Moody Blues
November 13, 2012
Text by Regina Cole   Photography by Laura Moss
In a space that feels simultaneously romantic and subtle, sexy and serene, Tiffany Eastman demonstrates graceful solutions to at least two Herculean design challenges. In a northern climate, she created a decor based on blues and grays that is anything but cold. And she executed her plan within the rigid limitation caused by the elevator that opens to the living room of this 1930s brownstone apartment in a downtown Greenwich historic district. âThe elevator measures eighty-four inches, so the sofa is eighty-three and a half inches long, and so is the big mirror in the living room,â the designer says. âYou sacrifice,â she adds, noting that every project brings its unique constraints.
Sacrifice is not the word that comes to mind upon entering the 2,500-square-foot, three-bedroom condominium. Rather, the overwhelming impression is of calm, deeply self-aware feminine elegance. In fact, the sophisticated interior Eastman created is so perfectly on target itâs hard to believe that the last time she collaborated with this client, the end result looked very different (though no less striking).
Back then, the Stamford interior designer worked with another firm. Just before Eastman went off on her own, the client came for help with a large, colonial-style center-entry house in the western part of the state. âHer life was different then,â Eastman recalls. âThe big colonial reflected her lifestyle when she worked in the finance industry.â
Some two years later, the homeowner left her job on Wall Street and traded her big suburban house for an apartment closer to the city. Her new quarters called for a different look and feel altogether, but, says Eastman, âShe reached out to me because she knew that she and I are on the same page aesthetically. She wanted a chic, more contemporary flair.â
In the clientâs previous house, beige dominated the palette. For her new home, the designer says, âShe told me she wanted a cool palette, and that she loved blue.â
Often topping the list of beloved colors, blue can bring a chill to rooms in our New England climate. âBlues donât have to be cold,â Eastman explains. âIt comes down to layering and the textures of all the fabrics. We used five different blues and grays in the living room, from the ice-blue sofa upholstery to the charcoal-gray carpet. Gold warms in curtain rods and accessories here, as well as in the bedroom, dining room and sunroom.â
The key, she continues, is in imbalance: âThe composition should be slightly left of center, not equally balanced. Textures, tones, warmth and cold: the imbalance is where the magic happens.â
The dining room, for example, murmurs in the subtle languages of sophistication, mystery and romance, with charcoal-gray Venetian plaster walls, modern nickel sconces, a clean-lined glass chandelier and an antique Sheraton sideboard. Curtain rods, a Napoleonic ormolu clock and the sideboardâs original brass hardware provide just enough warmth to spark Eastmanâs off-center juxtaposition. âShe wanted dark, sexy,â the designer says. âIn dining rooms, we can take more risks, so we chose this wall treatment. Venetian plaster done in soft, dark colors is stunning. We incorporated mica into the mix for a bit of shine, then finished with a top layer of wax. The result is dramatic and subtle at the same time.â
She points to the gray metallic mesh draperies and metallic chair fabric. âThey donât read metallic, but they add to the subtle shimmer.â
The sensibility, she says, was inspired by the painting above the Sheraton sideboard, which the homeowner brought from her previous house. âThose whites and graysâthatâs the mystery and nuance we wanted.â
The sideboard is one of a handful of pieces that made the move. âShe had sentimental attachments to various pieces but didnât hang on to anything that didnât work,â Eastman says of her client. âWe handpicked and edited.â
The atmospheric space of the dining room opens into the calmly chic living room, where charcoal-gray accents echo the dining roomâs dark wall color. Here, too, Eastman incorporated another classic antique from the ownerâs previous home. âThe juxtaposition of the tall clock to one side of the doorway and the large abstract painting on the other side strikes the right note,â she explains, adding that the rich wood tones and neoclassical ornamentation of the statuesque clock bring unexpected zing to a clean-lined, modern composition.
The dining and living rooms reflect in the large mirror ensconced on an Eastman-designed stand. âWe placed this very traditional, classic French frame with metal leaf onto a squared-off base sprayed with softly metallic paint,â she says. âThat gives it a more contemporary look and makes the mirror look like artwork.â
The mirror flanks the entry to the sunroom, which overlooks a lovely congregation of steeples on Greenwich Avenue. Beyond lies Long Island Sound, and on a clear night the lights of Manhattan shine in the distance. âThere is no way to dress the windows, but I am a firm believer in framing a room, so we put sheers on the only wall,â Eastman explains. âThey never close; the homeowner loves the sexiness of the way they flow as one walks into the living room.â
Eastmanâs deft touch shines throughout the home. In the master bedroom, gray striĂŠ walls seem to make the room float. Even the functional kitchen has a romantic side, with a breakfast table whose mirrored base was adapted from a Regency torchiere.
Does this Zen elegance represent the designerâs own signature? âI do believe that a designer has a look,â she says. âBut,â she hastens to add, âthe look that matters is the clientâs, not the designerâs. In the end, she is the one who returns home in the evening, and when she turns the key, Iâm not there.â
Eastman may be gone, but her work has left an Âindelible impression. â˘
Interior design: Tiffany Eastman
Builder: Rob Zarzuela
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