PAUL EFIRD Stationery from Jane Seymour’s line.

By KEVIN COWAN, cowan@knews.com
October 3, 2003

The guest room of a Sequoyah Hills home has received the star treatment.

Richesin will join Seymour in a roundtable discussion about home design today at Proffitt's. It will feature a question-and-answer session about Richesin's makeover. The public is invited to be audience members of the roundtable, which will be taped for "Focused on You," a new television show, which will air on WBIR, Channel 10, beginning Saturday, Oct. 11.

Seymour will be at Proffitt's from 5-7 p.m. to promote St. Catherine's. Customers who purchase pieces from her line will receive a VIP ticket to the event, which includes a personal autograph session.

On the redo, Richesin said: "Proffitt's approached me with the concept of how an interior designer would use the line in a room. I wanted to illustrate how you could use the product in an upscale way."

He knew just the right house and room for the experiment.

Interior designer Todd Richesin used pieces from Jane Seymour’s St. Catherine’s Court Collection in the redo of this guest room.

"I wanted it to be an old house, not something newer," Richesin said. "It had to have this element of age and timelessness, like Jane's collection, which is based on her 14th-century manor in Bath, England."

The home is a 1920s shingle-style cottage designed by the architectural firm Barber and McMurry.

Richesin has worked with the lady of the house for about five years, doing a room a year.

"That way we get to do really nice things in each room," he said. In five years she has gotten five beautiful rooms."

Her guest room would make No. 6.

"She knew she wanted a pink-and-green theme," Richesin said. "We already had some toile fabric we bought a couple of years ago to use on some chairs in the room."

Using the fabric an as inspiration, Richesin looked through Seymour's line and saw the bedding of her "Floral Overture" collection, which boasts deep reds and blush pinks.

"I thought it would work perfectly with the green-and-pink toile," he said.

Richesin used one of Seymour’s drinking glasses as a vase in the guest bath.

Richesin bought other coordinating fabrics for upholstery and a rug. He sent swatches to Seymour, who lives in Malibu most of the year. He said she was delighted with the selections.

Richesin and his crew worked on the room for four weeks. It usually takes about 16 weeks for a redo of this scale.

"I pulled people off other projects and put this ahead of everything," he said. "This came together really fast. My head is still spinning."

The result is a warm space that exudes elegance and comfort. The walls are bathed in a soft pink, which complement the mingled floral, toile and check prints.

Grosgrain ribbon trims the molding.

"It's nice way to accent a color and draw attention to the details of a room," Richesin said. "It was very inexpensive to do.

A large red rug fills the room, making it appear more expansive.

The antique wrought-iron bed blooms, thanks to the Floral Overture bedding. Richesin combined two bed skirts for a fuller effect. Above the bed is a piece of Seymour's art, a watercolor called "Flowers in a Clear Vase," which she sent as a finishing touch.

The toile print of the room's comfy chairs was duplicated on a painted chest. An armoire received some paint as well. The piece is now ivory and sports red-and-green accents.

In addition to the bedding, Richesin used a crystal pitcher and glass from the line as vases, as well as silk beaded pillows, which sit on the toile chairs. One of Seymour's stationery sets is grouped with antique perfume bottles on a vanity, and a decanter set is on the painted chest.

Seymour, who has seen only photographs of the room, is thrilled with the outcome.

"It's very exciting," she said. "I know there is at least one house in Knoxville done in Jane Seymour."

Style writer Kevin Cowan may be reached at 865-342-6426.

Copyright 2003, Knoxville News-Sentinel Co.