Lisa Balsam had hated the way her den
looked almost from the minute she and her
husband, Bruce, created the room as part
of an addition to their Tenafly colonial in- “It was decorated in kind of a modern
way, and it didn’t match the rest of the
house, which was more traditional,” she
remembers. “It was really awful. Clearly, I
should never decorate on my own.” But it
wasn’t until a few years ago, when Balsam
broke her ankle and was stuck in the house
for weeks, that she finally decided to do
something about it. “I said, ‘Enough with
this den.’ So I started looking for decorators.”
Enter Terri Fiori of Fiori Interior Design
in Wyckoff, who was tasked with bringing
the space into the 21st century. “It’s a very
traditional-style home, but the addition
was out of the ’80s. It didn’t blend well, so
I wanted to design that room to be more
transitional,” she says. First Fiori eliminated
the skylights, wall-to-wall carpet, track
lighting and a wall of built-in shelves, which
were overflowing with collectibles. She and
Balsam edited the tchotchkes and put what
remained in a new mirrored-back cabinet
from Old Biscayne Designs in a greige
metallic finish that now anchors the room.
Balsam’s favorite thing about the new
design is the bluish-green chaise lounge that
sits in a cozy corner with a faux tortoise-shell-
topped end table.
“I love to sit and read on the chaise and
look out on the greenery in the backyard,”
she says. “It’s a peaceful, calming room.”
Fiori also redid the powder room,
suggesting the Balsams steal about a foot
of space from the den to enlarge it just
enough for a bigger sink. Next she added
wainscoting, glazed the ceiling in a copper
color, hung taupe linen wallpaper and
installed mosaic tile on the floor in similar
shades. Balsam especially loves the teardrop
glass chandelier. “The room is small, but
Terri said she’d make a little jewel box out of
it, and she did,” she says.
Yes, Balsam waited years to tackle the
addition, but now she’s on a roll. “Terri
ended up redoing the whole first floor,” she
says. “And maybe next year I’m going to have
her do my master bedroom.”
NJ
Home|^
77This page: “I thought the powder room had to be
white because it’s so small,” says homeowner Lisa
Balsam, “but Terri taught me that you can use darker
colors in a small space and have it work. I love the
way this room turned out. It’s so elegant!”Opposite
page: The antique silver finish on the floral prints’
frame in the reading nook reflects light, explains Fiori,
and the artwork adds a touch of purple and violet,
which she also used on pillows throughout the room.
The unique floor lamp is by Visual Comfort. “We tried
to add a little juxtaposition to the more traditional
elements in the room, so it’s a little more modern and
sleek,” she says.GAL.s19.fiori/tenafly.indd 77 2/26/19 9:01 AM