Barbara Barry Lacquered Writing Desk for Henredon

Barbara Barry intends for her furniture designs to connect people to the splendor of the natural world around them. Her lounge chairs, tables and other pieces reflect the influence of the Hollywood Regency style as well as Barry’s admiration for organic materials and the subdued color palettes of the great outdoors. Simple and calming, her furniture is quietly elegant and has garnered Barry renown worldwide as a leader in interior design.

A native of California, Barry was surrounded by artists from the moment she was born and credits her mother with instilling a strong sense of confidence in her. Barry’s mother, a painter, encouraged her to nurture her creative impulses. The designer initially pursued a degree in art — she is an active painter today — but quickly eschewed the norms of formal education, leaving school to travel through Europe.

While traveling, Barry fell in love with the wines and cheeses of the cities she visited, inspiring her to open her own cheese shop in Mendocino upon her return to California. Her predilection for interior design quickly began to show itself as she went about setting up and running her store, and Barry began drawing designs for her own furniture. She moved to Los Angeles and established her own design firm in 1985.

Working with small local businesses to get her pieces made, she became more passionate about expressing herself through her furniture and quickly amassed a following for her work. Today, for its thoughtful merge of clean lines, 1940s Hollywood glamour and the soft palettes of the sea, sky and foliage of her state, her understated furniture is an international success.

Barry is expressly opposed to the use of patterns, opting instead for solid neutrals that pair well with warm brass or vintage bronze lighting fixtures and allow for the colors in a painting on the living room wall to pop. She is focused on bringing harmony and order into a space, and her minimalist designs — acid-washed mahogany side tables, armchairs with dark stained rattan backrests — are sought after by A-list celebrities, politicians and leading manufacturers alike. Barry has created exclusive furniture collections and home decor for legendary brands including Baker Furniture, McGuire Furniture Company and others.

Find Barbara Barry decorative objects, seating, case pieces and more on 1stDibs.

Founded in 1945, Henredon is one of the more recently minted of the top-tier North Carolina furniture makers. Among collectors, Henredon is admired both for its sleek, sexy furniture of the 1970s and for its partnerships with noted designers, a program that started in the 1950s with decorating icon Dorothy Draper and architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

From the start, Henredon — the brand name is a portmanteau term, derived from the first names or initials of three of the company’s founders — has been best known for its vintage case pieces, such as cabinets, dressers, armoires and credenzas. Though not on the cutting edge stylistically, the company’s production has always kept pace with contemporary tastes. In 1953, Henredon began a collaboration with Dorothy Draper, famed for bravura interior design commissions such as the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco and the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia. Her taste for bold, modernized historical style is reflected in the incised baroque medallions of her España line and the geometric motif of her Viennese furnishings group.

In 1955, Henredon launched the Taliesin Ensemble by Wright, named after the architect’s houses in Wisconsin and Arizona. The pieces are recognizable by their angular shapes a dentil motif on their edges. In those years, Henredon had a cross-licensing agreement with the Heritage furniture company, and Draper and Wright furniture is usually labeled Heritage-Henredon.

In later decades, Henredon produced collections for such designers as Ralph Lauren and Laura Ashley. The company took a stylish turn in the 1970s, fabricating new and unusual forms like mirrored room dividers and console tables with rounded corners and burl-wood veneers. Such pieces are priced in the $3,000 to $4,000 range, as are chests of drawers by Draper. Wright furniture tends toward the higher end, priced around $7,000. As you will see on 1stDibs, Henredon was an aesthetically diverse maker, but its furniture commands attention and makes a statement in any eclectic decor.