The Advocate
Making of a TV show:
Stamford Victorian stars in reality program
By Nadia Lerner
Staff Writer
Reality home makeover shows may soon have a new kid on their block. At least Franco Grimaldi hopes so. His pilot, "The Room of Choice,"
shows how professional designers refurbish a number of rooms in a tired dwelling. TV viewers then vote at the end of the series on which
designer has done the best job. The winner earns the prestige of having his or her room nab top prize.
For the 14 one-hour episodes, which Grimaldi is now shopping around to TV networks, he assembled a group of tristate interior designers to
transform key areas of a 110-year-old Stamford Victorian endowed with great bones and appeal. "It's a comfortable, wonderful house and
architecturally so pretty," he says.
TV cameras documented the transformation from pre-facelift days through to its glamorous finish. The process took seven months.
"This was an opportunity to demonstrate to the world a designer's talent," Grimaldi explains, noting that decorating reality shows often
misrepresent the extent of work and money required to achieve a great look.
"The Room of Choice" shows it all: Designers toiling in their offices; visits to New York City and other area showrooms in search of borrowed
furnishings; confabs with contractors; delivery and installation of materials; rooms in various stages of completion; and the finished products.
"It's theater," says Grimaldi, who spent his earlier years as a TV and theatrical performer and, more recently, has been a showhouse producer
for charity fund-raisers. "You start from nothing and you work, work, work until it's opening night."
Having successfully staged showhouses before in this area, Grimaldi targeted Fairfield County in his search for homes to refurbish. While the
work is being done, Grimaldi lives in the homes. The Victorian, empty and for sale, sold quickly following its metamorphosis. At no added cost,
the buyers received many improvements, including restyled kitchen and bathrooms, new wall coverings, paint, and wall and floor stenciling.
(After filming, all room furnishings were returned to their vendors.)
Grimaldi chose interior designer Gail Whiting of Design Consultants in Bedminster, N.J., to revamp the entry hall, living room and second-floor
landing. Working with the creams, golds, bronzes, soft greens, pinks and roses used throughout the home, Whiting perceived the space as
one, embodying a parlor, living room, music room and family room. She says: "I wanted to make it very relaxing, intimate and sophisticated
using charming materials in keeping with the style of the home."
Whiting covered the living room walls in cream-colored silk and dressed its big windows in similarly hued silk draperies embroidered with pink-
and gold-tinged vines and birds. Smaller windows, set within bookcases, were adorned with moss-green balloon shades ornamented with
bronze metallic fringe. Among the room's other components, a fireplace with a black mantel and faux creamy-gold finish; a baby grand Seiler
piano of inlaid woods; a Biedermeier antique bureau; upholstered pieces in greens, golds and beiges; and bookcases whose backs were
glazed in bronze-tinged rose and green. Completing the picture, a gold-and-moss Nepalese rug to accent the room's original wood floor.
Except for a couple of snafus, everything went smoothly, says Whiting. Among her frustrations, the room's Schumacher wall covering got lost in
transit. "There are always these issues you can't foresee and have to deal with. The representative just got me a substitute."
The once-dark dining room was restored by designer Robin Friedman Carroll of RFC Design in Stamford. Inspired by an Art Nouveau nature
theme, Carroll had its walls paneled, painted eggshell, then stenciled in shades of goldenrod, green and coral with two patterns typical of the
period.
Outfitting the room with museum-quality Art Nouveau pieces, Carroll selected a fruitwood dining table, chair and buffet created by famed
French furniture designer Louis Majorelle. The carved table and chair legs resemble flowers, says Carroll. A neighboring fruitwood desk and
chair are also based on a plant motif.
Moss-green silk curtains with vintage green-and-gold embroidered tiebacks and a Pakistani rug in greens, golds and corals provide additional
color. The vintage look is heightened by family photographs and a Regina music box, a reproduction of an early 1900s model.
Maintaining the original woodwork and hardware in the adjoining butler's pantry, Carroll enhanced the room's Pergo laminate floor with a
painted floral "rug" in shades of coral, green and gold.
Says Carroll: "It's a great alternative for people to think about rather than having to put in a new floor."
As for the family room, a difficult window alignment and four doorways created a real furniture placement challenge for Michael Williamson of
Horizon Design in Greenwich.
"I laid out the room three different ways and all three were totally inadequate and unacceptable," he says.
His solution? A turntable floor over the regular floor, enabling the furniture to rotate. It gives the homeowners the flexibility to face the fire in
winter, the plasma TV during the Super Bowl and the home's beautiful back yard in summer.
For the decor, Williamson chose florals, including a rose-patterned rug against a black background and a love seat and club chairs reflecting
the colors used throughout the house.
In designing the kitchen, the goal of Mary Brennan (M. Brennan Design Associates) of West Milford, N.J., was to combine a reverence for the
Victorian's history with "an easy, elegant style of living."
To accomplish this, a formerly all-white cabinet was brightened with a buttery yellow paint, and ornamented with crown molding, carved wood
appliqué and old-fashioned hardware. Brennan had its interior painted a warm red and doors left off to display bone china and assorted
antique kitchen implements. To make the kitchen more functional, a walnut-colored center island was installed.
On the room's window side, Brennan added a new cook top, ventilation hood, oversized 19th-century farmhouse-style sink and granite counter
top in salmon and earth tones. For the kitchen floor, she chose earthy-toned porcelain tiles laid in a brick pattern.
West Norwalk designer Ashley Goddard was intent on a pretty but not too feminine master bedroom, a major change from the formerly dark
room. Goddard teamed a striped sandy-hued wall covering with boldly contrasting rose, pink and green chintz for the bed ensemble and
dressing table. She repeated the floral motif in a pink antique tapestry rug laid over a beige sisal carpet. The room's bold chintzes are offset by
a sitting area featuring upholstered pieces in neutral shades.
For the daughter's bedroom, Carrie Oesmann of Bailiwick Design in Mount Olive, N.J., was inspired by the idea of a medieval castle room.
Oesmann had custom furniture created for the pastel-colored room including a multifunctional white armoire for storage and desk space,
complete with a removable pink castle top. "I wanted a piece that could grow with her," she says. Among the room's other charms, a small
mirrored dressing area that is really a bookcase on wheels. When rolled around, it converts into a puppet theater. In addition, emulating the
Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea," Oesmann hid a green marble under a multiple-layered bedskirt.
The head of the bed is encircled by a window seat with luxurious pillows in bright blues, pinks and greens. Over the window seat is a small
chandelier with clear and amber-colored glass beads. "We tried to fit into it everything you could think a little girl wanted to do in that space,"
says Oesmann.
Says Grimaldi of the makeover series: "You get the true world of what these designers are all about, their trials and tribulations." His next effort
is to rejuvenate a dated, one-story New Canaan hunting lodge into a "glorious two-story" dwelling. "A complete transformation of a property,"
he says, where the audience is the ultimate judge. "Just like 'American Idol.' "
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