Featured Designer
- It's the little details that people remember so vividly about Williamsburg, Virginia. Sparkling frost on a front-door wreath made with big red apples. Soft orange candelight framed by a window. The smell of gingerbread, still warm from a brick oven. A two-handed, hand-woven basket perched on a wooden stairway.
The images were not forgotten by WILLIAMSBURG home stylist Cindy Cragg, a seventh-generation Virginian who grea up in the area and whose clever interpretation of 18th-century style has earned her an appreciative following. Cragg's ties to Williamsburg run deep. Her grandmother worked for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation for 30 years and lived in the Historic Area. Cragg's parents were also involved with the Foundation. Today, Cragg, her husband and their two horses live "down the road" from a parcel of land that was given to her family in about 1615.
"It's pretty amazing. My grandfather lived in a house that is kitty-corner to the one we live in. There's a family cemetery on the property and it's very interesting to wander through," says Cragg, a decorating expert who looks to Williamsburg's rich history for inspiration, but adds the creative touch of a contemporary woman to her design ideas for the home.
No matter what their personal history or nationality may be, all Americans can look to Williamsburg as part of this country's proud heritage. Its distinctive style is reflected - subtly or boldly - across the United States. We asked Cragg for her thoughts.
- {Q} What is it about Williamsburg® that makes it so timeless?
Cragg: "It's classic, the original American style. It's like a well-tailored suit - it never goes out of style. There's always an element of it that can be dressed up or dressed down. Typically, people think of the style as being more formal, and that was true when I was growing up. For my grandmother, it was very formal and not something you had in the living areas of the house. It was in the formal dining room, the formal living room.
"Now we have many more products that are inspired from 18th-century reproductions. My mother has a formal living room and dining room, too, where she has classic pieces she's inherited or [bought] as antiques. But she also incorporates those and newer pieces into her den and office and other parts of her home.
"Like many others in my generation, I don't have a formal dining room or living room. I have a great room. Only using very formal pieces wouldn't work in my home. But because it is more acceptable - and a lot of fun - to have a more eclectic environment, I can take older, more formal pieces and weave them into my decor. The 18th-century style has become very adaptable."
- {Q} How important is color to Williamsburg® and 18th-century style?
Cragg: "I know that people are drawn again and again to the rich organic colors of the flowers in the gardens or the trim on the buildings. I know that when they choose a paint from the Colonial Williamsburg Palette Colors or choose something for themselves like a vase when they visit [the gift stores], they are trying to take back home with them something that reminds them of the simple, but elegant style of WILLIAMSBURG."
- {Q} What colors will be important in home decorating in 2007?
Cragg: "Rich blues like Nelson House Blue, Barraud House Blue or Stencil Square Wallpaper Blue are three really great colors. And I think contrast is going to be a huge design element. The idea has been emerging for the past two or three years, but it will be even more prominent in 2007. It will be those rich blues mixed with dark browns or lighter blues. The Colonial Williamsburg Palette has a good variety of browns that reflect the beautiful colors in the bricks and the streets.
"I am a big brown fan. I have several favorite browns, including Thomas Everard Coffee and Bryan House Chocolate for the dark shades and Chowning's Tavern Rose Tan Light and Bracken Cornice Straw for the lighter shades. (And you have got to love the names!) Some of the really dark browns are just a tone away from black, and that is going to be great."
- {Q} Besides blue and brown, what other colors do you see coming on strong?
Cragg: "Mango shades that work well with
Pratt & Lambert's WILLIAMSBURG Red Cedar and
St. Mary's Wallpaper Salmon. That will be hot, especially when you get into spring and summer. Also, black and white will pop up all over the place. We're already starting to see the look in fashions. The colors work so well with the 18th-century style because of their classicism."
- {Q} Sometimes when fabrics, textures and patterns are mixed, the result is a delightful room. Other times it just looks like a disaster. What's the secret?
Cragg: "You need a color theme. Pick one very strong dominant color for the space. Then choose several secondary or accent colors that add punch. That will tie in those plaids and florals. But I encourage people not to get too carried away. Don't let it get too busy."
- {Q} What is the role of size in room decor right now?
Cragg: "Diminutive and very small things as well as oversized objects are very popular right now. We've taken some original WILLIAMSBURG reproductions and made them really big. That's knocked everything on its ear. It's really fun."
- {Q} We know a home should reflect the personalities of its owners. But how can that be accomplished if a couple has dramatically different ideas?
Cragg: "Oftentimes, the more formal rooms of the house reflect the alter ego of the woman of the house and the more casual areas take on a little more masculinity. I don't think that's a bad thing. It's the best of both worlds and a nice way to solve the problem. "The kitchen is a more common area of the home where you can use a little bit of this and a little bit of that and it somehow works out. I'm lucky my husband and I have very similar tastes when it comes to decorating the house."
