Chai-Style Interiors: Confident and Radiant in a Splashy Setting
By Marcia Jaffe | mjaffe@atljewishtimes.com
Enter Marcia and Murray Goldman’s one-level condominium and you plunge into color and sculpted leafy designs.
Jaffe: How would you describe your style? What did you want to achieve?
Marcia Goldman: I wanted a contemporary vibe but with no extremes. Straight lines with a neat look. We wanted to bring in our older pieces to strike a nice balance.
Jaffe: Your kitchen is a showcase. Combining the green hues with the aqua is almost a color block.
Goldman: We started with the unusual granite, Verdi Vecchio, and searched to find a backsplash that would work with that. … Ultimately, iridescent green glass tiles filled the bill. I love our breakfast nook with the folksy clock from New Morning Gallery in Asheville. The table “Branches” from Century features a rusty stem, mother-of-pearl leaves and black tip shells as accents. This fits into our Tree of Life theme throughout. Our decorator said, “That table just won’t work in here,” and my instinct was “Let’s make it work,” so we reduced the circumference of the glass.
The lighting groupings in the kitchen are beaded and glittery [Gymnopedic] polished silver. The chairs with the grape-sculpted metallic backs we found in Scottsdale and just couldn’t pass up since we collect wines.
Jaffe: You’re an oenophile. Where do you store the wine? What are your favorites?
Goldman: When Murray and I made the decision to downsize from a multilevel home to this one level, we had to decide what to do with the 1,500 bottles of wine collected over the past four decades. At that same time, our son returned from England, got married and opened a restaurant. He needed a place to live, and he could take care of the wine. When he bought our home, we bought this condo. And any time we need more, we pay him a visit. A win-win situation!
Actually we do have two wine units here for 200 bottles. Our favorite are reds — Darioush, Kosta Browne, Shafer, Robert Young, Chappellet, Hewitt and Hartwell.
Jaffe: Even your kitchen knife block is a work of art! Your living space colors work so well. It’s warm and cool at the same time. Mustard, cream and turquoise. How did you arrive at that?
Goldman: We started with my mother’s mustard Chinese rug and selected paint by Benjamin Moore California Hills [the kitchen is Lewiville Green, which is almost old-fashioned, like the old avocado appliances]. I didn’t want to get too tied into matching, as we originally ordered a mustard leather sofa but changed to cream as a contrast. The blue entered when we found Texture Inc. fabrics that paved the way to a Byzantine feel.
Jaffe: Actually, in your dining room I see hints of Greece and Venice. Which is it?
Goldman: Both. The dining room started with my mother’s breakfront from 1953. We got the Greek key bowl in Napa. The silk chairs bring in the leaves and flowers again, and the rug was custom made with the leafy border. We acquired the glass chandelier from our trip to Venice. The lithograph is by Israeli Ari Gradus, representing all the Jewish holidays. Notice the Purim masks besides the Sabbath candles — an odd find at the old Piedmont Arts Festival.
Jaffe: Your living room is so inviting. What were you looking to achieve in here?
Goldman: We started with an oil painting we acquired in Hawaii by a German artist [Gerhard Nesvadba] of a scene from the south of France called “Hints of Lavender.” Side table by Michael Gilmartin and Century puzzle tables, but the gem is the nightstand I had as a child — totally untouched with its original gold patina. For whimsy, we have the glass sculpture of an upside-down woman [the “meshugana” lady] from North Carolina by [Chuck] Young and [Deana] Blanchard called “Topsy Turvy.” The lamps in here were commissioned [Grace Cathey] to carry through the leafy plant theme. These are caladiums.
Jaffe: Also I see the dramatic giant leaves in the guest bathroom.
Goldman: Isn’t that wallpaper wild? We liked the old-fashioned heavy flocking with charcoal and more mustard as palm fronds. The unusual mirror was done by a local artist, Chester Old.
Jaffe: Your master bedroom is very soothing in snowy alabaster. I would be afraid to have my black Australian shepherd jump on that bed!
Goldman: We had the fabric headboard made, and the Tree of Life is also from a local arts festival. Most sentimental is my parent’s ketubah.
Jaffe: Let the photos do the talking. It all works so well together.
Goldman: Murray and I are very comfortable here. We love to travel, and now all we have to do is lock the door and enjoy our trip. That’s the best part.
Photos: Chai-Style Interiors – Marcia and Murray Goldman
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