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Lyn Peterson
Motif Designs, 718 S Fulton Ave, Mount Vernon (800) 431-2424
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Paint: Benjamin Moore, for the range of colors—subtle, sophisticated, understated, and a great price. You can’t beat the historic colors.
Fabric: Nubuck
Window dressing: Shutters and half-shutters. Window dressing is folderol—who needs that?
Must-have item under $50: A Tempur-Pedic pillow
Best-value product: Stone countertops, if you’re planning on keeping your kitchen for centuries. People ask, ‘Does it last?’ And I say, ‘Have you been to Versailles lately?’
| Wallpaper: Grasscloth |
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Favorite design trend: Open-grain woods; the return of oak and pine.
Worst design mistake: Painting moldings grass-green
Chair: I’m into motion these days, so a recliner, swivel, or rock-swivel.
Candles: Colonial or Yankee Classics in ivory
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Décor book: Mine, of course! I have three of them—Lyn Peterson’s Real Life Decorating, Lyn Peterson’s Real Life Renovating, and Lyn Peterson’s Real Life Kitchens—all loaded with information. |
| Color: Red. It’s like a neutral—goes with everything. |
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Flowers: Whatever’s in season. What’s appropriate is what’s growing now. Today, I did masses of bittersweet.
Local museum: Hudson River Museum in Yonkers
Local antiques store: Briggs House in Mamaroneck
Local housewares store: HomeGoods in White Plains is amazing. It’s like a treasure hunt.
Local lighting store: My own warehouse
Local restaurant décor: Larchmont Tavern. It’s seventy-five years old, and where it’s renovated, it’s done very softly. It’s wonderful.
Local hotel décor: Larchmont Yacht Club guest rooms. It’s quite charming—it’s a beautiful old mansion, and the rooms are in the modern wing, so they’re convenient and comfortable.
Kitchen gadget: A good cheese slicer
Design period: Next year. We’re on our way back to a great period of eclecticism, like in fashion, where you can do anything. Home design is behind, but we’re on the cusp of a broad and accommodating period with lots of styles and genres.
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Home accessory: Lamps. Nothing looks good without good lighting. |
Home TV show: I hosted one, but most are too painful to watch in terms of the nonsensical things they do. But I liked Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. I thought Thom Filicia was great.
Luxury home item: A cashmere throw. Mine’s Ralph Lauren and it’s at least twenty years old. We use it constantly. My kids made tents with it, and it’s still immaculate.
Kitschy item: Hooked rugs in front of the kitchen sink. I have an oval one with a floral design in the center.
Online design site: decorati.com
Embarrassing object at home: I’d rather be legless than have the wrong shoes on, but I have four children, so I don’t embarrass too easily at home. I’d have to say Great Uncle Oscar’s portrait in the dining room. He bears a striking resemblance to the less attractive members of the royal family, with a weak chin, a thin aquiline nose, and wispy blond hair.
Kitchen gadget: An apple corer
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Color: Orange
Paint: Farrow & Ball
Fabric: Vervain. They’re just so unique and beautiful. They’re just very different.
Window dressing: Relaxed Roman shades or simple panels with some embellishment, like bandings and trim.
Must-have item under $50: Fresh-cut flowers
Best-value product: Faux wood blinds. You can make them look great and they’re inexpensive.
Home accessory: A great ottoman with good fabric
Chair: Any Eastlake chair
Sheets: Any soft cotton. I look for a good thread count and go by the feel.
Scent: Issey Miyake
Candles: Beautiful tapers, thin and long
Flowers: Peonies
Décor book: Jane Churchill’s books on English homes
Local antiques store: We don’t have many any more. I’d say Chatsworth.
Local gallery: The Fine Arts Gallery in Bronxville
Local housewares store: Chef Central in Hartsdale
Local lighting store: They have great stuff at Patdo Light Studio in Port Chester.
Local museum: Dia: Beacon
Local hotel décor: Restaurant 42 at the top of the Ritz-Carlton in White Plains is pretty.
Design period: Late Victorian
Home TV show: I hate those shows; they make it seem so simple and it’s not. I like the garden makeover one, though.
Luxury home item: A cashmere throw
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Local restaurant décor: Well, I have to say Toscana in Eastchester, because I decorated it.
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Wallpaper: Thibaut and Farrow & Ball (above). I’m a color girl!
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Kitschy Item: Flowerpots with crazy faces or nutty salt and pepper shakers
Worst design mistake: Choosing the wrong fabric or pattern for a window treatment. Window treatments are so in-your-face.
Embarrassing object at home: A flying monkey chandelier. It’s a repro of an old English one and I had to have it. I hate it now, but my husband bought it for me so he won’t take it down.
Color: Coral-y red
Paint: Benjamin Moore
Fabric: Sister Parish Design fabrics [her own company]
Wallpaper: Desmond by Sister Parish Design
Window dressing: Shutters
Must-have item under $50: A nice straw wastebasket
Luxury home item: A cashmere throw
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Best-value product: Pretty water glasses
Favorite design trend: I don’t like trends.
Home accessory: Artwork
Chair: Paley chair
Sheets: D. Porthault
Candles: Timothy Jay’s celadon
Flowers: Peonies
Décor book: Vogue Living
Local antiques store: Briggs House Antiques
Local gallery: Mamaroneck Artists’ Guild
Local housewares store: Target
Local lighting store: Arrow Lamp & Lighting in Larchmont
Local restaurant décor: Plates in Larchmont
Local hotel décor: I know nothing about local hotels.
Kitchen gadget: A hen-shaped timer from Anthropologie
Design period: The 1980s
Home TV show: I don’t watch them.
Kitschy item: Clocks that look like cats with their eyes going back and forth and their tails wagging—I love those
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Scent: Opium by Yves St. Laurent
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Local museum: Boscobel
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Online design site: The blog StyleBeat
Worst design mistake: Curtains that are too long. The dogs sleep on what’s on the floor and they get filthy.
Embarrassing object at home: People magazines
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Patricia O’Shaughnessy
Patricia O’Shaughnessy Design, 67 Kensington Rd, Bronxville (914) 346-8786
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Flowers: I love them all, but zinnias are awfully cute.
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Color: Red
Paint: Pratt & Lambert
Fabric: Pierre Frey, and over-scaled patterns are favorite designs.
Window dressing: The new solar shades. They’re very tailored and much more residential-looking now.
Must-have item under $50: A great-looking tote bag
Home accessory: Original paintings. At our house, those include whimsical ones by my twelve-year-old daughter—they’re really cheery.
Best-value product: A halogen reading lamp. They’re cheap but cute and really handy.
Favorite design trend: Mixing contemporary and traditional looks, and the fact that eclectic is becoming accepted.
Chair: Ginny’s Tight Back Lounge by Edward Ferrell. It’s a great small-scale reading chair.
Sheets: Garnet Hill. Their sheets are so perky and fresh-looking. Mine are fuchsia with apricot pillowcases. The bed looks so peaceful and then you turn it down and there’s this rampage of color.
Scent: Lavender
Candles: No particular brand. I don’t like scented candles, except maybe gardenia.
Local gallery: I’m very impressed with the quality of the shows at the OSilas Gallery on the Concordia campus in Bronxville.
Local housewares store: Silk Road in Bronxville is charming.
Local museum: Hudson River Museum in Yonkers
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Décor book: I have to be a little obnoxious and choose the one I worked on that launched my career. It’s called Formal Country Entertaining by Pat Ross. I also love the books by Tricia Guild—they’re very inspiring.
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Wallpaper: Thibaut. They have a sophistication and a quirky color sense, and together it’s totally World of Interiors.
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Local restaurant décor: Blue Hill, but I’d really love to get out more to find others.
Kitchen gadget: My Japanese teapot, so I can have loose tea.
Design period: Now!
Home TV show: I like them, but I don’t watch them. I prefer Masterpiece Theatre and mysteries.
Luxury home item: Cashmere throw
Kitschy item: Turkey salt and pepper shakers for Thanksgiving
Online design site: Can I say my own? It’s pattiohome.com, where I focus on small-space decorating solutions. I also like editoratlarge.com, which is a wonderful resource to the trade.
Worst design mistake: Sometimes I’m too cautious with a client’s money. I spend their money as if it’s mine. I should present more luxury items.
Embarrassing object at home: Everyone’s loose shoes. There are only three of us, but two of them seem to have no idea where shoes go.
Paint: Farrow & Ball; their sensibility is great. Or Fine Paints of Europe—a superior product. And Donald Kaufman, whose principle is to mix in the full spectrum.
Fabric: John Hutton—anything from glittery fun to animal prints. They feel luxurious. Or Sandra Jordan for her Prima Alpacas, made in Peru.
Wallpaper: Graham & Brown has some great patterns these days.
Scent: Thyme
Home accessory: Pillows are really important, and throw blankets.
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Window dressing: Natural wovens, panels, or Roman blinds, like the ones from Conrad.
Best-value product: Toto bath fixtures
Favorite design trend: My own, of course! Let’s call it mid-century modern with contemporary and a homey flair. Taking what I grew up with in Europe and Scandinavia and then bringing in truly American elements, like deco and Shaker. Mixed the right way, you have a fabulous place.
Chair: The Eames Lounge
Candles: Danish candles from Trader Joe’s. They’re dripless and extinguish before they ruin your candlestick. No evening meal should be without lit candles.
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Color: Variations on ultramarine blue, really deep. It’s a color that holds so many aspects of other colors so it goes with many things. It’s very soothing.
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Flowers: I like orchids. It’s a very patient plant that doesn’t die on you so easily. Then tulips.
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Sheets: Area. I love white.
Décor book: Lighting is so underestimated so Living with Modern Classics: The Light by Elizabeth Wilhide.
Local museum: Katonah Museum of Art
Local antiques store: Two: Michael’s in Pleasantville, because he has lots of funky things you can fix up yourself without feeling it was too expensive, and, for more Victorian and turn-of-the-century European things, Melita’s in Ossining.
Local gallery: Kenise Barnes in Larchmont
Local housewares store: Crate & Barrel
Local lighting store: Hi-Light in Yonkers
Local restaurant décor: The Boathouse in Ossining because it’s a cozy nest rather than a design wow.
Luxury home item: Heated bathroom floors
Home TV show: I don’t watch them. I like Mad Men.
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Must-have item under $50: Chocolate from Heidi & Arthur in Rockland County
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Kitchen gadget: My juicer, a hand-held wooden reamer. Also, Ellen Sirot’s Hand Perfection lotion
Design period: 1950s to the 1970s
Kitschy Item: Christmas decorations year-round. I have a little gnome, and every time I try to put him in the box, he looks at me. And I have iron-rusted snowflakes on the end of my curtain poles. Also Amy Sedaris’s new book, Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People
Online design site: Etsy.com
Worst design mistake: I used to underestimate the power of color.
Embarrassing object at home: Electric toothbrush. If you want everything to be clean and neat, you don’t want that out—it’s an eyesore.
Color: Presently, light blue
Paint: Benjamin Moore
Fabric: The Kravet line
Wallpaper: Thibaut
Window dressing: Sheer draperies in cream or white
Candles: Beeswax spirals—tall, thin tapers from Knorr Beeswax Products
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Must-have item under $50: Beeswax candles
Best-value product: Furniture from Schnadig Home is a very good value.
Favorite design trend: At present, Beau Nouveau contemporary, with that 1930s flavor.
Home accessory: Lamps. Lamp lighting is so soft and ambient.
Chair: French arm chair, like a fauteuil
Sheets: Egyptian cotton, 600 count
Scent: Lilac
Flowers: Lilacs
Décor book: Veranda magazine
Local museum: Hudson River Museum in Yonkers
Local lighting store: Hi-Light in Yonkers
Local housewares store: I really shouldn’t tell anyone, but Home Goods, even though it scares me because you see how cheap the stuff is.
Local restaurant décor: We did Augie’s Prime Cut in Mohegan Lake in a style that’s just beautiful—contemporary but a little funky, purple and orange and green and yellow with neon lighting.
Kitchen gadget: Mandoline
Design period: 1930s
Home TV show: I despise them. They make me crazy. I can’t say there’s one I like better than the other.
Luxury home item: Chandeliers
Kitschy item: Beaded throw pillow
Worst design mistake: Choosing the wrong scale for furnishings or window treatments. Once you do it, you don’t do it again.
Embarrassing object at home: The blanket and pillow on the family room sofa
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Local hotel décor: The Ritz-Carlton, Westchester, in White Plains
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Karen Kline
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Color: Dark brown
Paint: Benjamin Moore, because it’s the most readily available.
Fabric: Any natural fiber blends
Window dressing: Long curtain panels, from the ceiling to the floor
Chair: I like A. Rudin chairs, and chairs by Swain.
Must-have item under $50: A corkscrew and a nice glass! Plush bath towels
| Flowers: I love tulips, orchids, and irises, but I also think some of the prettiest arrangements are just botanical and don’t have flowers in them at all. |
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Best-value product: Woven blinds
Favorite design trend: Simplicity. People call it modern, but it’s more a clean, uncluttered look.
Home accessory: Old or multi-cultural artifacts. It could be simple carved bowls or something colorful — anything that’s sentimental or symbolic that personalizes a space.
Sheets: Archipelago
Scent: Lime
Candles: Luminary, because they have soft, non-cloying scents
Décor book: No favorite book, but I like Elle Decor magazine.
Local museum: Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens at PepsiCo’s headquarters in Purchase
Local antiques store: M.S. Antiques in Tarrytown
Luxury home item: A sauna
Local gallery: DeMarco Studios in Peekskill
Local housewares store: Chef Central in Hartsdale
Local lighting store: For vintage lighting, Powell Accessories in White Plains
Local restaurant décor: Blue Hill at Stone Barns
Local hotel décor: Ritz-Carlton in White Plains
Kitchen gadget: A corkscrew! No, really, a microwave.
Design period: Can I be so bold as to say 1920 to 2010? There’s a lot of good stuff in there.
Home TV show: Candice Olson’s Divine Design. She’s pretty good, and she has fun doing it.
Kitschy item: Curly lamb pillows
Online design site: 1stdibs.com
Worst design mistake: Ordering a sofa for a client that wouldn’t fit in the elevator
Embarrassing object at home: My fuzzy Ugg slippers. Or the Duraflame logs; they’re pretty bad.
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Wallpaper: Romo |
Color: Blue
Paint: Benjamin Moore
Wallpaper: Osborne & Little
Window dressing: Simple, unconstructed Romans
Must-have item under $50: Nothing costs less than fifty dollars! Okay, small, silver-plate cups for flowers. You can get them for about twenty-five dollars.
Best-value product: Furniture from Room & Board. You get a lot of style for not that much money.
Favorite design trend: The trend of keeping it clean, simple, and neutral
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Candles: I love Laura Mercier Crème Brûlée.
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Chair: A comfortable, upholstered chair with an ottoman. There’s one from Baker that I love.
Sheets: Matouk. I like white ones with a colored border to match the décor in the room.
Fabric: Lee Jofa
Scent: The milk-scented diffuser from k. hall designs
Local museum: Katonah Museum of Art
Local lighting store: No favorite
Local antiques store: Yellow Monkey Antiques in Cross River
Local gallery: No favorite
Local housewares store: Consider the Cook in Bedford
Flowers: Peonies
Local restaurant décor: Moderne Barn in Armonk is fabulous.
Online design site: bungalow5.com
Local hotel décor: Bedford Post Inn
Design period: It’s hard to pick a favorite. I’d say Postmodern.
Home TV show: House Hunters International. My husband is irritated because I’ve got him hooked, too.
Worst design mistake: If I made a mistake for a client, I’ve erased it from my memory. But I once designed a fireplace mantel for my home and it was so bad I had to get rid of it. I think I turned it into firewood.
Décor book: Rooms by Mariette Himes Gomez
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Kitchen gadget: A zester
Kitschy item: I’m not a kitschy person, but, in someone else’s house, I might put Jonathan Adler pottery, something with funny faces or three heads.
Luxury home item: A beautiful box on a coffee table
Embarrassing object at home: That’s a really funny question! Two pictures in my dining room—a pair of floral motifs. They’re not so terrible but I really hate them.
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Georgene Mongarella
The Color Schemer, 18 Coralyn Rd, Scarsdale (914) 725-4075
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Color: Purple
Paint: Benjamin Moore
Fabric: Robert Allen velvets, chenilles, damasks, and textured fabrics
Wallpaper: I don’t use much wallpaper—I tend to do more faux finishes. But Schumacher.
Window dressing: Full, beautiful drapes with decorative rods and decorative trims
Must-have item under $50: A beautiful candelabra. It sets the mood for a room, and you can get them inexpensively from Home Goods.
Best-value product: Plumbing supplies from Consolidated Plumbing in Mount Vernon. Great value.
Favorite design trend: Transitional and eclectic, mixing old and new
Home accessory: Art
Chair: Hepplewhite dining or occasional chairs
Sheets: Egyptian cotton, with a higher thread count. No particular brand.
Scent: Angel by Thierry Mugler
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Flowers: Tulips
Décor book: Architectural Digest
Local antiques store: I go all over, but Chatsworth in Mamaroneck is good.
Local housewares store: Hi-Light in Yonkers for accessories and lamps and small furniture. They’re really reasonable.
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Candles: Buttercream Vanilla candles from Pier 1
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Local lighting store: Hi-Light
Local restaurant décor: I like formal and classy, so Le Château, Buffet de la Gare, Equus.
Local hotel décor: The Castle at Tarrytown
Kitchen gadget: The Cuisinart, because I’m a cook. Mine is thirty-seven years old, and I use it four times a week; it’s still really powerful.
Design period: That of the Renaissance or Medieval period because it mixes everything
Home TV show: Divine Design. Candice Olson is the best. And David Bromstad, who does Color Splash.
Luxury home item: Real Oriental rugs
Kitschy item: Leopard pillows
Worst design mistake: Promising someone on November 1 that they’d have their furniture by December 23, back when I first started. Believe it or not, it did come in, but there was so much stress I couldn’t get my shopping done.
Embarrassing object at home: My home is so decorated, that’s a hard one. I might straighten up my husband’s desk.
Local gallery: No favorite gallery, but I like West Art in Yonkers for framing.
Local museum: Hudson River Museum in Yonkers
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Color: Taupe, but that’s not very exciting, so Granny Smith–apple green.
Fabric: Cotton and linen fabrics from Rogers & Goffigon. Terrific colors, luscious and muted.
Wallpaper: Grasscloth in all of its various forms. Jack Lenor Larsen has gorgeous grasscloths.
Window dressing: Draperies on custom-finished iron poles. I particularly like a gold wash over a silver pole.
Must-have item under $50: Fresh flowers
Best-value product: Umbra drapery poles
Favorite design trend: The broader selection of wood finishes. For years it was all about rich, dark wood; now there are all sorts.
Home accessory: Vintage glass candlesticks
Chair: The Rolling Frame desk chair by Alias
Sheets: Crisp, white, Italian sheets from Dea
| Paint: I really love Donald Kaufman. The colors are really rich and luminous, especially at night. |
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Scent: I wear perfumes sparingly and they tend to be spicy. Otherwise I love the scent of fresh air, or after a rain.
Local museum: Katonah Museum of Art
Candles: Unscented straight white candles, not tapered, or hand-rolled ivory beeswax
Décor book: It’s out of print, but it’s called the Antiques Directory of Furniture by Judith and Martin Miller. It’s an encyclopedia with 7,000 photographs, and I refer to it all the time.
Local antiques store: Yellow Monkey
Local gallery: Kenise Barnes in Larchmont
Local housewares store: Crate & Barrel
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Flowers: Peonies |
| Local restaurant décor: The outdoor terrace at the Red Hat in Irvington. I had dinner there this summer on a gorgeous night and you’ll never guess who was right next to us—Bill and Hil! It was cool! |
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Local lighting store: Accessory Store in Stamford, just across the border.
Kitchen gadget: The phone, to call for takeout.
Design period: Now. Mixing all the periods with what’s happening now
Online design site: 1stdibs.com
Luxury home item: Gorgeous Italian bed linens
Kitschy item: Vintage table lamps can be fun.
Worst design mistake: When I was very new, I ordered the wrong ‘colorway’ in a carpet, but the client ended up loving it. It was serendipitous, but it was a big lesson.
Embarrassing object at home: I just renovated, but I still have the very rustic painted Early American chest that I call a coffee table. It’s a work in progress.
Color: White and navy blue
Paint: Benjamin Moore or Sherwin-Williams. Also Fine Paints of Europe.
Fabric: Plain linen
Wallpaper: Grasscloth
Window dressing: Straight panels
Scent: Anything citrusy
Flowers: All white flowers
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Must-have item under $50: Good soap in the bathroom
Favorite design trend: Modern and contemporary, which is coming in quickly
Candles: Jo Malone grapefruit
Décor book: Moderne: Fashioning the The French Interior By Sarah Schleuning
Local museum: Katonah Museum of Art
Local antiques store: I like them all.
Local gallery: Canfin Gallery in Tarrytown
Local housewares store: Albano Appliance
Design period: Early mid-century modern, the ’40s and ’50s
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Local restaurant décor: Moderne Barn in Armonk
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Kitchen gadget: I love my classic KitchenAid that does everything. Now it comes in these gorgeous colors, from lime green to black.
Chair: Herman Miller Aeron chair
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Luxury home item: A movie theater
Worst design mistake: In my own home, I put in a terra cotta Mexican tile floor, and it was a huge mistake not to use the best brand. I used a cheap one and now I’m paying for it. In general, it’s always a mistake sacrificing quality to save money.
Embarrassing object at home: Bad frames on my kids’ pictures.
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Home accessory: In my home, a collection of antique silver
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Lynn Hazlewood is a freelance writer living in High Falls in a home without a cashmere throw, something she hopes to remedy soon.
