Sandra Morgan gives Gustavian style a
modern twist at SM Home in Greenwich

FASHIONS IN INTERIOR DESIGN SHIFT WITH
THE TIMES AS SURELY AS HEMLINES AND LAPEL WIDTHS.
But through more than two and a half centuries of hot trends and retreads, Gustavian-style furniture has held its own, blending with ease into settings ranging from formal French to minimalist modern. Designer Sandra Morgan makes clear the reasons why at SM Home, launched this year in celebration of her firm’s 20th anniversary.

In this sunny retail showroom, Swedish style’s signature elements—natural materials, neoclassical ornamentation, and cool-pale palette—continue to define a collection of elegant antiques and new upholstered pieces, hand-painted cabinetry, fabrics, and soft furnishings. Morgan, who refers to herself as a “modern traditionalist,” has arranged the shop into vignettes evocative of classic Scandinavian interiors, but energized them with contemporary art and unexpected accessories. Classically inspired and gracefully proportioned, the Gustavian-style furnishings recall Louis XVI, without the gilt. For the modern romantic, it’s a welcome bit of luxury without excess. ~ See Resources.

This page, clockwise, from left: Boxwood balls mulched in marble flank the front entrance of Sandra Morgan’s design offices and retail showroom on Arch Street; Swedish flags hint at the proprietor’s passion for Scandinavian style. Curtains held back with luxurious silk tassels puddle on the limed-oak floors; a friend tests out a simple, ribbon-trimmed side chair covered in checks. Elegance is in the details, from the papered ceiling to the dentil molding and painted shelves of the Swedish-style cabinet.