1 of 2
Anne Matheis
2 of 2
a living room
"My approach to design is the finishing touch," says Sandy Long, owner of Sandra Long Interiors. "I am very, very detail-oriented. I'm a little detail freak."
Clearly. In this house, the lampshades are trimmed. The trims are trimmed with buttons. The inside of the foyer closet is decorated--right down to the rug on the floor and the fringe on the shelves. Seat cushions are monogrammed. Plates are hung with carefully color-coordinated ribbon. Bowls overflow with roses, artfully arranged by Long. The result? Perfectly over the top.
After years of living in Winnetka, Ill., and then overseas, Joe and Jane (who asked that their last name not be used) bought this house in Frontenac, originally built in 1933.
"Parts of it were OK, parts weren't OK," Jane says. "It was the kind of house where you could tell that everything was about 10 to 15 years old. It wasn't so ancient that you couldn't live with it."
First they enclosed a side porch. Then they decided to redo the kitchen and family room. They summoned Long. She came up with the floor plan; Archway Kitchens & Baths executed it. The room was gutted, a half-wall was removed, a fireplace was added with a flat-screen TV above, pullouts were installed by the refrigerator, a desk was added for Jane, a small serving area with a sink and icemaker installed inside the door leading to the dining room and a mantel placed over the stove.
Then Long detailed it out. On the stove, she added a porcelain rooster made by Chanticleer in Ironton, Mo., and pieces of Herend; on the mantel--silver trays and baby cups. In the rest of the kitchen, she hung plates--mixing antique French with ones considerably newer.
From that beginning in the kitchen, Long went on to redecorate the entire house ("It's all about the nooks and crannies," she says), as well as do some of the landscaping outside. "One thing led to another," Long says. "It is always the way. It is a good thing."
Room by room
The den: "For years we had these sofas in the family room," Jane says. "We had it set up kind of stupidly. It was like an island near the fireplace. One night Sandy said, 'Can I just move what you have to see what it looks like?'"
Long continues: "Jane was like, 'Oh my gosh, no. Joe wouldn't like it.' I said, 'Trust me. It can all be moved back. Just let me prove myself.'"
"We never had her move it back," Jane says. "It was the best thing she ever did."
But certainly not the only thing. She had the wood-plank wall paneling varnished and then had a bar built to match the wood--to make it look like it was pre-existing.
Then the details: The footrests are in the shape of elephants--indicative of Joe and Jane's political affiliation. Long bought a chest to go with a 13th century Chinese hat Joe and Jane owned. But she had it refinished so it blended in with the wall.
The porch: Now a four-seasons room with its glass windows, Long personally made the window treatment out of a black-and-white striped fabric. "We made it look like an awning," Long says. "There's not a stitch on it. It's all glued together." To finish off the garden- room feel, she added a MacKenzie-Childs chair and hand-painted candlesticks to match.
The living room: What had been dark green with a sofa in dark green and red stripes is now awash in butter yellow. Long had the walls painted, the sofa reupholstered, bought a secretary from local antiques dealer Jules Pass, moved a portrait down from upstairs, rehung all the art work and had new curtains made.
The dining room: Also once green, the room is now red. "The restraint in the dining room was working with the rug," Long says. "Jane didn't want to replace it." Long had molding put on the ceilings, sconces put on the walls.
And the detail? The light bulbs in the chandelier have been dipped so the tips are pointed, as if they're candle flames.
In large part, the rooms' accoutrements resulted from Long's shopping trips--to the third floor.
"I loved the attic," Long says. "Joe loves to live with his stuff. Jane keeps a beautifully clean, nice, neat home. She had almost forgotten what her stuff looked like. Not everybody has that. It was a wonderful resource. With Jane, I would just think it up and she would have it."
And, of course, the wealth of things helped the detail diva.
"Joe's direction to me was: 'I don't want nothing anywhere,' which means he wants something everywhere," Long says. "I lived by that. He likes his walls covered."
No problem there. Done down to the smallest detail, smallest nook, smallest cranny. To the trim on the trims. To the leaves on the trees.
