The Sale Niche—Now Open!

The Sale Niche is the place to shop for that special customer who wants a unique Patina piece with the added advantage of immediate availability.

In addition, you’ll notice that not only are the pieces special, so are the prices. These pieces are available at these prices for a limited time and will be sold or removed from sale after 30 days.

This month we are featuring 2 special items:

Veneto Chest (C05/ST/DW/LB/13), from the Original Collection:
Firenze Chest (C70/ST/DW/RD/11), also from the Original Collection:

For pricing and other information about these very special pieces, visit the Patina web site at https://www.patinainc.com/sales.php (free registration required)

Moving Up and Moving Out!

Patina Announces New Home and New Sales Rep in Atlanta

Patina Inc. has long maintained its own showroom and offices in the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center, the southeast’s preeminent design center. But with the addition of the new Pompeii collection, and the need for a larger sales presence in the southeast, Patina, Inc. president Marylu Stevens decided it was time for a change.

“We want to concentrate our energy on developing new pieces across our existing lines, improving production and developing new artists at our Italian manufacturing facilities”, said Marylu, “At the same time, we want to enhance our customer service to designers and their clients in the southeast.

“And so Patina is pleased to announce the acquisition of its own building and new sales representation throughout the southeast by Grizzel & Mann”.

The new building, located in an up and coming design oriented section of Atlanta, will house the Patina corporate offices, a newly expanded warehouse and more space devoted to product development and design.

Patina’s collections can already be seen in the newly expanded Grizzel & Mann showroom, which encompasses over 16,000 square feet of space on 2 floors at ADAC.

“We have a great line to represent in Patina, one that we’ve admired for years”, says Gary Mann, “I think it adds to our mix at Grizzel and Mann. It complements the case goods and the fabric lines beautifully. It’s going to be a great marriage”.

Marylu concurs, “Our Southeast customers, who used to visit our showroom, will not only be able to see Patina vignettes at Grizzel and Mann, but also see how well our furniture looks with other types of furniture. It’s really the best of both worlds”.

Nationally, there will be no change in the way customers interact with Patina. The same helpful corporate staff and sales representatives they’ve been working with will be available to assist them.

The move to the new building will begin in late October. Besides the address change, there will be new Fax and Phone numbers. Email addresses will remain the same. We’ll have more news about the move and all the new contact information in next month’s newsletter.

Calendar Of Events
USA September 13 - Fall Focus Washington DC Design Center* September 15 - Fall Focus Michigan Design Center* October 20 - December 4 - Southern Accents The Old Dominion Show House* in McLean, Virginia	EUROPE September 25 to 28 - Decorex 2005 London, England* September 2005 - Patina Italia showroom opening Dubai October 2005 - Grand opening reception Dubai *Patina Exhibiting

Designer Profile

Tish Key

Interior designer Tish Key works primarily with clients renovating the fine, old housing stock of the Pacific Heights, Presidio Heights and East Bay sections of San Francisco.

“Housing costs here are some of the highest in the country”, says Tish, “People are staying in their homes and renovating, rather than buying new homes”.

Settling in the Bay area in 1995 after working for large architectural houses in Atlanta and Dallas, Tish opened her own firm and quickly established herself as one of the areas premier designers.

“We don’t really have a certain look, if you look on our website (www.tishkey.com) you’ll see that it ranges from things that are very contemporary to very traditional. I just try to make whatever is appropriate for that house or that family the best it can be.”

That philosophy came in handy while doing her last showcase home, recently featured in the May 2005 issue of Traditional Home, a traditional English Tudor that once served as the British consulate in San Francisco. Unlike the usual showcase home where designers have free range, this commission came with a specific request.

“The coordinator called me to say that the owners wanted me to design their 10 year old daughter’s bedroom and bathroom. They wanted it designed specifically for her. They wanted a bedroom that could be appropriate for a sophisticated young woman as she grows up. They wanted it to be timeless for her.”

Tish now had a client with a specific charge but she was still working under the time constraints of the showcase event. She had less than two months to design, coordinate, purchase and install the rooms.

Tish immediately turned to Patina for most of the furnishings in the bedroom, including the Friuli bed itself and Fontevielle Writing Table. She felt that Patina had the appropriate look for the room and the timeless quality she was after.

An added plus was that, working with Patina, even with her tight schedule; she was still able to make some last minute design changes.

“One thing I like is, that although it is hand painted furniture, you can customize it. On the tables, we have butterflies and dragonflies running along the edge. We were able to customize that design to get what we wanted”.

The reaction from both the clients and the public was overwhelmingly positive and more importantly the 10 year old daughter loves her new bedroom.

“I think the room is sophisticated enough and neutral enough to be timeless. To me the room is a backdrop for her personal items and those will change over time but the room will still be a comfortable retreat for her.”

Tish Key can be reached at:

Tish Key Interior Design
2328 Union Street
San Francisco, CA 94123
Phone: 415-359-1470

Part 2:

Pompeii Lifestyles

It’s Saturday night, 79 AD and it’s been a tough week!

You run a very prosperous interior design firm in Pompeii but your new Roman clients, with their summer hillside starter palaces, have been driving you up a fresco with the constant changes they order to the tapestries, sculpted furniture, marble and mosaic work.

What you need is a night on the town. Maybe a quick stop at the Thermopolia (a bar that serves cold and hot beverages), for a drink of honeyed wine, then off to your favorite little Pompeii restaurant or Cauporioe, located downtown between the Gymnasium and the Amphitheater.

The design project you just completed was hard work, but your clients are happy, so tonight no quick food. Instead you’re going to celebrate and enjoy one of the Cauporioe’s fine three-course meals.

The first course, the "Gustus" is the appetizer course. More wine mixed with honey will be served along with salads, eggs, shellfish, and mushrooms.

The second course is the meat course, or "Lena". Tonight you’ll have the pork with dried figs and cheese served with herbs mixed with olive oil and side dishes of sesame seeds and hazelnuts.

The final course, called the "Secundae Mensae", or "Second Table" is the desert course. You hope they have your favorite, peaches with cumin.

Reclining on your side on one of the benches, as is the custom for fine dining, your workday troubles recede and you realize that life here in Pompeii, though hectic, has been rewarding. A few more years like this and maybe you’ll open an interior design studio in Rome.