A few weeks ago, a lovely “St Jameser” came into Uniquely Natalie, our quality furniture consignment store.  She browsed and admired, asking my partner, Jack, when I would be around.  She had just emptied her living room and dining room of all her furniture, giving it to one of her post college kids and was in a quandary as to how to go about re-decorating.
               
She and I touched base and arranged for me to visit her home the Saturday of Labor Day weekend where she and her husband and I chatted in a space that “echoed with empty”.  As she put it, “it was easier to see possibilities when there were no impediments.”  Good thinking – and thinking was required because the L-shaped area was challenging.  There were options, but not many, and as we explored them, we negated most and agreed on one that made the best sense, space wise, for a sizable family in a limited space ranch style home.
               
The husband happily deferred to the wife in product selection after giving us some input and we headed to Uniquely Natalie to see what treasures we could find.  And did we!  Oh – did I mention the “decorating fairy”?  I often allude to it with my clients and customers.  Sometimes it sits on my shoulder and the stars align.  Everything I had been thinking about in my shop to present to her were items she had seen and loved on her first visit without me.  And did I tell you she was smart – and decisive?  In Uniquely Natalie you have to be or that very thing you were “thinking” about purchasing will be happily ensconced in someone else’s home.  In less than an hour, armed with measurements and a safety net (me), she purchased a lovely Drexel Heritage dining room set, an Ethan Allen hutch/server, two display vitrines, a pair of Kravet chairs and foot stool, an entry foyer mirror, a crystal and brass chandelier, area rugs for the dining room and “great room”, a grandfather clock and end tables and a cocktail table!  The cost amounted to about half her expected budget, enough for me to send her off to my friend Alan’s lovely Huntington furniture store, “Classic Galleries”, to purchase a perfect floor sample sectional that I had found.
               
I don’t know which one of us was more pumped and excited as I contacted my best mover, Ben, to deliver everything the following Saturday when the sofa would arrive.  An instant lovely home in one week!  Unbelievable – and for some, impossible, but not for this savvy couple.  How did the stars align and the decorating fairy emerge?  The wife did her homework.  She did look before she leapt – and she wasn’t doing it without professional advice. The husband, an established contractor, had good instincts and the good sense to trust a very smart wife.  They both were ready financially and emotionally to make a major change after many years.
               
Most of all, they understood that quality doesn’t have to come with a high price tag if you are a good shopper and that something cheap is not a bargain.  Perhaps that is why Uniquely Natalie has made me so happy (if not rich).  Our customers are wonderful people who appreciate fine furnishings as well as value and our consigners know we want to find a good home for the lovely things they no longer want.
               
​Are you ready for the decorating fairy?  In a world which seems to be heading more toward “disposable” every day (both people and things), maybe it’s time to appreciate the value of “long lasting” and “timeless”.

​At the turn of the century, the most elegant of homes were never without fireplaces, crown molding, wainscoting and other architectural accoutrements.  Even the exterior, such as in the old New York City brownstones, had pediments, columns and fancy brick, stone and cement pointing to enhance the basic structure.
                By the 1950’s and the advent of suburbia, homes became stripped down to be affordable to the masses.  Levitt construction was the classic example of homes meant to be expanded and enhanced at some future time.  Many of them were, but over the years the “addition of space” superseded the “addition of grace.”  The gracefulness and elegance of classically appointed rooms, which lost ground in favor of space, now is most definitely popular again.  So where did it all come from?  A little history lesson if you will: 
                It all began with the Egyptians who may be remembered for their impressive tombs, but also actually perpetuated the column which was a throw back to ancient culture and even Stonehenge.  These columns were copied and embellished upon by the Greeks who also added the moldings that were eventually organized and categorized by their conquerors, the Romans.  Got it so far?  Good.  So now the “classical” style of molding, columns and architecture traveled through the centuries, appearing and re-appearing in different countries at different times – always referred to in some way as classical or neo-classical (new classical). 
                Today we are experiencing yet another classical revival and our interest is heightened by the desire to improve the value of our homes as well as enhance its interior space for personal empowerment and pleasure.  Long Islanders have gone “crown molding happy,” more often than not, painting it white and using a substantive color on the walls, a departure from the brown stained molding and white walls of the 1970’s that might still exist in some homes.  Columns have taken the place of bearing walls in an effort to create more open space.  Non-supporting columns have added architectural interest whether fluted or straight, round or square, contemporary or traditional.  Half-columns applied to walls (pilasters) adorn doorways and fireplace mantles and they create a feeling of timelessness.
                Fireplaces, themselves available in wood-burning, gas or electric, while not in every room as in days of yore, are appearing more and more in living rooms, dining rooms, as well as dens, bathrooms and bedrooms.  Wainscoting (literally meaning wood applied to the wall) is most popular as chair rail with panels below.  It is often painted white to match the rest of the trim, or stained a wood tone if applied to the entire wall and separated by chair rail using raised panels or applied moldings. 
                All in all, our homes have become more gracious and more interesting (as long as we don’t get too pretentious) by our architectural additions.  So dress up your space with the classics and see how your furniture, no matter what your style, will be enhanced.