Interior designer Clarence Brooks says the best approach to decorating is to take whatever you have and ask, “Is this suitable and will this suitability enhance my family living, my entertaining living, or whatever you want to do?”
Upstairs Barbara enjoys a cozy work space that fosters her seemingly endless creativity. As a photographer for more than 30 years, Barbara’s walls are filled with black-and-white, sepia, and hand-tinted moments in time that now serve as special memories. And as a specialist in children and family portraits, it is no surprise that Barbara and Robin also created a beautiful place for their own grandchildren to sleep and play.
The red, white, and blue found throughout the home are simply colors that the Harbins enjoy and that play well with the items they already had. “It was an unconscious approach,” Clarence says of the French motifs throughout the cottage. “Nothing contrived or thought through, just something that happened—and that’s the way good design should be.”