I had a client back in the 80’s that was my first true exposure to extraordinary wealth.

My brother and I were called by an area decorator who worked with very high end clients back around 1984. The designer said I would like to meet with you. So B and I set up an appointment and we met . The designer said you guys are the go to guys that I have been hearing about. He said , I have a huge client that is extremely fussy and the products she is selecting are very delicate. I cannot have any problems he showed us the samples and asked us to come to look at the home. We scheduled the date and went off to see the home. It was one of the largest, elegant and stately homes that I had ever seen. As a decorator when you enter a large scale home it is very hard to keep it homey while designing. But this person living here was what you would call old money and was exposed to this  lifestyle since birth . She was a professional  as was  her husband in the finance world  I believe. She understood that a good designer can reign in a large space and make it warm useing various techniques so she had employed her designer who was doing a great job.

So, my brother and I went in and looked at the home.  We needed to complete the prep and installation of all of the wallcoverings in this massive home it was weeks of work. The regular ceiling height through the home was 14 feet and the home had three massive floors. The second floor had a huge mezzanine with a gorgeous green house . This was winter and the house was still nice and warm despite the glass. You could almost drive a car up the stairs because the staircases were so huge. Lol

She was having raw silk wallcoverings installed in her 1st floor and second floor hallway. The drop section from the second floor ceiling to the front foyer was at least 35 feet. The raw silk wallcoverings was sold by the yard so it was unbelievably expensive. Everything in the house was extremely detailed. Her massive living room was all set up with scaffolding for the painters and the home had gorgeous wood coffered boxed ceilings  with intricate moldings and her moldings had 14 different monochromatic shades of the color peach to help to give dimension to them . I was just so amazed at the detail. It’s sounds crazy but it looked so beautiful.

Her dining room again was just massive. This room was completed already. The massive trim work was almost  brilliant white and the walls were a beautiful shade of Argyle Green. All silk with a slight sheen they were upholstered and padded walls that was tufted with buttons and the room was completed welted they had beautiful wall sconces. And two large crystal chandeliers The workmanship was breathtaking. To think that  some one came and installed that room to that degree of perfection still just amazes me. God has given each one of us such amazing gifts. Use them ! 🙂

The client was very nice, very fussy and wanted what she wanted period. The decorator she was working with was great but I think he got phytigued from working with her and she did not like the fact that he did not say yes to her every desire. So, she said to me I am not working with him anymore, you are a decorator , right? I said yes and she became my direct client . I told the other decorator what she wanted and he said he understood.  He nicely wished me luck as well.

 

It was very interesting to see what life without limits was like. Doing ,going, and spending non stop. They had a five car garage with beautiful cars in each bay. She announced on a Thursday to us, here is the alarm code guys and said just lock up and alarm the house please we are going to fly out and meet friends in France to ski for a few days. If anything comes up just call and leave message for me. She was not showy or braggy, it was just her life. She had a couple of nice kids and a little dog too. 🙂

During my working with her I found her very interesting. I often wonder about where her faith was at? I was not real talkative about faith in those days years back either.

During the hallway silk selection she had two options available. Both would be beautiful , but one would be perfect. I advised her on  what I thought was the best choice. She decided on option 2 instead  So, my brother and I  completed the hallway with her desired selection. It took forever to install and we had to use white silk gloves to install the silk wallcoverings so that our hand oils did not burnish the silk. It was a labor of love and it came out beautifully. Well, we wrapped up that project and she was very happy and we were too. We were tired of working there at her home, it was a long time . But, we were  very grateful for the work.

About 1 year later , I was in my shop and the phone rang it was Cookie again she said hi Dan, I want you to come out and change the front hallway silk. I should have used what you suggested the peach colored silk. I in that moment took a deep breathe and thought that job was a monumentally huge job and installation that my brother and I had said we could and would never do that again. So, I said no.The other aspect and I may have been wrong but I was disgusted with the ease of which money was just thrown around and away.

Perhaps I was wrong in my feeling this way but I said I am sorry C, I cannot do it. She was surprised I just said that hallway was a labor of love and I don’t think that we are up to it again. She was put off and said I see and hung up. I never heard from her again.

I would like to also say this I do not know how much she did for charity. I am sure based on who nice she was , she did a lot. So, I would never judge any one on that. Most good deads are never discussed. God knows what you do that is all that matters. 🙂

 

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=FXnvckvpBxU

I guess it boils down to this for me I made a judgement based on my standard one that I knew in my world. Perhaps it was a little judgemental against her. I just remember that back all those years ago she spent with the Boston Design Center 14,000 dollars for that hallway silk wallcovering. It was made and customer died ,every inch of it for her home. Plus all the labor charge to install it. It was crazy.

I could not get over the fact that she could just remove it and  throw  it away, and replace it with the same thing but different color.

They say the customer is always right, but I do not always see if that way. They are entitled to do as they wish, that I do agree with.

This experience was a great thing for me early on in my career because what I saw initially as wow! I soon learned that all that glitters is not gold. She was searching for  just the right shade of anything in her life.

I am not judging her, she was lovely and I am grateful to have learned some good lessons from our dealings.

I often wondered what she had thought of that phone call that day when I kindly declined a 20,000 job. On principal.

Life is a school where we are constantly learning.

My parents raised my myself and my siblings on one major principal. To whom much is given much is expected. Meaning that what we have is a gift from God from the roof over our heads, bread on our tables,money in our accounts and most of all our families.

My mom used to say when there was a person of wealth. That’s wonderful and if we were impressed she would always say remember, they are just like us, they all have their own stuff of life.

My parents just did not like I us to be too impressed with anything. They felt that we could be inspired by others achievements  and that it was fine to emulate someone that was successful. Conversely, my parents also did not look down on others who had less than what we had either.

We need to bless one another.

 

THAT’S THE WAY THAT THIS COOKIE CRUMBLED. 🙂 I COULD NOT HELP MYSELF.

 

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=pu3BY5r4aRY

God Bless You,

Danny

P.S. I will in the next few writing visit how my own personal view of design has changed over the years. A gift from God that I love.