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finding your own style
by Marcello A. Luzi, ASID
Lamp by David D'Imperio. |
As an interior designer working primarily in the field of residential design,
I am always looking for new resources and new products. Seldom do I feel
it is appropriate to reuse a particular furnishing for a client that I previously
selected for another. To me this seems like cheating. My clients come to
me because they want beautiful functional spaces that reflect their own likes
and personality and do not want the same thing I did for their friends. Nor
would their friends want me to repeat their project. This is why the Philadelphia
Furniture and Furnishings Show is something I look forward to every year.
These days there are plenty of stores that
cater to the one-style-for-all club. Pottery Barn, Eddie Bauer
Home and Portico, catalogues like Horchow or Gump’s, and
your local furniture store can all give you a stylish look.
You can have urban industrial, country, shabby chic or an upwardly
mobile look. However, like that shirt you bought at the Gap,
don’t be surprised if you see your sofa in someone else’s
living room!
I recently told one client when he asked
me why we were not buying a production line piece of furniture
to save time searching for that hand-made piece: “If you
want to buy off the rack, you don’t need me. Anyone can
buy that piece but you want something special.” I used
as a metaphor the suit he was wearing, which he did not buy
at a huge clothing conglomerate but at a specialized boutique.
Suddenly, buying artisan designed-and-made
furniture made sense
to him, and he agreed.
Please don’t misunderstand me – I
think the explosion in home furnishings within the past few
years is a good thing. New sources are educating people about
good design and showing them that they don’t have to live
with the same furniture they’ve had since college. But
why stop there, why not have something truly special?
As my colleagues from the American Society
of Interior Designers will tell you, our clients are looking
for the unique and the unusual, a special piece of furniture
or accessory that is not only functional, but art at the same
time. An object that was made with care and attention to detail.
An item that will actually be a stylish addition to your home.
Instead of getting that dining table that
is one of the 3000 made, why not get a table that is truly
special to you? After all, if you buy quality and take care
of it, you will own it the rest of your life. And while it
is said, “past performance is no guarantee of future results,” many
hand-crafted pieces have been known to appreciate in value
over the years.
So whether it is a sofa, or table, or chair,
or a lamp, or piece of art glass, there is something for every
taste and every budget at the Philadelphia Furniture and Furnishings
Show. You are only limited by your imagination. Enjoy!
Marcello A. Luzi, ASID is a partner in the
Philadelphia-based interior design firm Weixler, Peterson & Luzi
, Inc. and is President-elect of the Pennsylvania East Chapter
of the American Society of Interior Designers.
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