Tony Raffa is a master of balance. Though his tastes have a widely eclectic range, his skillfully orchestrated interiors achieves an artful equilibrium between bold and neutral, contemporary and antique.

Artistic talent is a common thread running through Raffa’s family. His mother was an accomplished painter, and his aunt was a noted interior and textile designer. Tony laughingly recalls his nascent design instincts: “I know in fourth grade that I was going to do this. As a kid I used to rearrange my siblings’ bedrooms and make them crazy.”

Raffa launched his own firm, Raffa Design Associates, in Houston in 1989. Specializing in residential interiors, Raffa currently splits his time between offices in Houston and Highlands, North Carolina.

Describing his style, Raffa explains, “It’s very eclectic; it’s focused more around art than about anything else, really.” Living in art-filled spaces comes naturally. “I have that passion for collecting art, and I love looking at the art that we’ve acquired,” he confesses. “I’ve been lucky that a lot of my clients have had that same appreciation.”

In fact, the client’s art collection often provides the inspiration for Raffa’s design concept. “If I don’t start with the art, it’s usually with a Persian rug. For me, those are the two starting points for designing a room, a lot of times it also determines the color and pattern of the room as well—or it can set the tone or the mood.”

Raffa has a gift for blending diverse furniture and artistic and decorative elements into a coherent interior that looks natural and not forced. With such a well-trained eye, he can trust his instincts. “I’ve been able to mix art styles in the same space over the years. I think that food art is good art.”

The sitting and dining rooms of Tony Raffa’s former Houston home illustrate the designer’s easy mix of styles.

Without a formal fireplace, this converted ranch home lacked a central design feature, so Raffa cleverly substituted an antique chest of comparable size and stature. A whimsical painting by contemporary Mexican artist Jose Antonio Gurtubay adds a jolt of blue above, while a blown glass piece in swirls of orange and red and a playful paper sculpture sit atop the chest.

Flashes of red from the designer’s collection of hearts add notes of excitement around the room, culminating in the series of three heart-motif prints by Houston artist Dan Allison. Flaunting convention, Raffa chose a dazzling antique Baccarat chandelier to illuminate a glass table supported by a humble, retrofitted aluminum planter.

In designing his own Highlands, North Carolina, great room, Raffa chose sumptuous rusticity over country cliche.

He happily notes that other than the two hair-on-hide club chairs, which flank a self-designed oxidized metal and locust wood fireplace, nothing else in the room matches. Still, as Raffa observes, “The room seems balanced to me. What helps is that the scale of the objects varies.”

Neutral wall colors amplify the impact of the rug and the artwork. “There are lots of art pieces and artifacts to look at as you spend more time in the room,” Raffa explains. The glowing red tones and surreal geometry of contemporary Houston artist Renzo Barchi’s depiction of a seated man draws attention upward, echoing the color and angular motifs of the kilim below.

A landscape painting by local North Carolina artists Jon Houglum hangs above the mantel and is joined on the left by an attenuated ceramic sculpture of a female form by Cathy Broski.

Raffa’s personal collection of religious art and artifact, along with a small painting by his mother, adorns the display areas surrounding the built-in knotty pine television cabinet.

This month is Breast Cancer Awareness month. While the illness still continues its nasty course, I seek to recognize the month in different ways each year. Two years ago I walked 60 miles with thousands of other women to raise money and awareness. Due to injury and conflicts, I am unable to do that this year, so I wanted to recognize the cause through art. Therefore, I have chosen a few pieces which I would give to any friend or loved one fighting the disease:

Choices by Cathy Broski

Choices by Cathy Broski seems like a tribute to women and a most fitting emblem of the fight. With her shapely body, this woman faces the difficult choices ahead of her with a bird representing the inner voice that helps keep her on the right track. The choices when confronting a diagnosis of cancer are daunting, frightening, and many. We should all have a bird like this on our shoulder in times of crisis.

When I was recovering from my own bout with cancer several years ago, I subscribed fully to the prescription laid out by Norman Cousins in “Anatomy of an Illness”. That is, that humor and laughter are important components to fighting disease. Whether it is through a funny movie or uplifting surroundings, like this Happy Brick Lamp by Jill Rosenwald, the important thing is to find a way in to happiness and optimism, if only for a few minutes every day.

Happy Brick Lamp by Jill Rosenwald

Celebrations of love come in many forms, with common ones being flowers and chocolate. But for the person enduring chemo and radiation, it can be the small things that mean so much – the socks to keep your chemo-feet warm, the touch of a hand, the reminder of love through tokens like lockets, or these Adoration Bracelets by Tavia Brown.

Adoration Bracelet by Tavia Brown

None of these works or art will make breast cancer go away. But the spirit of life that they express can help the spirits someone who is battling the disease – and that’s half the battle.

Aurora (Azure Blue) by Victor Chiarizia

Our new Fall catalog is coming out this week. We are very excited about the work being presented in this catalog. It starts with a the gorgeous Aurora: Azure Blue by Victor Chiarizia on the front cover and moves through art glass, art for the wall, sculpture, hand-crafted furniture, jewelry and other wearables, and finishes out with this season’s ornament collection.

I knew this was going to be another beautiful catalog when Randi Solin sent in her Uruqin glass vase to be included in the photo shoot. There was a buzz that went around the office when it was here. The layers in the glass, the subtle colors, the weight of the piece. Randi’s work is always stunning and this piece is no exception.

Uruqin by Randi Solin

And then there are the Laura Goldstein pillows. Shown stacked on top of each other. They all look so great, it’s hard to decide which one to get. They’re even more special when you know the history behind the images on the pillows. Each image is from something that Laura has collected over the years – an old postcard or a menu perhaps. She then copies & enlarges them until they look just right and creates screens to make the pillow.

Of course there is an incredible selection of jewelry. Here’s a quick peak at the Danielle Miller jewelry being features.

I know the pages of my copy of this catalog are going to be tattered and torn from looking at it.

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It’s hard to contain our excitement about our new catalog for Fall. We just came back from printing it and think this is one of the best catalogs yet. Enclosed in the pages is a fantastic collection of artwork for gift giving, entertaining, and home decor, plus stories about the works of art and some of the artists.

I’ve heard stories of people keeping our catalogs around for months just to look at the beautiful photos of the work. This one will be no exception. There are plenty of beautiful works to look at. Pages of art glass, pages of prints, pages of handmade jewelry, artist-made furniture, and so much more.

We still need to let the ink dry – really, it just came off the printing press – and get it into the mail. So you’ll have to wait a little while before it is in your mailbox. Keep an eye out for it the first week of September.

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