Spaces Magazine, February, 2010, Thomas Britt

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N BOTHPERSONALITYNDDESIGN

HISKANSAS ITYNATIVE REATES

HATARECOLORFULNDCLASSIC

ThomasBritt

TomBritt. Above, ight: Bold black-and-whiteloors

dmirrored alls reate dramatic ntry n hisPalmBeach

hat Brittdesignedor a Kansas i tycouple.

BY PATRICIASHACKELFORD

|rloking around n designhistory s a little like unraveling ve

Fpretty silk knot. Currentdesigners eference esignerswhhave nfluencedhem.So you know, followedhe trail. I boug

booksand wentonlineanddug among he proiects f DavidHick

andBillyBaldwin ndRoseCummings,t al.But n myresearc

wassurprisedo discoverhat several ationallyecognizedesig

ers are from KansasCity.Designers ho are intrinsicallyinke

to our city, thoughthey settledelsewhdre nd work worldwid

Designers ho do not mumble nto heirhands hat theyhail ro

the Midwest.We ust hought t mightbe time to give hema littl

hometown oopla.



It was errific uck hat shortlyafter wasassignedhis series

Thomas rittwas n town.Britt s a Kansas itynative ow iving n

NewYork.He pops nto town on occasiono See riends nd catch

up on what'snew, houghmany hingsherestayquite he same.As

luckhas t, and as hingsoftengo in Kansas ity,Brittand havea

fewmutual riends.Would oumind?Doyo u hinkhewould? hate

to be a bother." owhichmy ovely nd stylish riendsaid, Well, 'd

be happyo ask."

Which s howTom Britt endedup in my iving oom on a crisp

autumnday.My iving oomwasnot exactlywhere hadenvisioned

our meeting. cozyspot, ikely ireside, aiter n crispwhiteapron

at he ready eemedmore ike t. Butwhenhecalled ndsaidhewas

willing o meet, nd inquired here, eshouted ack, Your ousel

I ' l lbe here n tenminutes!"

My house. n ten minutes. hema n

whogracedhe "best" istsof Architectural

Digest,nteriorDesign,House ' Gardenand House eautifulmagazineswould be

standing n my Brooksideiving oom

in ten minutes. looked round n near

despair. ot much coulddo now.Yet knewa man aised n Kans

Citywould ikely e polite.He would ikely e kind.He would ike

find s.omethingo compliment.Ultimately, nowinghe was from

Kansas ity, knew ewouldbe gracious. ewa sall hat.

STAnr rrHTALENT

If yo uar ewonderingf yo uhave unacrosshis engaging ou

I must ell you, f you have ou wouldknow t. Britt is both relaxe

andcommanding. ispresencendhisvoice ill a room.Hi svoic

a deep aspacquired nlyby many ears f smoking nddrinkin

longsince iven p, s distinctive ostly n hisability o project

Britt eminiscedondly f hi sgrowing p n Kansas ity.Hecoun

his motheras one of hi s earliestnfluences,Sh ewas ncredib

stylish,"emembers ritt.Stylish nd apparently onfidentn he

son's alents. n fact,Mrs.Brittallowe

her fifteen-year-old on to paint th

walls of a spare oo m blackan d thflqqrwhite, look ha t he continueso

usewithgreat plomb.





elationof a source or customhand-painted

Chinese wallpaper found while knocking

around Chinawith a contemporary.

When I marvel at both his parents

indulgence nd support, he tel ls me of his

redecorating heir dining room when they

went away for Thanksgivingwhen he was

sixteen or seventeen.He transformed a

very radit ional oom by paintingeverything

white and instal l ing plaster columns and

bamboo shades."How'd hey take t?" I wondered.

"What?"

"The redecorating,when your mother

came home from her tr ip, how did she



glit terat iof the day. But all th e while Tom Brit t was working.Brit t

graduated ro m Parsonsn 1959. e worked or designer oh nCerald

fo r f iveyearsbeforeopening his own firm. He had the opportunity

to visit with the late,great,Bil ly Baldwin,a designer e held n high

regard, nd se eDuquette's ome,Dawnridge,irst hand.

THePenpecrDtsx

Tom Britt has sucha largecatalogueof work, t would be difficult

to define his look. He often uses white upholstery,but not always

He often usesa dark wall color,but not always.He often showcases

a strong,patterned floor, but not always.He often incorporatescon-

temporaryart into hi s rooms but is equallycomfortablewith clas-

si c oils or architectural r ints.Certainly, is rooms always eflecta

strongsenseof classic esign, nd his roomswith neoclassicallair

are my favorites.There s no doubt that he is comfortable,cleverand

courageous ith color.His attention o detail s meticulous. or all

of these reasonsBrit t has attracted nternational l ients ike ormer

U.S.Ambassador o the Court of St. ames CharlesPricean d Mrs.

Price,Countan d Countessoh n Forgach, er Highnesshe Ra iMata

of laipuran d Mr. and Mrs.FrederickWoolworth.

An d me .At least or a few momentsas we sat n my livingroom

an d he told me the history of my curtain fabrican d complimented

th e glazeof the wall us tbeforehe suggested learing he mantel He

wa sall the things expected, racious, ntertaining,egendaryHo w

I wish I could haveseen hat dining room that he craftedwhen most

boysar e us t earning o drive. )

WEDDING INVITATIONS & SAVE THE DATES BY

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+9-+J.b".*t'

Fooo 4 Ji"

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AVAILABLE AT

3934 WEST 59TH ERRACE . PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KANSAS66208

9r3 .432.7 87

66 ] KA\S\S (]I 'I \ 'SPA(]I-]S

Documents

Spaces Magazine, February, 2010, Thomas Britt