Beauty Is Where You Find It

New York interior designer Jeff Wilcox was able to look beyond the bright orange velvet and ugly brown finish blighting this reproduction bergère he’d discovered at Desert Industries (the Mormon version of the Goodwill, also known as “the D.I.”).

Jeff has faced bigger horrors, but after determining that the shepherdess chair was a reasonably good copy, he toted it away from “the Lord’s charity” and made it over in his own image, with a whitewash finish and the loveliest green velvet he could find.

Now the bergère is the focus of a corner vignette in his Manhattan co-op, where spring reigns eternal. Vive la France!

Animal Rescue

Mike Fischer of Hunter Fischer Design found this late 19th century Louis XV fauteuil in a client’s attic. The chair had been abandoned by a previous homeowner. Mike adopted it, and now it’s in the corner of his bedroom. The frame retains its original finish; Mike hand-painted the zebra pattern on the back, seat and manchettes. Magnifique.

Roadside Attraction

I found this chair left curbside on Whitworth in PicFair. A dab of wood glue, some orange furniture polish, a yard of cheetah fabric  — and voilá — it’s good as new. Thanks, neighbor!