Creative Clients: Renaissance Mural & Dutch Baroque Room

Greg and I always enjoy seeing how creative our clients are in decorating their homes. Many go beyond simply furnishing their space. They expand on a theme they love to the point where they are living inside an era - inside a historic story really! Our client Bob H. recently told us about his Renaissance mural, which is a great example of such unique interior design. A few months ago I blogged about the Renaissance chairs and Renaissance buffet that Bob bought from us. Bob lives in a beautiful French Renaissance chateau style home in Prairie Grove, Illinois. His home is inspired by European castles and he loves medieval armor. The carved knight on horseback on the marble-top 1900 French Renaissance buffet was a perfect match for his interests. This is a close-up of the buffet in Bob's home. He decorated it with antique apothecary items as he has been a pharmacist for 30 years. You can see the valiant knight riding his horse before the old castle on the center door. We were amazed and delighted when Bob told us he'd had an artist create a mural based on the knight carvings. Isn't it wonderful? When Bob sent the photo of the Renaissance mural in an art niche or alcove, he said it was still not quite finished. We think it's impressive enough already! We bet that the French artist who carved the original knight on the buffet would be thrilled to know that more than 100 years later his craftsmanship would continue to inspire a home-owner and a 21st century artist! You can see more photos of Bob's chateau home in our client spotlight. The dramatic house was featured in Crystal Lake’s 39th Annual Housewalk this year, and when you check out the blog post you'll see why. Bob's creative approach reminded me of another client we featured a while ago on this blog. Hans J. in Cambridge, MA, purchased this charming vintage Flemish candelabra from EuroLuxHome.com for his Dutch room.

Like Bob, Hans fully enters into the spirit of the antique treasures he loves. Hans created an entire room designed to evoke the feeling of a Dutch interior around 1690 during the Golden Age of Northern Baroque art.

His interest in creating this lavish 17th century Dutch style interior is partly inspired by the fact that his mother was born in Delft, Holland. Also, Hans' family owned an antique shop, so he grew up with European antiques. My previous Dutch Baroque room blog post shows more photos from Hans of his amazing decor and the vintage candelabra he bought from us in its new home.

If the Renaissance mural and Dutch Baroque room inspire you with your home decor, or if you've already created a themed room like these, we'd love to hear about it in the comments box below!