DESIGN by KARLA TRINCANELLO, INTERIOR DECISIONS
PHOTOGRAPHY by WING WONG, MEMORIESTTL
TEXT by DONNA ROLANDO
Designer Karla Trincanello swears that karma was by her side as she created “Madame’s Retreat,” an eclectic mix of time periods and cultures, for the 20th Mansion in May Designer Showhouse in Mendham in 2023.
Viewing the showhouse as a unique chance to design for design’s sake, Trincanello—of Florham Park’s Interior Decisions—was eager to unleash her muse in a room dramatized by a high ceiling, wood beams and sloped walls. Some 25,000 visitors toured the showhouse in 2023 to see rooms just like this, raising funds for the Women’s Association for Morristown Medical Center.
To fit the French country-manor estate setting, Trincanello saw past the former children’s room and envisioned a place where a woman could do charity work at the antique King Louis XIV ormolu desk by Greenbaum Interiors. She further imagined a well-traveled patroness of the arts sipping tea with friends at an 18th century Chippendale table with salmon klismos-replica chairs.
With flowers and soft music, this French-American-style salon—both eclectic and transitional—beckons visitors to relax and reflect on art, everything from antique botanicals to an authentic 20th century Hudson River School of Art painting.
Without a client to satisfy, this was also an opportunity for Trincanello to break away from sweetheart blue and spotlight coral, salmon and green, the last celebrated in the room’s Thibaut mint-green wallcovering with Asian fretwork.
As for karma’s role, she says, when the owner of this 110-year-old Mendham Borough mansion homed in on the Japanese Katsura trees on the Thibaut draperies, she knew this wow was “meant to be.” As Trincanello explains, she had curated this Asian pattern for the 12-foot-tall accent window without an inkling that this very tree thrives on the 36-acre estate.
Not karma but designer know-how prevented an awkward moment at the alcove as she tied in both windows with matching fabric and Roman sheers, along with a fretwork border by an artist from Portfauxlio.
Posing another challenge, the sloped walls refused to hold any paintings—a problem Trincanello blamed on physics. By playing up the two tall walls—one with flowing draperies, the other with a limestone-mantel fireplace—she created visual harmony.
However, there was one battle physics wasn’t going to win: how to hang pieces due to the composition of the walls. The sunburst brass-and-glass mirror hangs in place over the French Regency green velvet sofa thanks to George Oliphant of NBC’s George to the Rescue, a handy guy to have among one’s contacts.
From floor to ceiling, Trincanello’s transformation forged ahead, with wool Asian carpet from J&S by Stark grounding the space and a softer touch for dark ceiling beams courtesy of Thibaut. Completing the look are a Maria Theresa crystal chandelier with silk shade and barrister cases that pop in green.
“I really do rely on my intuition, the way I feel as soon as I walk into a room,” says Trincanello, sharing the secret behind “Madame’s Retreat.” It turns out that her efforts won over both visitors and the ultimate homeowner. But even if no one had cheered, Trincanello accomplished her goal: a design for the designer.