Got a feeling: When we bought this house, we just went by karma. It seemed like a happy house.

Scaling back:
We got into this period of design when my husband and I moved into a
Federal Hill row house, and we couldn’t find furniture to fit, so we
started to look for mid-century modern pieces because the scale was
smaller. I got addicted at that point.

Please be seated: The first pieces we bought were these Arne Jacobsen chairs from a dealer in Chicago. The design is from the mid-’50s.

Table it:
The black marble table is a classic design made by Knoll, designed by
Eero Saarinen. We eat dinner as a family here every night and do craft
projects on it.

Feeling blue: Traditionally, red is a dining-room color, and I wanted to go in the opposite direction.

Sew nice: The curtain fabric is from IKEA. I got a sewing machine to make these. This was my first sewing project.

Dragon days:
I found the dragon at a local vintage shop (Denova in Hampden), which
is now closed. I liked the contrast of it against the blue wall and its
intricate silhouette adds interest to all the clean-lined furnishings.

Words to live by: Part of my rule before I buy something [for my store] is that I have to be willing to live with it in case it doesn’t sell.

Plain truth:
The biggest influence on my aesthetic is my father, who is an
architect. He is so modern and very minimal. We had no tchotchkes
growing up.