Flip the Switch. Part 2.

After graduating from college, I worked briefly for an interior designer in Manhattan. I was only there for a year, but I gleaned a number of lessons that have stuck with me, and have been invaluable over the years. One of which was to respect the origins of a space. I was assigned to a client who had purchases a Pied-a-Terre on the upper East side, overlooking Park Avenue. The property had incredible potential, but the apartment was purchased in horrific condition. It truly was Miss. Havisham’s home from Charles Dicken’s Great Expectations. Our client kept saying “take it down to the studs” and we did just that. However, the master designer I worked for spoke of respecting this space that at one time was a pre-war masterpiece. Even though the client wanted something “new” “modern” and “chic” the designer couldn’t help herself but respectfully “nod” to the origins of this place. She did this through moldings, panels and retaining the original floor plan, all of which gave clues to the history of the apartment.

When we first moved to our city, I was not initially attracted to the Victorian style you find all over New York State. From a young age, I felt the Victorian style was overdone. For example, in Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard where I spent many summers as a young adult, there is the famous neighborhood of the Gingerbread Cottages. They are covered in elaborate carved wood and painted bright gaudy colors. The were symbolic of what I didn’t like of the Victorian style. While others found these quaint, I thought, “Where are my sunglasses?”

However, because of the lesson I learned from my Manhattan design days, I knew I needed to embrace our home’s Victorian history, though it might not be the style I’d choose for my heavenly mansion. So, as we slowly did project after project, I gained an eye for the Victorian.

Then, I found my ultimate inspiration! On a trip to visit family in Florida, we went to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers.

I’ve seen tours of the Carnegie summer palaces. They are gorgeous when appearing in “The Guilded Age” but who could actually live there? Carnegie, Edison, and Ford were each iconic leaders of their time, yet how they spent their fortunes (and their family time) contrasted greatly. The Edison Estate is so inspiring. Edison was obsessed with tropical plants, and the grounds were a gorgeous example of Victorian gardens.

I took pictures of everything!! The Moon Garden was especially captivating. The house itself had me riveted. It is a simple, Victorian summer cottage. You could peer into all the rooms which contained the original furnishings which were a total inspiration for me. The wall were covered with maps and plans, and inspired me for the home I want my budding inventor to grow up in (our eldest is an aspiring software engineer/inventor). I loved the simple, clean style found in this home. The space was so conducive for family life and innovation.

(My focus here was the mantle with the simple symmetry of delicate Victorian items.)

(The top hats, the beakers…this could be our living room.)

I loved all the light fixtures that Edison had invented and named Electroliers. They were epically Victorian, and I noted, something like that would look amazing in our dining room.

I didn’t waste any time to start looking for a simple electrolier-ish fixture with matching sconces for our dining room. The search was long, and hard. I didn’t find the antique, that would have been more historically accurate, but I found what I believe is reminiscent of our home’s history, but also slightly whimsical and in character with our family which is now a part of this house’s history. I found this gorgeous chandelier at my favorite place, Anthropologie. The ribbed globes on the “Monique” chandelier really did it for me and the glowing light they emit is enchanting. There was not a matching sconce, and after a search high and low the best match we found was on Amazon of all places. The brass with a floret back plate and ribbed milk glass shade was a close enough match for the chandelier. We love what we found.

Something in me is not organized or intellectual enough to become an expert that follows all the rules. They just are too paralyzing for my left handed, artistic nature. So, yes, the fixtures coordinate, they don’t match, and they’re not strictly historically accurate, but I’m an impressionist, not a realist! Now, our dining room has the elegant simplicity I was hoping we could create. History lent us it’s inspirational juices without paralyzing us in the past and every night at our family dinner we celebrate the now in historic fashion!