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Barry Dixon’s latest designs could be an antidote to these turbulent times. “The world is in a state of chaos – fiscally, socially, and internationally. I think people will respond to products that are the furniture equivalent of comfort food,” the designer says.
His newest collection for Tomlinson/Erwin-Lambeth is grounded in reality, yet has details to make you dream. “People are looking for things that are strong and masculine, things they can recognize that have a certain familiarity and comfort,” Dixon says. During these hard economic times, consumers would be wise to invest in long-lasting designs. Dixon’s interpretation? Warm neutral colors, fibers with strength and durability, and clean-lined, classic shapes that will stand the test of time.
‘A Thinking Person’s Lair’
“We live a modern life with period echoes,” says Dixon, who eschewed delicate fabrics for his Tomlinson collection, recently unveiled at the High Point International Furnishings Market in North Carolina. “We’re not showing any flashy silks, we’re using tweeds, honest wovens, and printed linens,” says the Warrenton, VA-based designer, who also dressed wing chairs in paisley velvet and age-old ikats. “We didn’t want military, [no loden greens or khakis] because that would take us back to the war in Iraq. And we didn’t want pinstripe, because that would make us think of Wall Street,” he says. Instead, in the showroom, Dixon created an old-world atmosphere with comfortable, sheltering sofas, cozy wing chairs, a reversible card table, a big, tweedy ottoman, and accents including solid, mottled dark columns, a marble globe, and an antique telescope.
“People are really looking to the future. We need men and women who will explore and discover rather than just plod along,” Dixon says. “We need Renaissance men and women in politics. We need thinkers like Jefferson. I wanted the room to feel like a thinking person’s lair.”
Delectable Design
The designer achieved this, in part, with his warm, earthy palette. “There’s not a color in any cocoon that’s not in this collection,” says Dixon, who used shades of dark chocolate, warm cocoa, and cinnamon as well as cinnabar, clay, and charcoal. In addition to being “deep, rich, and satisfying tones,” these neutrals “are dark and won’t show dirt and wear,” he says.
Dixon accented several pieces with classic equestrian details, which give them a familiar, almost thoroughbred feel. The Middleburg sofa, for instance, features a fob with a horse head and ring on the ends of arms and the Robertson sofa, upholstered in prewashed linen, has braided, bridle-leather piping. “Nothing’s more timeless and represents quality better than Hermès,” says Dixon, adding, “When you’re worrying about parting with your money, you want to make sage investments.”
Celebrating East and West
Dixon intertwined his personal experiences and what’s happening in the world and linked disparate cultural elements in the Tomlinson collection in various ways, too. The undercurrent of the furniture is a “Scottish-Chinese fusion.” “I spent a lot of time in Scotland last spring reconnecting with my Scottish ancestry,” he says. Over the last year, he’s also made 10 trips to Beijing, where he’s been working on a primary residence on the banks of the Forbidden City. “It’s all Ming dynasty style with new construction. I was time traveling, I grew in the process,” Dixon says.
While many of the sturdy furnishings, including a tartan sofa, feel fit for Balmoral, some have a Far Eastern influence, too. One slender armoire that’s covered in twine-colored woven raffia, for instance, features ornate hardware that you might traditionally find on a lacquered Chinese cabinet. It’s ideal for storing a flat-screen TV or it can be constructed as a lighted bar. “There are all kinds of artful ways to invest your money,” Dixon says, mentioning that it might be less expensive to purchase an armoire like this than to have custom cabinets constructed. That way, when you move to your next home, you can take it with you, which you couldn’t do with built-ins.
Reconnecting With Family
Dixon also designed a game table with a buckskin top that reverses to hardwood for a bit of nostalgia. “I can deal cards all day long. The buckskin holds the roll of the dice and the cards slide, just like the old felt tops used to,” says the designer, who plays Hearts and Samba almost every Sunday afternoon with friends and family.
“It doesn’t cost anything to sit, play cards, and laugh with your family. These are good times to reconnect with your family. A lot of people aren’t taking those ski trips to Vail,” he says.
Dixon also designed a 32-inch-by-64-inch rectangular ottoman in lieu of a coffee table, covered it in natural brown tweed, and accented it with nailhead trim. He set his small Trivet table next to it. “No one’s going to worry about spilling hot coffee on this; it’s indestructible, but it looks elegant,” Dixon says, adding, “It’s so sturdy, it’s solid wrought iron, it’s as masculine as a horseshoe. You could set a round, greasy pizza on it and play on your card table and not worry about it.”
Like we said, this is comfort furniture, ideal if you’re staying home, nesting, and bunkering down, like us.
