Charming details add a sense of whimsy to the space.
This eclectic space is both uplifting and bright.
Barbara Ostrom’s first foray into this room was, to put it mildly, inauspicious. “The whole ceiling was falling off,” she quips when describing the state of the space. But Ostrom, owner of Barbara Ostrom Associates in Mahwah, New Jersey, saw past the disrepair. “The beauty of this room was the original ceiling,” so her goal was to restore it to its former glory. “I knew this was a big undertaking,” she says. She sought assistance from the experts at the Brooklyn Museum, who were able to create molds from the remnants of the original ceiling and piece them together to re-create the look.
The ceiling wasn’t the only part of the room that was lacking its original splendor. “Half of the decorative floor border was missing,” says Ostrom, a member of the American Society of Interior Designers. She addressed that issue by bringing in another expert. Glen Ridge, New Jersey-based mural artist Andrew Tedesco used stain to match what was already there.
Tedesco played a part in the wall covering as well. Ostrom explains, “I ordered a beautiful, hand-painted wall covering, but when it arrived, it was missing half the colors. So Andrew came in and for two weeks painted our colors onto it.” That was painstaking, laborious work, but it didn’t stop Ostrom and Tedesco from having a little fun with the room’s décor in the form of painted “mice” running across the baseboards.
That was an unusual choice, but this is an eclectic space. “It definitely has an English influence,” Ostrom says, “but it has the flamboyance of Chinese Chippendale.” Ostrom chose a primarily blue palette. “We had about seven shades of blue in there.” The varying shades—with some other bold hues thrown in—ensure the grand space is not overly staid.
Sofa, striped lounge chair, Lucite pedestals, and blue and white vases, through Barbara Ostrom Associates; mural artist, Andrew Tedesco Studios Inc. in Glen Ridge; fretwork over mirrored part of walls, Marut Custom Interior Woodworking in Elmwood Park; paint, Benjamin Moore; painter, PaintTek Quality Painting Inc. in Dunellen (T); wallpaper, de Gournay in New York City; wallpaper hanger, Danny Co. in Cedar Grove; floral arrangements, Jardiniere Fine Flowers in Far Hills; mirrors, consoles, armchairs next to fireplace, dining table, 18th-century Chinese sculpture on coffee table and mirror above console, Hyde Park Antiques in New York City; mirrors on bottom of walls, Bergen County Glass LLC in Lyndhurst; carpets, Rug Importers in Paramus; coffee table and Chinese Chippendale chairs around dining table, Bungalow 5 in Saddle Brook; fabric on pillow on striped club chair, Designers Guild in New York City with trim from Samuel & Sons; fabric on blue pillow on sofa, Designers Guild with trim by Duralee; fabric on gray pillow on sofa, Osborne & Little with trim by Samuel & Sons; fabric on coral pillow on sofa, Osborne & Little with trim by Kravet; all other fabrics, Osborne & Little; upholstery fabrication for sofa, striped chair and cane-back armchair, Alan Schatzberg & Associates Inc. in South Hackensack; drapery fabrication, Baum Draperies in Nutley; drapery hardware, Van Gregory & Norton in New York City; chandelier and sconces, Baccarat in New York City; oval-back armchair, Christopher Guy in New York City; 18th-century French clock on mantel; ACA Galleries in New York City; dining table/coffee table décor and silverware, Scully & Scully in New York City; wine glasses, champagne flutes and blue goblets, William Yeoward in New York City; dinner plates and chargers, Mottahedah in Cranbury; antique, 20th century American silver candlesticks, the private collection of Marina Case, ASID, of The Red Shutters in Warwick, New York. T=To the trade.