We are thrilled to welcome Joe Lucas and Parrish Chilcoat to this week’s Skirted Roundtable. These two Californian interior designers bring a unique combination to their clients – they are male and female – a rare partnership first made popular by Sibyl Colefax and John Fowler. Together, Lucas and Chilcoat bridge all the masculine/feminine issues when designing interiors, their rooms are a beautiful mix of the two. Lucas and Chilcoat joined forces in 2005 with their firm, Lucas Studio, Inc. and in 2008 opened up Harbinger, their retail showroom, now located on the trendy design street La Cienega in Los Angeles. Both hail from the East Coast, but now have a definite Californian vibe which can be seen in their elegant, yet casual designs. Lucas Studio at Harbinger, their retail showroom. How Joe and Parrish started in the business is a fascinating tale. They ended up working with the greats Michael S. Smith and Suzanne Rheinstein – both having no design experience to speak of. How can that be? They spill the beans on The Skirted Roundtable – giving it up to all of us who have ever dreamed of working for a top interior design firm. Since teaming up, Lucas Studios has won all kinds of awards – including those from magazines such as Traditional Home and House Beautiful. The two are effusive and warm – we can only imagine the witty bantering that goes on their offices!!! Below is a look at their stellar portfolio. The link to the Skirted Roundtable is HERE. House Beautiful recently ran a large spread on Lucas Studio’s California house designed for a 29 year old hockey player: Party Central. The entry hall – love the oversized horns. Designing for a man doesn’t have to mean recliners and leather sofas. Lucas Studio prefer to design casual living rooms – for how people really live today. They use natural fabrics – cottons, linens, silks and velvets. But, they state, they start almost every design with a textured rug, such as sisal or seagrass. Here, the leather chair from Restoration Hardware is so sexy looking – it almost becomes the focal point of the room. Throughout the house, Lucas Studio used painted white paneled walls – with yards and yards of matching white curtains. The curtains were a tough sell for the 29 year old hockey player. But, Parrish doesn’t feel like rooms are finished without curtains (I agree!) The hockey player plans on entertaining a lot – hence the ‘Man Cave’ with a plum colored velvet covered sofa. The kitchen is fabulous – painted in two different shades of gray – the island topped with mahogany seats 12. It’s such a beautiful kitchen – and it’s not even white!! His terrace is designed as another entertaining place – note the outdoors flatscreen. Other interiors from Lucas Studio – this wallpaper!! That art work!! Love it. Lucas Studio use this salmon color in a lot of their interiors. They also use blues and greens a lot. In this living room, I’m loving the brown and white rug, wondering if this is a dyed skin? Again, the salmon colored velvet – mixed with sage greens. Love, love, love this! This room shows that mix of masculine and feminine elements. Lucas says to enlarge a room – paint the ceiling and walls the same color. Notice the greens and salmons and blues – how wonderful they look together. Four chairs instead of a sofa. The patterned pillows are the color pop. Another beautiful kitchen with the wood topped island and industrial styled antique pendants. The slightly oversized pendants are so much more effective than the just-right size. This family room caught my eye because of the large cork board used as a gallery wall of the children’s artwork. This might be my favorite of all their living rooms. I love the mix of the rug and seagrass, the textured chairs, the navy sofas with a mix of pillows. The tree stump table brings in a bit of folly. And I love the symmetry of the two lanterns and two sconces. The entire room is a study in symmetry – a decorative element Lucas Studio excels in. Beautiful!! A Lucas Studio powder room – great faucet mounted on the arched stone backsplash!! At Veranda’s Greystone showcase – Lucas Studio created this room – with fabulous fabric from Ferrick Mason used for wallcovering. For the Stately Homes by the Sea, Lucas Studio designed these two rooms. The first – a living room – with two industrial styled pendants. A detail of the sofa trim and pillows. The fireplace wall is highlighted in yellow, while the rest of the space is wallpapered in a neutral grasscloth. Notice the coffee table – a cross between an ottoman and a table. Behind the sofa is a window seat, beautiful shades. Next to the sofa – a modern take on the wingchair. And off to the side – the dining area. Lucas Studio really likes symmetry – which is played up in this area. Beautiful urns and chairs!!! The second room they designed for the showcase is the …?? Can you see what kind of room this is? That’s right – a nursery!!!! Gender neutral, of course. I love the daybed and the canopy. The dark fabric behind the bed makes it look like an alcove or built in bed – great idea to borrow. Close up of the bed’s fabrics. Don’t you wish all nurseries had fireplaces in them? Of course you would never light them for fear the baby would get in the fire somehow. Love the stork with it’s double entendre. The crib has an Arts and Crafts Movement look to it. Notice the beautiful suzani fabric by Martin Lawrence Bullard used as curtains. Above the changing table, symmetrical sunburst mirrors. And, an antique doll house sits next to the fireplace. Pictures of the showhouse come from Style Beat’s Blog HERE. Photographs by John Bessler. Be sure to visit Lucas Studio and Harbinger’s web site HERE – images from the Harbinger shop are shown. Also, there are many, many more portfolio pictures to peruse. I hope you have enjoyed a look at Lucas Studio’s beautiful portfolio. And a huge thank you to Joe Lucas and Parrish Chilcoat for stopping by the Skirted Roundtable. To listen to their recording, go HERE.