1 Credenza 4 Ways: ‘Upper East Side Mid-century’

I’ve bought a few things from the flea market that I really want to show off (and justify the purchase of). It’s like when you want that new $250 cocktail dress so you say to yourself, ‘Well, we do have Jimmy’s 12th birthday party coming up, and it is at a restaurant and meals at that restaurant are like $18 an entree and I saw on Instagram that my crush, Jeremy, was there last week so what if he is there again? What if I’m wearing the same dress I wore when I ran into him a month ago? I obviously need this dress to make this occasion’. It’s like that.

So I figured we could do a ‘One credenza, four ways’ series to show you how you can really mix many styles together (with a consistent color palette) and demonstrate how your art and accessories can really change the context of a piece of furniture.

We borrowed the credenza from a vintage store in LA, Shopclass,and I believe it’s still for sale ($1800). It’s VERY pretty.

This first credenza/lady is kinda fancy and loves some glam and formality but is cool enough.

This lady, oh this lady, is like a cool rich liberal east coast lady. She’s probably a socialite and makes a mean Pimm’s cup and is friends with Joan Didion and Mick Jagger. This look works because of a few different reasons:

1. The shape of the accessories on the credenza creates a landscape effect and helps the eye move up and down as it moves across.

2. The color palette is simple but consistent – pinks and cool pastels in the paintings, gray in the chair, lamp and vase, whites to give your eye a break while the gold brings the bling.

3. The visual weight of the objects varys, keeping your eye moving and happy. If all the pieces were heavy (like the vase) or all were light (like the telescope) it would feel overdone or too off balance.

4. There is a decent mix of squared off and sculptural shapes – the art is square, the lamp is sculptural, the books are square, the flowers and the telescope is sculptural, the frame is square and the tray is oval.

4. There is a good mix of horizontal and vertical – the lamp, bust and the flowers are all helping to give the scape some height, then the books and tray keep it all grounded.

I found those two paintings at the flea market. I had been eyeing this guy’s work for months but didn’t have a reason to pull the trigger. They are plein airs but in crazy pastel and saturated colors. I have a thing for plein airs and plan on collecting a ton for our future country home – a huge wall of them.

That lamp is crazy and makes me want to move into a brownstone on east 53rd and 1st ave. To celebrate my move I made a gif of the styling process.

Photography by Tessa Neustadt, styling/art direction by me. Thanks to Shopclass for letting us borrow the credenza and that insane bird lamp.

Come back later in the week for the other 3 looks and vote for your favorite.