The Sale Niche

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’s features are a Toscana Console and a Marco Polo Coffee Table:

Toscana Console (T17/ST/BB01/BN/43):
Marco Polo Coffee Table (T16/ST/RC/XX/XX/XX):

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

New Reps

Patina is proud to announce that it has chosen Summer Hill, Ltd, as its exclusive representative in the New York Metro area.

“We are extremely happy that Summer Hill is joining the Patina family,” says Patina president and CEO Marylu Stevens, “We’re looking forward to energizing our presence in New York and they’re just the right people to do it.”

In July, we’ll feature Summer Hill, Ltd, in an extended look at the New York design scene.

The Summer Hill - New York showroom is located at:

979 Third Avenue #532
New York, NY 10022
(212) 935-6376
online at www.summerhill.com.

West Week

As we announced in our February issue, Patina, Inc. has chosen Bausman & Company - LA, as its exclusive representative in the Los Angeles area.

Recently, Jane Cumming, National Sales Manager for Patina made the trek from Atlanta to LA to join Bausman & Company for West Week, the premiere interior design show for the Los Angeles area.

“At West Week all of the Multi-line showrooms showcase new product – furniture, wall coverings, fabric – everything that’s new and exciting for the coming year,” says Jane, “I went out to visit with our online users and customers in the LA area. We had a very nice response.”

West Week is a whirlwind of parties, exhibitions and product introductions but also an important opportunity to get a little face time with customers and feedback from West coast designers.

“It’s a big celebration. A chance to look back at last year and make plans for the coming year. A lot of industry ‘movers and shakers’ were there, as well as people that we do business with everyday.”

“I spent a lot of time talking with designers about finishes and showing samples of our raised Gesso looks. We had a great deal of interest in our new Plasma Secretary and the Pompeii Collection.”

The Bausman & Company showroom is located in a trendy design oriented section of LA in the shadow of the Pacific Design Center, which is the local hub of the interior design scene.

“There’s talk of many of these ‘to the trade’ vendors banding together to create design events in the next year, which would be very exciting. We definitely want to be a part of that.”

Bausman & Company, Inc., Los Angeles, is located at:

921 North La Cienega Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90069
(310) 659-9459

Calendar Of Events
May 18th: Betty Lou Phillips at Grizzel & Mann at Atlanta Decorative Arts Center (ADAC), Atlanta, GA Book signing of her newest Book “The French Connection”	June 12 - 14th: Neo Con Chicago, IL Patina exhibiting at the Holly Hunt Showroom

Designer Profile

Kathryne Dahlman

A veteran of the Los Angeles interior design business, Kathryne Dahlman creates high-end residential designs in a traditional style.

With housing prices at all time highs, she finds that, increasingly, her clients are redecorating rather than buying new properties. This makes for a busy design business but in the Los Angeles market, it can bring special problems.

“People here are pretty fast paced and waiting is not in anybody’s nature and that can be tough in the design business,” says Kathryne, “People just aren’t used to waiting and they don’t want to, everybody wants instant gratification.”

To help move things along, Kathryne trys to keep the decision-making process short and works directly with manufactures and local craftspeople to create custom looks for stock pieces.

“That’s one way that we do control things, by choosing manufacturers that will work with us directly and who can give us a fast turnaround.”

For many years, Patina has been one of the manufactures that Kathryne has turned to for custom work.

“ I love Patina. I have always loved the product. It makes me happy, so I always try to show a client some Patina. It’s not for everyone but generally it would fit in any of our clients’ homes.”

“Our last couple of orders have been for custom Pullmans in powder rooms using the Blenheim chest. We’re not even using marble for the top. Just a nice vessel or a drop in sink and they look beautiful.”

Another of Kathryne’s favorite Patina pieces is the Veneto Bombé Chest. “It can fit in anywhere, you can use it as a focal point or a bedside table. It’s a wonderful piece and very versatile.”

One tool that Kathryne has recently begun to make more use of is the online catalog at www.patinainc.com.

“I love a hands on catalogue but honestly, for quick reference, it’s really nice to be able to go online and print it. I think it’s a very valuable tool, especially for some of my younger assistants. They don’t go to the book as much as I do. Plus, your catalog is always up to date.”

When it comes to Patina, Kathryne is an enthusiastic supporter and a true fan.

“I can’t say enough about the designs, the colors. I think it’s the only one out there that really has the fine hand painted detail that looks like it didn’t come out of a factory, which is what I love about it.”

“I think the Patina product is just so beautiful and so high end that if I could have it throughout my own home, I would.”

We can’t ask for higher praise than that.

Kathryne Designs, Inc. is located at:

12413 Ventura Court, Ste 100
Studio City CA 91604
(818) 762-3705

Historical Perspective

Construction and Finish Part 4

In the last few issues, we’ve been taking a look at some of the construction and finishing techniques that Patina uses today and comparing them to the old world techniques artists have used for centuries to create hand painted furniture.

This month, we’ll look at a part of the process that was never done in the 18th century but is an integral part of the look and feel of the modern Patina collection: Aging.

Patina uses a proprietary process for aging and distressing its furniture developed over the years by their fine artists in Italy. The process involves physically adding wear to the surface of the piece in appropriate places and then tinting the finish to dull the overall color of the piece.

The aging mellows the look of the pieces and simulates hundreds of years of use. Employing an aging process is an aesthetic decision based on bringing the pieces inline with the look and feel we expect in antique hand painted furniture.

All of the wear markings were painstakingly researched from actual antique pieces. The pieces need to look like they have been lovingly used but not badly abused over the years.

The tinting process is used to purposely fade the color of the pieces. Without the tint, the colors would be too vivid, spoiling the illusion of centuries of use.

A great deal of care goes into the aging of each piece and no two pieces are aged in exactly the same way. It is not a cookie cutter process.

The aging artists take their work as seriously as the original 18th century craftsman who created the first pieces of fine Italian hand painted furniture.