Mary Douglas Drysdale Comes To Visit!

Interior Designer Mary Douglas Drysdale on her favorite steed. OK - how gorgeous is this picture? I love how she is perfectly coordinated with her horse! Someone should paint this!

This week, we are thrilled to welcome the very elegant Mary Douglas Drysdale to the Skirted Roundtable. Drysdale was a total surprise - I think we expected another very competent interior designer, instead we got a fluent French speaking, highly intelligent, strong, open, and very talkative (and laughing!) artist at the top of her field. We thought she might be shy, instead we talked for over 1 1/2 hours - how Linda edited it down to just an hour is a mystery. As you well know, Drysdale is one of most popular designers in the U.S. - she has been on over 60, yes - SIXTY, magazine covers during her career! She's been featured in more design books than you can count. Her CV is amazing, it goes on and on and on, page after page after page. She is just that accomplished.

The 1996 Veranda cover that launched a national trend for clean white with bright yellow interiors. Who could ever forget those luscious curtains?

In the 90s, Drysdale was well known for her all white with bright yellow interiors. For a while it seemed that everyone wanted that color scheme from Drysdale. Today, she still enjoys working with clear whites - with and without bright accent colors. She just completed a huge project which will be featured in Veranda in the next few months. It's hard to fathom, but this job was so large and involved, she employed over 200 people a day to work on it. Yet, she only has 4 people on her staff.

Another very famous book cover from Drysdale's white with yellow period.

Mary Douglas Drysdale was a true delight, sharing with us stories of her young adult life spent in Paris. The three of us hung on her every word with baited breath. She's working on her own design book right now, so look for that in the future. Thanks Mary for stopping by - it was an honor! And a special thank you to Ronda Carman of All The Best for the introduction!

Drysdale's latest Veranda cover - soft creams and blues.








Drysdale is a true student of architecture - she employs classic elements in most of her interiors.

This recently designed living room is done in soft ivories - beautiful!







As always, thank you so much for your continued support and comments. Next week, noted design author Diane Dorrans Saeks will be visiting!