BY JILL NAGY
Two Saratoga Springs interior decorators see
glitter and glitz on the horizon as far as recent
trends go in the design of area homes.
But a third laments “the same thing that’s been
going on for several years” and pleads for “some
color, please.”
Erika Gallagher of Plum and Crimson Fine
Interior Design on Spring Street recently returned
from the New York Gift Show in New York City with
photos of a fireplace that looks like an ice palace
and news of fur rugs, “encapsulated glass,” and a
lot of gold and silver, often combined.
She still sees gray as a color trend in design,
“but blues continue to be huge.”
“The newest thing is a return to glitz,” said
Beverly Tracy of Beverly Tracy Home Design on
Broadway. “People are tired of casual lifestyles.”
They are entertaining more in the home, and
the centerpiece of a party, for example, may be a
new bar cart with crystal bar ware.
She also returned from shows in New York
City, where she saw gold wallpaper and drapery,
shiny silver upholstery, and a lot of silver mixed
with the grays.
Often a new trend will enter a home as an
accessory or two.
“Accessories are a great and easy way to
get a trend into your house,” Tracy said. She is
starting to introduce clients to lamps, shiny silver
candlesticks, and crystal pieces as well as more
velvets and other textured fabrics.
While Gallagher may not immediately find
a home for a quartz crystal fireplace, she said
she plans to introduce some other new things:
lacquered pieces, other high gloss finishes and
perhaps some pieces decorated with geodes or
seashells, or a new valence for a kitchen window.
She said she is also seeing a lot of cotton and
other natural fibers and “minimalist” items like
clear Lucite picture frames. Introducing clients
to new trends “is what I feel is our role,” she said.
Nancy Smith of Saratoga Signature Furniture
and Interiors on Church St. said her clients still look
for simple rustic designs, mostly in shades of gray.
“I don’t do much with glitter,” she said. “I don’t
have many clients who do glitz and glitter.”
She sees a “very quiet” trend to satiny looking
fabrics. She wishes her clients would incorporate
more color into their decors, at least a colorful
lamp or bright artwork.
“Some color, please, give me some color,” she
said.
Smith’s company is a furniture and decorating store that sells and installs wallpaper,
upholstery,
window treatments, chandeliers and area rugs as
well as furniture. She has been in the business for 24
years and, in addition to her Saratoga Springs store,
has outlets in Glens Falls, Schenectady, Albany,
New Jersey, and Connecticut and a warehouse on
Long Island. Many of her Connecticut and New
Jersey clients first discovered the company during
summers in Saratoga Springs, she noted.
Gallagher is also well-established in the area.
She has had her business in Saratoga Springs for
11 years and has been an interior decorator for 20.
Tracy has been in Saratoga Springs for 10 years
and also has studio space in New York City. “I work
back and forth,” she said.
The main differences between her Saratoga
Springs work and her New York City projects is
one of scale: the houses tend to be much bigger
in Saratoga.
Photo Courtesy Plumb & Crimson Fine Interior Design