Luxury At All Costs

Thursday, October 22, 2009 06:00 AM

For two rooms, we compared handcrafted furniture to mass-produced and original artwork to replicas—and discovered that the difference is in the details.

		Grand Entrance $27,260 The variegated hues on the nine-by-seven-foot Turkish striped rug ($9,000) are the result of blending yarn salvaged from antique carpets with newly dyed threads, at Tony Kitz Oriental Carpets; the Jan mosaic console from Harris Rubin has a black glass–tile top, available at Enid Ford Atelier ($7,600, through the trade); the elm Windsor chair ($1,495) from Daniel Stein Antiques is circa 1850s; the 1950s Neoclassic column table lamp ($750) from Conor Fennessy Antiques & Design has a plaster base; Tim Harvey’s photograph ($5,500) of the ocean horizon is available at PKirkeby Fine Art & Framing; from Gump’s, the handblown glass vase ($700) by Jesse Reese has a teardrop-shaped center and Moser’s Gema vase ($2,215) is hand-cut crystal in aquamarine.
		First Impression $2,980 The five-by-eight-foot cotton Havers stripe rug ($90) and the glass-topped Parsons console table ($450) are both from Crate & Barrel; the vintage Windsor chair ($30) was a lucky find from the Alameda Point Antiques and Collectibles Faire; the Nikki table lamp ($150) by Lights Up! has a resin base, available at Design Public; Silver Lake Rowing ($1,800) is by photographer David D. Livingston; Kosta Boda’s Fidji bottles, large ($275) and small ($185), are available at Macy’s.
		Studied Effect *$44,626* The nine-by-twelve-foot wool Oushak rug ($10,901) from Floordesign is hand-knotted in Turkey; the 1970s cream-lacquered writing table ($7,500) is from Conor Fennessy Antiques & Design; the original 1964 Fabricius and Kastholm Tulip chair ($5,200) is upholstered in saddle leather, available at Battersea; the oversize tripod lamp ($3,900) from Sarlo combines a 1940s French telescope base with a new gold Mylar shade; allegorical painting ($16,500) is an unsigned 17th-century Italian oil painting in a vintage gilt frame, available at James Snidle Fine Art; Cheengoo’s Invisible dog bed ($560) is made of bent acrylic and lined with a faux-fur Tiger Dreams throw ($65), available at Cheeko B.
		Master Copy $7,485 The eight-by-ten-foot Sun-Softened rug ($3,950) is hand-knotted wool, available at Williams-Sonoma Home; Brocade Home’s square silhouette table ($599) is white-painted oak; the Jerrik swivel chair ($319) is from Ikea; West Elm’s open wood floor lamp ($299) has a maple veneer base with a gold paper shade ($30) from Lamps Plus; the “Italian Renaissance” painting ($2,000) is a 20th-century copy of a Titian, available at James Snidle Fine Art; the custom acrylic dog bed ($158) is by Corey D. Evans; the corduroy pet throw ($130) is available at George.