Delighting the Eye
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TEXT BY CHRIS CHRISTEN
ecorating is all about the mix rather than the match for Michele Palagi. “When things aren’t matchy-matchy, everything feels accessible and comfortable,” she says about her design approach. Her townhome in northwest Omaha brims with personality. She loves juxtapositions, and she decorates with a syncopated rhythm that maximizes relationships in color, design and mood. “I believe that beautiful things go with beautiful things.” Michele, who recently returned to the classroom to study interior design after her daughter left home for college in Chicago, loves creating visual “destinations” for the eye. Interesting wall and tabletop groupings lead you from the foyer to the living room and dining area. Along the way, Michele imparts stories with a good measure of surprise related to the history of a piece or the nature of an acquisition. She has an affinity for gilded mirrors, French Baroque furniture, Venetian glass, white porcelain figurines and turn-of-the-century art that celebrates the female form. Her vignettes are so carefully crafted, they seem to represent a lifetime of treasure-hunting. This is not necessarily so, Michele confides. After her divorce in 2009, auctions, estate sales and furniture trades with her sister who deals in antiques became a fun and economical way to furnish her new home. The experience, she says, is proof that “You don’t have to spend a fortune to make something exceptional.”
DID YOU KNOW?
PHOTOS BY DANIEL JOHNSON
DINING ROOM ·Walnut sideboard, an 1880s European Aesthetic Movement piece from Omaha Auction Center. David Clow, a master craftsman, widened the recessed area to accommodate the piece. ·1920s mahogany dining chairs, re-covered after purchase. ·Japanese porcelain fishbowl with glass top and stand from Once Upon A Time.
Omaha Auction Center has a vast reference library that is open to the public. You can’t check out the books, but auction house owner Joella Cohen invites you to sit and leaf through volumes to your heart’s content. The book that started it all? “Know Your Antiques” by Ralph and Terry Kovel. Joella picked it up 40 years ago and still reaches for it now and then.
FOYER (facing page) Michele Palagi’s townhome is a treasure-trove of inspiration and ideas. Every room is stamped with her unique personality. Ralph Lauren paisley wallpaper dresses the foyer, where a turquoise chest from Nebraska Furniture Mart holds an Italian bust with a polychrome finish; a Roseville silhouette vase; a Schneider art glass lamp (French, early 1900s); and a Spelter frame (European, early 1900s). Most were scored at Omaha Auction Center and Collector’s Choice. inspiredhomeomaha.com 61