How The Men Do Antiques: Coup d'État

If revolution is in the air, then ground zero for establishing a new order in the world of antiques and interior design is surely Coup d'État * in San Francisco. This cutting edge point of view is expressed in overscale, unlikely pieces recouped from the industrial salvage yard, given a bit of polish (maybe) and a functional lift, then placed in spaces alongside interpretations of the classical and the modern.

Visiting the Potrero Hill showroom is a bit like entering the collective movie sets of Eyes Wide Shut, all the Harry Potters, Around the World in Eighty Days, Clan of the Cave Bear, and Alice in Wonderland. You will not see the gentility of Scalamandré and deGournay fabrics and wallpapers here, not even a whiff of Minimalism, Queen Ann, French Country, nor the whites and greiges of Gustavian chic. There is nothing delicate or spare in this repertoire. There is a lot of muscle in this Industrial Antique Recoup look.

Yet the genius of this showroom are incredibly intimate settings that invite touch and lingering. I think there is a lesson here for us designers to carefully and deliberately use texture, symmetry, lighting and comfort to invite people to draw in close to each other, to gather around face to face. It's a big scary world out there! Let's cozy up together.

such talent and vision to create an Art Deco setting

from rusting industrial salvage!

a surprising and stunningly feminime

lacy Venetian mirror is found in one corner

Beowulf meets Industrial Art Deco

could you cozy up to this sculpture

in your living room :)

the San Francisco shipyard is the source for

this dining table with nailhead detailing

no simple antelope antlers adorn this wall... half of

the animal is literally leaping into your room

and yet, the huge scale of the potted ponderosa pine creates

a desire to group together beneath its boughs and gather

around the antique kilim stools and the red wine velvet linen sofa

the perennially beloved sphere above the

jewelmakers' table cut into amoeba-like shape,

surrounded by reinterpreted klismos and wing chairs

a nod to the prosaic: green and blue pottery ware... but

displayed on a grand scale

no ordinary wing chairs, these could have seated

Captain Nemo on his day off

Coup d'État

Darin Geise, owner

111 Rhode Island Street

San Francisco, CA 94103

415-241-9300

* A coup d'état (English: /ˌkuːdeɪˈtɑː/, French: [ku deta]; plural: coups d'état)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow