That finishing touch

WAG talks to Karen Tolchin of Current Home in Scarsdale about its service COMPLETE By Current Home designed to help homeowners refresh a room – or entire interior.

Perhaps you enjoy spending time in your living room but can’t help thinking it’s missing that decorative spark — or maybe your dining room, though functional, lacks a bit of flair.

Situations such as these seem tailor-made for a service offered by Current Home.

Karen Tolchin and Alyson Lane are the owners of the Scarsdale boutique, a destination for modern home accessories and distinctive hostess, housewarming and wedding gifts.

To hear more about COMPLETE By Current Home, an in-home styling service, WAG is chatting with Tolchin on a recent morning, settling into the boutique’s sophisticated surroundings. Think design-driven vases and funky pillows, modern photography and unique tabletop goods.

Customers can call on COMPLETE By Current Home, Tolchin says, to add a chic finish to any interior.

“It’s not just people with new homes or new furniture,” Tolchin says. Sometimes it’s customers who “just want to freshen it up.”

FROM THE START

As Tolchin says, this expansion of the boutique’s offerings began to answer a specific need.

“Our service, COMPLETE, started because people would say ‘Can you stop by?’” Tolchin says.

They wanted the Current Home perspective on what would work in their own homes — and Tolchin says she and Lane were ready with answers.

A strength of Current Home, Tolchin says, is that she and Lane relate to the lifestyle of their clients — since it often reflects theirs and their own families.

“We have kids. We have a dog… We really understand the way people live.”

With a second Current Home having opened in Manhattan earlier this year, the owners also, Tolchin added, have a renewed appreciation of the commuter life.

A pointed approach is key, says Tolchin, as all at Current Home recognize that in this area, “people are edgy, sophisticated.”

And, she adds, “People have lovely homes here. What’s important is we shop like we dress — high/low.”

The owners, obsessed with design and sharing a love of beautiful things, are committed to helping discerning customers integrate elements both hip and timeless to give interiors that finishing touch.

THE PROCESS

COMPLETE By Current Home is not about taking a room apart and starting from scratch but rather understanding a client’s lifestyle and incorporating his or her existing furniture, color scheme and aesthetic.

“We edit our merchandise,” Tolchin says. “It’s an edited collection.”

Options from Current Home draw from both the selling floor and its reserves.

It’s not about looking like every other home on the street but more about making a singular statement.

“What we love about our shop is even if we carry a brand that’s everywhere, we pick the three things that aren’t everywhere.”

A home visit indeed sounds like an elaborate trunk show.

“We come fully loaded,” Tolchin says, though she stresses there is “no pressure to buy.”

Among the selections might be a one-of-a-kind sculpture or a striking framed work of art, such as photography by Allyson Monson of Fairfield County. It could also be a fur pillow, a dramatic mirror or even a backgammon set that encourages family time that creates memories.

“You have to mix textures and different things to get a look, a layered look.”

Tolchin says that’s often how Current Home’s expertise comes into play. For example, a sea of framed photographs can appear unfocused, so the suggestion would likely be to edit rather than remove.

“They’re important. They tell your story. Let us mix them in with the new items.”

Mixing elements creates a cohesive — and personal — look, Tolchin adds.

“The personality, the feeling, the warmth comes from your accessories,” she says. “It tells the story of your family.”

Tolchin says those at Current Home work as a team, with the owners joined by dedicated stylists — Christine Lebowitz in Scarsdale and Rolando Liwanag in Manhattan — who handle the in-home visits.

And whether through working with customers in the boutiques, in their homes or at show houses or other special events, it all comes back to a core philosophy.

As Tolchin reminds, “Your home should reflect your personality.”

Current Home is at 1096 Wilmot Road in Scarsdale and at 1189 Lexington Ave. in Manhattan. For more, visit currenthomeny.com.

Written By
More from Mary Shustack
ARTFUL LIVING, INDOORS AND OUT
Photographs by Bob Rozycki and Tim Lee From the moment you drive...
Read More
Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *