Frank Di Piazza
If you're in the market for a handmade tiger-maple bed frame, animal-print trim, paisley wallpaper or ornate window hard-ware, you need not go anywhere other than this cozy, full-service interior-design studio.
The Great Cover-Up, where they've "got it covered," moved from Des Peres to its current space in Ladue's shopping district about two years ago, right around the time Teddy Karl, principal designer and store manager, joined the team. Mr. Karl, trained in textile design, has filled every inch of the modest-sized space — from wall to wall and floor to ceiling — with the wallpaper samples, fabric bolts and accessories he will eventually work into a design for someone's home.
"It's something that I think is a true art — listening to someone and really finding what it is that they have in mind," says Mr. Karl. "So it's my job to crawl into your head and figure out what you like, so the room really speaks about you."
In addition to silks, window treatments, pillows and hardware, the Great Cover-Up also sells lamps, furniture, bureaus and vases, all embodying Mr. Karl's "New England elegance" style. He uses adornments that are "formal but casual in a way that's livable." The store provides free consultations, and the small staff of five can be, as Mr. Karl puts it, "as involved as people need us to be."
Fabrics range from $40 to $250 per yard on the inexpensive end and up to $1,000 a yard on the higher end. Accessories and lamps can be purchased from $40 to $575, while wallpaper sells from $25 to $50 a roll.
"I like the whole spectrum of decorating," Mr. Karl says. "I don't want to say Martha Stewart, but ..." A pause. "I just think I'm better than she is."
The Great Cover-Up, 9708 Clayton, 314-447-0771, greatcoverupdesign.com
