Jan Showers ~ Showering Us with Glamorous Inspiration and a Giveaway!

May 26, 2010 by Elizabeth Moyer

A fellow Dallasite, I have been a long time admirer of Jan Showers. I have tear sheets dating back years from Elle Decor, Southern Accents and any number of other shelter magazines. So, it was with great delight that I learned she was compiling some of her best work into a book, Glamorous Rooms.

In fact, I was so excited, that I asked my husband if we could spend part of our anniversary attending her book signing at Bergdorf Goodman’s last fall. The man is a saint…..he said YES! So, that’s how I got my signed copy of Jan’s beautiful book!

me with Jan at Bergdorf Goodman, November 2009

Not feeling completely satisfied (even after reading a great interview about her in 1st Dibs), I asked Jan if she would share a couple of her favorite rooms (click the photos to enlarge) with us and some words of wisdom. Lucky for us….she said YES!

Pretty Pink Tulips:

What is on your inspiration board right now?

Jan Showers:

My inspiration board has a wonderful page from the May issue of Vogue —Grace Coddington and I were both dreaming about blues and greens! I was doing a table for our show house at the new Ritz Tower in Dallas with lots of green, blue and turquoise glass. I was thumbing through my new Vogue and saw that Grace had done something very similar. Color drives everything I do, so I am incredibly inspired by a particular acid green that looks great with turquoise and blues.

Pretty Pink Tulips:

What was the first piece you ever designed? What prompted you to create it?

Jan Showers:

The first piece I ever designed was the Manhattan Table. It was designed because I am an avid reader of books and magazines and they would stack up beside my bed or on the floor around sofas and chairs. I wanted something handsome that would store them. The first one was without a drawer, but we had so many requests for a drawer (particularly if by a bed) that we added one to the Collection.

Manhattan Table

Pretty Pink Tulips:

What is your favorite piece in the new Collection and why?

Jan Showers:

My favorite piece in the new 2010 Collection is the Carlyle Console. I was inspired by a wonderful piece I saw many years ago at Liz O’Brien’s in New York. It stayed in my head all of these years —I love it because it is inspired by very traditional English Regency pieces and yet is so new and fresh using the elements of Lucite, mirror with a luscious parchment finish (one of our two new finishes). It would work beautifully in a dining room, living room or entry hall (as a matter of fact, I want one for my entry in Dallas).

Carlyle Console

Pretty Pink Tulips:

You have said that you take some of your design cues from movies ~ which movie would best describe your homes?

Jan Showers:

That would be almost impossible to say because both of my houses would be a combination of 50 different movies!! I can tell you some of my favorite movies from an interiors viewpoint…any movie from the 1940s, all Alfred Hitchcock movies, The Talented Mr. Ripley (love the outdoor areas where they always eat or have drinks al fresco — that movie inspired us to buy our townhouse in Dallas because of it’s amazing courtyard). I am really looking forward to the new Tilda Swinton movie, I Am Love because it features a fabulous house in Milan.

Pretty Pink Tulips:

What are the most important elements that every home should have?

Jan Showers:

The most important elements a home should have are:

Comfort
Wonderful colors
Glamour
Something completely unexpected

Pretty Pink Tulips:

Where do you recommend clients splurge versus save?

Jan Showers:

I recommend that clients splurge on buying the best furniture pieces and lamps that they can afford and tell clients to save on drapery fabric because there are so many wonderful ones that are not expensive. I think people very often think they have to spend too much on both drapery and upholstery fabric — not so. I would rather have a fabulous French forties bergere and upholster it in something less expensive than to have a bad reproduction that will end up being thrown out or given away within a short period of time. Buy the best and buy less — remember the old Chinese saying — “Buy the best and only cry once”!

Showering One of You with Jan’s Inspiration!

And, if you want more of Jan’s glamorous inspiration, become a follower and leave me a comment (by Friday at midnight) for a chance to win your own, personalized copy of Jan’s book, Glamorous Rooms! I’ll announce the winner next Tuesday!

Jan, you are as beautiful as your interiors! Thank you for showering us with your talents and so much more!

What’s on your inspiration board right now?
xo, Elizabeth

P.S. Special, heartfelt thanks go out to Karen Wayman & Jennifer McLochlin