To understand the genius joie de vivre of decorator Tom Scheerer, look no further than page 40 of his latest book, Tom Scheerer: More Decorating (Vendome, 2019). Below a photograph of a chic Parisian bedroom, the caption reads: “The cotton bedspreads are from Les Indiennes. The wall assemblage was made by the decorator out of Ikea picture frames and leftover paint from the adjacent room.” Now who in their right mind would use Ikea frames and leftover paint in the midst of such sophistication?
“I’ll never be accused of jumping on decorating bandwagons,” Scheerer writes. And yet, his taste—unchanged over the decades—remains pitch-perfect. Rattan chairs, Saarinen tables, natural materials, hat racks, and other winks of the eye make his rooms a delight to behold.
In this newest book, Scheerer features 20 of his latest projects, from tropical retreats to city domiciles to country houses, many of them his own. Happily, he proves as able a writer as he is a decorator. Describing an uptown “shopping” trip spent mining a client’s Park Avenue apartment for furniture to use in their hastily acquired downtown loft, he notes wryly, “This would not be an ideal scenario for a more mercenary decorator.” Some may be more mercenary, but few are more fun.
By Kirk Reed Forrester | Photography © Francesco Lagnese from Tom Scheerer: More Decorating (Vendome, 2019)