Chesapeake Home

Many Marylanders I’ve encountered will tell me that their favorite time of year to spend in Manhattan is wintertime. They love seeing the tree illuminated in Rockefeller Center, catching a glimpse of couples and families ice skating in Central Park, getting some holiday shopping done in the legendary Macy’s on 34th Street…all of those touristy guilty pleasures that they can only otherwise experience vicariously through the camera lens by watching iconic old movies.

For me, however, my favorite time to make a quick trip up to New York City is in the summertime. Forget the down jackets, scarves, gloves, and boots. Forget schlepping all the shopping bags and boxes around. I can ice skate when I return home. Just give me a simple pair of flip flops, a clear day, and some time to roam. (OK, there are usually a few shopping bags…)

This is exactly how I spent the Friday of my 4th of July weekend: Armed with nothing but a slip of paper with “888 Broadway” scrawled upon it and a faint imprint of the New York Subway map on my memory, (and I emphasize faint imprint) I was on my way.

888 Broadway is the address of what I consider to be a Mecca of home décor, ABC Home. Truly, I consider the fact that I’d never wandered in before to be slightly sacrilegious. And after a long, hot pilgrimage, complete with window-shopping, subway hopping, and a few wrong turns, it did not disappoint: it was six floors of home furnishings heaven. I went from floor to floor to floor, and sometimes back again to check out the sumptuous lighting, seating, and textiles that swathed every corner, stopping to admire some innovative floor displays so craftily composed that a few straddled the line between retail marketing and fine art installation.

I couldn’t possibly discuss all of the things that caught my eye, but I do want to make mention of two: the assortment of chandeliers—some funky, others natural in form, others still ultra-mod—and ABC Home’s Goodwood line.

One of my favorite chandeliers was the Ice Chandelier. Designed in a contemporary Scandinavian aesthetic, it includes nine transparent globes surrounding individual lights, clustered together like bunches of grapes.

Goodwood, on the other hand, is the company’s wood certification program. As ABC Home is committed to ethical logging practices, the Goodwood hangtag label lets customers know that various furnishings come from reclaimed sources that protect endangered forest tree species and conscientiously managed forests. Some of my favorite Goodwood pieces are from the Philippines. Their tubular, organic forms are enchantingly repurposed as table bases, screens, and more.

To see more images of some of my finds, visit the image gallery.

For more information on ABC Home products and sales visit www.ABChome.com