for normal houses in which people go about the normal tasks of living; these are homes for people with multiple homes and a staff. or for people who want to pretend they have a staff. and what, after all, is the harm in a little fantasy in your decor? she's not saying everyone should live in her designs, just that she thinks they're fabulous and fun.

i may not dig the 80s sculptures, but i dig her ballsiness.

OK, I'm sorry, but I have to point this out:

I hate the misuse of the editorial we as much as the next person. However, it is really appropriate here, since the author is speaking for the AT community in general. Where it does not belong and sounds awkward and silly is when a blogger says something like "our boyfriend" or "we wanted to clean out all our old furniture" when they are very clearly referring to themselves, and not speaking for or as the AT community as a whole.

If we're going to attack the editorial we, let's do it right. It has its place, like in this post, but there are certainly many flagrant misuses of it here and elsewhere.

This style was beautiful... when Tony Duquette did it. I'm so sick of this broad, enough already.

I guess if you do something big and ugly enough, someone will think you're a genius for it.