How do you select the objects you showcase? My niche has always been sourcing one-of-a-kind items that will “make a room sing,” or comprise the perfect tablescape. My inventory ranges from French sculptor Marie Christophe’s wondrous wire creations and textiles from Holland, Sweden, London, Amsterdam,  and one-off collections from Europe, no longer in production.

Pretty Pairs Paired!

I love the idea of  mixing and matching (think of what’s in your closet!), and Adam & Viktoria’s velvet-touch pillows make it easy to dress and refresh every room in the house to suit your mood as well as the season. The beautiful Ombre Tribe Galliano Java Brown  velvet pillows are so beautiful in this space!

The more you move them around, the more fun they become!

 

In my shop, greenhouse and home, I create living stage sets to give my clients a better visual of how these artist-crafted hand-selected items – lighting, rugs, floor screens, textiles, cushions and dinnerware – will look and feel when they take up residence in their own spaces. The idea of showcasing items this way goes back to 2004 when I exhibited them in New York City’s Chelsea Hotel, which is where everyone from Andy Warhol and Allen Ginsberg to Madonna and Leonard Cohen used to hang out.

In my greenhouse, I sow seeds in the winter, store my plants and create my arrangements and floral sculptures.

How did you get started in your career? My story begins in France and with a life-long passion to share the beauty of the French savior faire via hand-crafted objets d’art, textiles, beauty and, of course, flowers. I founded the Lisa Fontanarosa Collection, a source for unusually beautiful objects, lighting, sculpture and accents for the home in 1997.  I grew up traveling to Europe with my parents, which inspired my love of travel, design, food and handcrafted objects from Europe.

Marie Christophe’s latest sunny yellow Picasso-esque sculpture puts a smile on spring.

Think beach bathing, lemonade in a tall glass and taxis waiting to transport you straight to the boutiques of Paris.

 

Growing up Italian, the table always was and still is the chaos of beautiful things  and emotions .. the food and the decoration.

This is one  of my favorite restaurants in Sicily

Bruno Frisoni, and his partner, Herve Van Der Straeten, asked Marie Christophe to jazz up their really hot house in Tangier, Morocco with some of her custom lanterns and wall sconces.

The two lanterns  created — one studded with ivory ceramics shown here and the other in ebony — play off each other like piano keys.