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Claire Maestroni loves designing custom pieces for her interior design clients. But she was frustrated at the time it took to get the finished lighting and furniture back from the European workrooms. "I decided to do it locally," says the Corsican native in her delightful French accent.
Artelier, a new design studio and showroom located in a refurbished warehouse a block from the N.Y. state line in Byram, Conn., is the brainchild of Claire and her business partner Frank Areno, a French sculptor. The studio, which specializes in what she calls "one-of-a-kind" furniture, lighting and decorative objects made of metal, wood and glass, already has a high-end clientele in New York and Connecticut.
Claire is also the owner of Mis en Scene, an interior design store on East Putnam Avenue in Greenwich. "I was a lawyer for 20 years in Paris," she says, "But I always wanted to work in the arts." Her chance came when her former husband's job brought them to the U.S. She enrolled at Parsons, the design school in Brooklyn, NY to study interior design.
Areno arrived here a couple of months ago from Provence, where he worked as a painter and sculptor. "He started welding when he needed a metal frame for a piece of art," Claire says. "He fell in love with metal and bronze." The pair is planning to install a foundry at the studio soon.
The idea behind Artelier, Claire explains, is to create unique objects that can be customized for each client. "We like to find things and turn them into artistic pieces," she says. Art will play a prominent role in the loft-like space, too. Every month, the work of a different artist will be featured and hung on the warehouse walls, surrounded by Areno's sculptural furniture and lighting. "We want Artelier to become the go-to place for architects, designers and our clients," says Claire.
Do you know any cool interior design stores? Please let me know so I can tell our readers. Email me at fpearson@mainstreetconnect.us.
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