lways brimming with spectacular finds and lots of inspiration, Jayson Home in Chicago been a must-visit for design obsessives in the Windy City and beyond for more than 30 years. In addition to new pieces, Jayson Home also offers a curated selection of one-of-a-kind antiques and vintage items, which chief creative officer Devin Kirk collects from flea markets and fairs around the world.
After a recent trip to Provence yielded a treasure trove of upholstered antique furniture, Kirk partnered with Schumacher to recover them in the fabric house’s signature textiles. (You can find the finished pieces at Jayson Home’s Chicago store, jaysonhome.com, and in Schumacher Design Shops in Charlotte and Nashville.) Inspired by this artful juxtaposition of old and new, we wanted to know more about how Kirk pulled it off. From choosing the right furniture to finding fabrics that proved totally transformative, here’s how.
FREDERIC: What appeals to you about buying antique upholstery and reINVENTING it?
Devin Kirk: There is an intangible magic to antique and vintage seating that is next to impossible to replicate in new furniture. Often it’s the scale. Sometimes it’s the patina of the frame, whether it’s chippy paint or worn wood. A lot of it is an attention to detail and craft that is just hard to come by these days—they don’t make them like they used to! Most of the time, these pieces aren’t the thing for binge-watching TV, but just about every room benefits from an antique chair or two as a foil to more loungey seating…