Treasure hunts aren’t always just for glittering gems, as the home of Myla Frohman Goldstick proves. To adorn her home, Goldstick has tracked down all sorts of vintage objects. And now, because of the way they are used, her discoveries are riches in their own right.
On the wall behind her bed hangs a stainless steel train emblem, 8 feet wide, from the Missouri Pacific Lines railroad. An equally long iron shooting target adorns a wall in her den. A massive iron clock face caked with rust has been refurbished to become a show-stopping table in the dining room, while a well-worn tool chest and British Colonial campaign chest pair up on a living room ledge to serve as a bar.
Goldstick’s knack for giving new life to her finds is surpassed only by her talent for sniffing them out.
“I investigate and explore everything,” she explains, “because I love living with history.”
For instance, the train piece was in the back room of an antiques shop in a rural area Goldstick was visiting. It wasn’t for sale until she spotted it and persuaded the owner to strike a deal.
But merely living with historic objects isn’t enough, for Goldstick also wants to “know when things were used, how they were used” and, most importantly, to figure out “how they can be worked today to be fun, interesting and, if possible, functional.”
She has amassed a wealth of knowledge about the treasures she tracks, and some novel strategies for employing them. Usually just one piece anchors or inspires each room, she explains, and the rest of the setting falls into place.
Inspiration for her living room was an antique Rajasthani panoramic-scene textile her husband bought as a gift for her while he was working in India. The fabric, she says, was “meaningful but not outrageously expensive.” A weathered pie safe, sizable enough to house an entertainment center, anchors her family room. The library was inspired by a theatrical, mood-making daybed that once graced the lobby of the Edgewater Beach Hotel. And, of course, the clock face, train emblem and shooting target are all perfect examples of Goldstick’s treasure-hunting.
The designer’s approach shows how context enhances, because for the most part the objects she acquires are of humble origins. They become anything but humble in the singular settings she shapes. And pedigree isn’t all that important, she says, pointing out that her furnishings run the gamut from primitive to refined.
“I use anything that appeals to my aesthetic sense, which isn’t defined by any particular period,” says Goldstick, an interior designer with Carol Wolk Interiors in Glencoe. But that sense is defined by her “eye,” which wants to be pleased and entertained. “I wanted to create an interesting, unpredictable environment,” she says.
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RESOURCES
Bedroom: Vintage linens–Kane County Flea Market, St. Charles, and Sandwich Antiques Market, Sandwich; quilt–Imagine That, Santa Monica, Calif; bed lamps–Artemide through Carol Wolk Interiors, Glencoe; train emblem and rocker–personal collection.
Living room: White denim slipcovers and pillows–through Carol Wolk Interiors; tool box–Kane County Flea Market; other furnishings–personal collection.
Porch: All furnishings–personal collection.
Dining room: Clock face–Architectural Artifacts, reconfigured as table through Carol Wolk Interiors; pine dairy table–personal collection; Indian birdbath–Material Possessions; painting–“Hanover Circuits” by Douglas Frohman through Martha Schneider Gallery.
Library: Daybed–personal collection, covered in white denim slipcovers through Carol Wolk Interiors; black cashmere throw–Elements; Kuba cloth pillows–Carol Wolk Interiors; African fertility piece–Casella Interiors, Winnetka; leather library chair–Winnetka Modernism Show; box collection on table–Bricole, Winnetka.
