A simple decorative feature — a dining room’s mirrored wall — didn’t just add luster and elegance, but also helped fool the eye to make it look like a smaller space was really a lot larger.
In this home, seen here back in the mid-70s, the formal fruitwood dining table only seated four — but when it was glimpsed in the mirror, looked like it was a table for eight.
The unique table had a glistening marquetry top — a French decorative technique to create elaborately inlaid patterns on furniture — plus had decoratively carved table legs and edging.
The table was teamed with equally elegant Louis XVI chairs with a distressed off-white painted finish, embellished by both plain and traditionally-patterned velvet upholstery.
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On the window wall, rosewood frames were filled with layers of louvered white shutters to create an unusual window design. The simplest of accents — flowers, and the small dessert wine glasses — highlighted their orange color.
And then there was a little gold: The wood parquet floor was bleached and then finished in a warm golden hue, and two golden wall sconces had been added to the mirror wall, and their shaded candelabra blubs gave reflected illumination.
