Edi Green likes for rooms and spaces to flow and be inviting. “I don’t want people to feel they can’t go in a room,” she said.
Go in but don’t throw your keys, books, mail or anything else on the elegant burlwood dining room table because, said Green, it was never meant to be a convenient catchall.
“No one ever dumped books and keys on the table. It was not something I accepted.”
Her rule was simple: Use it for the purpose it was intended.
Careless assaults on furnishings, Green pointed out, is what scars a thing of beauty, shortening its life and turning it into something no one cares about after a while, like the stalwart kitchen table that took the abuse of every object in search of a flat landing strip.
“We did everything there. It was where the kids did their homework and that was OK.”
For over 30 years Green protected the dining room table’s olive ash and tobacco-stained finish. Except for formalities, it was used infrequently by the family who tended to hang out in the kitchen. The table was one of the few pieces of furniture that made the move with her from a spacious home in Columbia to downsized digs in Owings Mills.
After her husband David died six years ago, “I wanted to make a big change from formal living,” said Green, who frequently hosted formal dinners for her husband’s business associates. In a change from that and now in space of her own, “I wanted it to be more casual, and easier to maintain.”
The “downsized” home is still large at around 4,000 square feet. “I always liked living in the whole house because I have lots of family, friends and grandchildren,” the surprisingly camera-shy Green said. “I also still entertain my ladies group but I wanted something easier to manage.”
Green’s new style of living contrasts much differently from how she lived in her home in Columbia where “I never had a television in the living room before.” Now she does.
Green’s decorating strategy is to acquire furnishings that are forgiving, can take abuse and not show the wear. Still, it has got to have the kind of style she describes as “upscale casual.”
Throughout the rooms, Green’s inclination toward an eclectic mix shows in the traditional and contemporary selections. You will find sofas and chairs with more leather than she once used. Raw silk may be hanged with leather. “I like to mix and match. I don’t like sets,” she said. “I don’t have a set of anything besides dishes and glasses.”
The master bedroom features her favorite color of purple in the reversible gold-and-purple bed quilt. “The purple is more restrained here,” Green said of the regal color that has followed her from home to home. An avid art collector, the beige walls abound with her favorite pieces. With guidance from David Reiersen, her interior designer and friend of at least 20 years, Green allowed colors from the art to dictate the palette that eventually found accent opportunities around the house.
A remarkable pair of fossil stone end tables she’s had for ages dress up a guest room and an old accent vase she’s had for years got new life with a coat of black paint sprayed on its surface.
Summing up her style strategy, Green advised, “Buy good things and take care of them. You’ll have them later.”
Edi’s style:
STYLE SECRETS: Start with something you really care about and have a plan.
GOT STYLE FROM: Evolution. I was always in a hurry and needed to find things quickly. If I had too much stuff and no place for it, then it had to go. I didn’t have the time or patience to hunt for things.
COMFORT VS. STYLE: I can have both. It has to be comfortable and fit. I won’t sacrifice one for the other when I don’t have to.
COLOR VS. TEXTURE: The right color and texture happens for me.
FAVORITE COLOR: Purple
MUST-HAVES IN YOUR HOUSE: Family photographs. I must have things that are living, such as fresh flowers.
I WOULD NEVER: Say “never.”
FAVORITE DESIGNERS: David Reiersen of Reisterstown
HOT TIP: To know what you want or at least know what you don’t want.
LIFE ADVICE: Enjoy each day as it comes and enjoy those individuals you can have in your life.
WORDS TO GROW BY: Love yourself and those around you. Let that be your focal point in life.
