Interior Design 101: How to Finish Fine Furniture

Studio furniture maker and interior designer Diane Paparo sat down with us recently and kindly shared with us her tips on where to begin when it comes to dealing with wood finishes, stains, and treatments. It's one of thosepractical decorating considerations that most people "wing it," but we wanted to hear what a strong furniture maker had to say. Diane has designed furniture for fine homes around the world - even the executive office suites at Revlon. Let's see how someone who combines luxury, quality, beautiful detailing, and thoughtful functionality handles furniture finishes.

Choosing a furniture finish can be a tall order. First, you'll want to consider the design scheme and how the finish can be integrated into the whole, but you'll also want to think about maintenance and repair.

1. Let's tackle color first. You have four options: natural, stained, dyed, and painted. Some woods are naturally beautiful with just a clear protective finish, but most look richer when they're stained. Stains give you the option of deepening a wood's natural color or mimicking another wood's color. 

Stains don't penetrate the furniture's surface deeply; they lhave a transparency that enhances the grain. Stains can also accentuate imperfections, so inspect the finish carefully.

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A Week in the Life of a Wedding and Event Planner (and mother)

So, I've been thinking about what to write for this article and my thoughts keep going back to the running list of things I have to do in the next week (over and over and over and over...keeping me up all hours of the night even though I have it all carefully laid out on my calendar - ie. my cell phone calendar that is linked to iCloud and therefore may as well be tattoo'd on my forehead).

Sigh.

So, for those of you who are thinking of becoming a wedding and event planner, I hope this post won't scare you off (that certainly isn't my intention) BUT it is designed to give you a little bit of insight into what exactly you will be in for.  

A little background info: Over the next two weeks I have one wedding and one fundraiser (I've been working on this since December and it's almost here!  WooHoo!!!)  Plus, I won't mention the numerous phone calls and emails that I will field all week from upcoming bride's, vendors, fundraising personnel and potential clients.  

Today: 12:30 - Drop off gift bags for out of town guests at hotel in Midtown

             3pm - Confirm with all wedding vendors

             4pm - Complete wedding day timeline that was begun last week

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Into the Lights

(Stinger & Rock Pendant Lights from Jamie Harris Studio)As a designer, I’ve been lucky to see many beautiful, uniquely-designed furnishings, but I have always had a special partiality to light fixtures, especially hand-made blown glass lights.  Maybe it’s the sparkle; maybe it was that memorable trip to a glass blowing factory in Venice; or maybe I just hate the dark.  But I always gravitate to the lights first at any show or store. 

At this year’s Architectural Digest Home Design Show, there were several impressive designs of light fixtures.  Above are the pendant lights from Jamie Harris Studio. The narrow, tapering light is called the Stinger Pendant and the bubble shaped-ones are called the Rock Pendants. 

(Droplets, courtesy of Moshe Bursuker)Glass artist, Moshe Bursuker, started with sculptures of blown and cast glass and then incorporated his designs into platters and tiles.  He branched out to creating jewel-like pendant lights called Droplets, reminiscent of Moroccan hanging lamps.

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A Modern Wedding

Here is quite possibly one of my favorite weddings and favorite bride's ever!  I was lucky enough to get to work with her and the fabulous team that she put together to coordinate her wedding in Columbus Circle last July.  The bride is an interior designer and designed everything for the day, down to the pillows...loved them. The venue was overlooking Columbus Circle at the breathtaking Steelcase Design Studio.  The venue does not normally host weddings, however by the end, I was begging them to please consider it.  I would LOVE to show some of my bride's the space and the view!!

The day was perfect, the bride was beautiful and the groom very much in love...I'd say it was the loveliest of the lovely.

The photographer was the amazing Levi Stolove...I adore him.  He was sweet, easy to work with and best of all, his photographs were gorgeous! 

The flowers, the flowers, the flowers...I can't tell you how much I loved them!!  I especially loved the yellow Billy Buttons and they were a perfect fit for this modern New York wedding.  All florals were done by the talented Leeanne Rickey.  She was also an interior designer and had the most amazing eye...I am working with her again at the end of this month and I can't wait!

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