A conversation with Lorin Marsh

While I was visitng New York last month on BlogtourNYC, I had the opportunity to tour several of the showrooms in the DDB (Designers and Decorators Building). Being that it was my first visit to the DDB, I was more than excited to see what was in store. Many of the brands I had not encountered before and I was particularly intrigued by a few. Hence, my insatiable need for wanting to know more.

DM: How long have you been in the DDB (Designers and Decorators Building, NY)?

LM: Since 1975

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DM: What inspired, prompted you to get into the furniture business?

LM: Aside from the obsession with beautiful and inviting spaces, specifically, both antique and contemporary, both one of a kind as well as custom-made, all under one roof. You would have to go to an antique shop for antiques, to a cabinet-maker or furniture showroom for furniture, to an art gallery for art, to the gift building for accessories (where you would probably have to buy a minimum quantity). We wanted Lorin Marsh to be a kind of furniture boutique that would offer all these things under one roof to facilitate the designer’s job and to offer a wider selection of diverse produce without travelling all over town to find it.

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DM: Do you offer any interior design services?

LM: No, as that is the province of the interior designer who patronizes our showroom. However, we do have on site furniture designer and draftsmen to customize the interior designer’s specifications with precision when they require a different size, scale, material or detail from the showroom sample on the floor.

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DM: Describe your frequent clientele? Who do you design for?

LM: We cater to an international design clientele who design residences, executive offices, and hotel areas for their clients, many of whom are prominent in the field of politics, the arts, commerce and industry, entertainment and the professions.

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DM: How do you begin designing a piece? What is your design process? What inspires your creativity and choices in forms, shapes and materials?

LM: Aside from sensing the general design aesthetic of the time and looking toward what we feel will be the next design trend, we are influenced by historical periods in furniture design or perhaps by a detail on a piece of jewelry that will translate into a beautiful detail on a piece of furniture. Also, we listen to the needs of our clients who, for example, wish that their dining table could have self-stroring leaves rather than removable leaves that require more effort to install and remove as well as sufficient storage space to house them when not in use.

The beauty and function of different material often inspires us to utilize a specific medium or combination of medium or combination of mediums which will best show off a furniture’s design to best advantage while also accommodating its function. Exotic woods, metals, leather, goatskin or shagreen coverings, shell, horn, bone, acrylic, glass, ceramic, semi-precious stone, lacquer finishes, etc. all lend a particular feeling to the piece being designed.

Shapes are determined by their visual impact and, where appropriate, their function in a room. Since our pieces can be customized, what started as a rectangular coffee table may be adapted into a round shape in order to fulfill the interior designer’s needs for a particular space.

DM: Are the cultural backgrounds of your craftspersons evident in the final design piece?

LM: While we have traveled the world to discover craftspersons, the only aesthetic that is evident is that of Lorin Marsh. The expertise of each country’s craftsmen is only evident in their superior skill in working within a particular medium or production such as bronze or goatskin or ceramic or glass. We utilize their skilled hands to produce products of our own design.

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DM: Since most of your pieces are custom, do you design the custom pieces freely or are you given direction from an interior designer?

LM: For the furniture we create to put on the showroom floor, we follow our own aesthetic and feeling for the individually distinctive product our clients seek. After that we, most definitely, follow the specifications given to us by the designer for their own client’s specific needs. We may suggest a modification to this design if we feel the designer’s specs might either be impractical in fabrication or not fully express the designer’s intention. In most cases, however, the interior designer’s wishes are fully realized as specified.

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DM: Do you think the history of interior design relates to design of today? Are you influenced by history when designing your pieces?

LM: History certainly informs the aesthetics and techniques of today even though the actual styles may change from generation to generation. The interesting thing is that most things tend to come around again. For example, the furniture styles of the mid-20th century are in vogue today…not only by one’s buying an original, vintage piece by a mid- designer like Gio Ponti, Borsani or Fontana Arte but by creating new furniture that is informed by these designers’ aesthetic.

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DM: If you had the opportunity to furnish one space, private or public, what space would that be?

LM: The private space we most like to help furnish is the Bedroom. It is the room we spend the most time in; the room that is our private haven of relaxation and comfort; the room that, more than any other, expresses how we want to feel when we’re alone. Toward that end, one of our focuses is on creating beautiful beds with luxurious combinations of woods, upholstery, metal, even textured glass details.

We sell custom-made linens with ridiculously high tread counts and eye candy embroidery to enhance even further the comfort and beauty of the bed; night tables of function as well as beauty to further create the most intimate space in the house or apartment; lighting fixtures to illuminate the room with just the right mood and ambiance.

We’ve also found that because the bedroom is the private place not really meant for others’ eyes to see, when certain people do get the privilege to see a bedroom that’s beautifully appointed, their admiration (and envy) is for your taste is wildly increased simply because it’s the private space that was designed for you and you alone.

The public space we most like to contribute to is the Dining Room. This is a room that should envelop the guests, friends or family with a special sense of camaraderie and festivity. When you are gathered around and eating from a handsome dining table with that perfect chandelier overhead and tasteful candlesticks and centerpiece to further the dining experience, we feel we have added another dimension to the client’s most treasured possession, their home. After that, the food is up to you.

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DM: Do you anticipate opening more showrooms in the future?

LM: So far in the almost four decades we have been in business, designers from all over the country and all over the world have found their way to New York City’s D&D Building and to Lorin Marsh as a must see destination for their design projects as well as for their pleasure in seeing cutting edge design. If that continues along with the added exposure that the internet offers, we may be able to continue focusing all our efforts on the New York showroom as our centerpiece. However, one never knows what they future may hold. If the proper opportunity presents itself, we will certainly consider it.

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DM: Tell me about one of your favorite pieces.

LM: This is a difficult choice since each piece we buy or create had to have something special or eye-catching about it to have drawn us to it. But an example of a favorite piece is one bought in Paris. It is a French giltwood mirror from the 1940′s. It is carved in a bold and beautiful way reminiscent of the links on a vintage Cartier watchband or necklace. Jewelry has often been an inspiration for a piece of furniture or accessory because it has design details resplendent with taste, luxury and chic.

Visit Lorin Marsh for more fab findings!!

Thank you for this in-depth interview and providing insight into Lorin Marsh.

**All Photos are the property of Lorin Marsh.**

Cheers,

Marilyn