Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion


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Text by Tony DiMartino

Next time you casually flip on an overhead light, consider the words of Lisa Nardone: “Lighting is jewelry for the home. It should be as attractive and entertaining off as it is on.”
   She isn’t referring to the ugly florescent tubes that blight the typical office, but to the exquisite chandeliers, sconces, and lamps she designs for Rosie NYC, the company she named after her maternal grandmother. “Like all the women in my family, she had an amazing sense of style.”
   Pennsylvania-born Lisa developed her inherent creativity at Moore College of Art. After a stint in advertising, she worked her way up to creative merchandise director at Manhattan’s trendsetting ABC Carpet & Home before starting her own business in 2000.
   Artisans in Rome, Florence, Murano, and Milan handcraft Lisa’s imaginative designs, which feature brilliant glass beads and gold- and silver-leaf finishes. “My work is traditional, but with an updated twist: European craftsmanship tweaked with a feminine sensibility and dazzling color.”

(a) Lisa’s Confection collection is all about antiqued finishes, (b) romantic styling, and spun-sugar pastels. “They’re just like floating candy—the colors and glass beads remind me of marzipan,” she says. (c) Rich colors and ornate design mark the Bohemian collection. (d) “It helps to have meaningful artifacts around the office.” Here, an old marble washstand from Italy holds mementos, flea-market fripperies, and flowers whose colors are rivaled by hand-dyed nylon panels from Lisa’s most recent project, a bedding collection. (e) Vivid hues are typical of the “hard candy” look, a segment of the Confection line. (f) A Confection sconce serves up frothy dollops of pink and green.

(g) Lisa’s acrylic-topped desk. (h) Venetian glass rods spill from an antiqued brass frame on a sconce from the Sunset Boulevard collection. “It has a 1920s feel, dark and moody. I study old movies for inspiration.” (i) Turquoise and green beads and a gold-leaf finish brighten up this piece of eye candy, also from the Confection series. (j) A domed table lamp from the French-inspired Art Nouveau line, accented with hand-hammered brass leaves and glass berries. The dome’s underside is hand-painted for an opalescent glow. (k) An apple-green finish, frosted bobéches, and pear-shaped drops add a touch of spring to a Confection chandelier. (l) A photo of her great aunts and grandmother Rose continues to inspire Lisa.

The Art of Business
1 “Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Playing it too safe can hold you back and keep your business from growing.”
2 “Shop around when choosing supplies and services. I used to ship with UPS, but after two years, saved a lot of money by switching to FedEx Ground.”
3 “Work with people you like. Business is built on relationships.”
4 “Every job counts. The time I spent at ABC Carpet & Home helped me develop my own aesthetic and intuition and taught me about the marketplace.”