Suzanne Kasler sits down at The Skirted Roundtable

Today, Suzanne Kasler, interior designer, furniture designer, lighting designer, author, and utterly gracious person - visited The Skirted Roundtable for an in depth chat. As usual, we were all ears as Suzanne spoke about design and what it means to her. She reveals how she approaches an empty house - it's all about the "sequencing" of color and style that runs throughout a house, according to Suzanne. After talking in general terms, we got down to business and pulled out Suzanne's new book "Inspired Interiors." We all claimed one room we particularly loved (the three of us had initially picked the same room!) and asked Suzanne to talk about the inspiration behind each one. We have printed the pictures here in case your copy of Inspired Interiors hasn't arrived yet.

As usual, the time went by much too quickly, we could have listened to Suzanne talk about each page in the entire book. If you haven't bought it yet - we highly recommend it. For an autographed copy, send an email HERE. Before you listen to the show, be sure to get out a pen and paper - Suzanne shares her favorite white paint colors.

We hope you enjoy this interview as much as we did. We feel like we are getting quite an education listening to the best interior designers in America and we plan to continue offering classes - as long as you'll attend! If you'd like, please help to continue the conversation by leaving a comment, and as always your support is very much appreciated.

Linda's pick (and Megan and Joni) for her favorite room in the book is this dining room - located in Suzanne's former house. The pink taffeta curtains are the focal point - but we all discover new details we hadn't noticed before.

Pages 18-19.

Megan's choice was this wonderful English styled log cabin, also recently featured in Architectural Digest. We all agreed that this proves a log cabin can be dressy and beautiful. This is the great room in the owner's house situated right next to Blackberry Farm, the Relais and Chateau hotel they founded, located in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee.

Pages 174-175.

Another view of the log cabin. In the summer - all the furniture is covered in white slips.


Megan then picked a 2nd room to discuss - this bunk room.

Pages 182-186.

Suzanne discussed the rug - and described how she purchases things just because she likes them, not with a specific client in mind.

Joni's pick is this eclectic family room in Suzanne's former house. We dissected the room, piece by piece, to understand how and why it works.

Pages 20-21.

And finally, we discussed this dining room - because it is so universally well liked by bloggers. Suzanne tells us how the famous pink wall came to be and how everyone was initially against it!

Pages 127-129.

Another view of her most famous room - Suzanne reveals which pink is closest to the real shade - the light pink in this picture or the deeper pink in the former picture.

"Inspired Interiors" by Suzanne Kasler - a wonderful book, available on Amazon.

     

Edited to add: When we interviewed Suzanne, we had no idea about this part of her background. Having gone through such a trying time in her life only adds to our respect for her and her work. And thank you to Colonel James H. Kasler for your service to our country. 

Excerpted from "Tempered Steel: Colonel James A. Kasler" by Perry D. Luckett and Charles L. Byler

As General Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg, Jr., observed in a recent inter-
view, Jim Kasler is a paragon of what the fighting airman is all about.  He
didn’t break the sound barrier first or go to the moon and jump up and
down.  He was just the best at his trade that anyone could be, and he is a
complex, esoteric individual whose characteristics all came together when
his nation needed him to produce what he did.  Indeed, James Kasler is a
genuine American hero, and we all must hope the United States has a few
like him in the future, when we need them.