OUTDOOR-FURNITURE OPTIONS ARE BLOOMING. ARCHITECT LEE LEDBETTER AND DECORATOR FAWN GALLI COMPARE NOTES.
Lee, thank you for letting us into your beautiful garden in New Orleans. Tell us about how you chose to furnish this outdoor room.
LEE LEDBETTER: There is a tradition in New Orleans of painted-iron furniture because of the climate. Wood disintegrates in our humidity, or it gets covered in algae. The iron just works here, and it speaks to the tradition.
FAWN GALLI: I love that your furniture looks contemporary. It’s a great foil for the lush gardens around the house. Does the mid century architecture of your house, which is in a Victorian district, inform your outdoor design choices?
LL: I have this vintage 1940s iron furniture designed by Billy Haines, which came from an estate in Texas. They’re wonderful large chairs with loose seat and back cushions. There’s also a Salterini ribbon table and chairs. Fawn, in the introduction to your new book, you describe growing up on a wooden houseboat in Northern California, then in a cabin your father built without electricity or indoor plumbing. What did that teach you about living outdoors?
This story is from the April 2019 edition of Elle Decor.
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This story is from the April 2019 edition of Elle Decor.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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