It’s New to Us by Jean Stratton

SIGNATURE STYLE: “We are set apart by our fabrics. Designed by Amy Karyn, they are exclusive here and not available anywhere else.” Dawn Haleta, manager of Amy Karyn Home Collection, is seated on a chenille English arm sofa and holds an Amy Karyn design pillow.

Amy Karyn Home Collection Offers Array of Design Choices

Creating an inviting home environment is the focus of Amy Karyn Home Collection. Located at 19 Hulfish Street, this charming store is a gracious haven known for items of consistent quality and style. Customers will find a unique selection of items for the home, from furniture and accessories to a full line for babies, including cribs, bumpers, and bedding.

Most of the choices in the store are designed by Amy Karen, especially noted for her textile designs. “We have 150 different fabrics to choose from, and Amy has never retired a pattern,” says store manager Dawn Haleta. “Amy has a real eye for antiques, and she started with antique textiles.”

Ms. Karyn’s designs are offered in window treatments, lamp shades, an enormous selection of accent pillows in various styles, bedding, chair and sofa upholstery, as well as in pitchers, decanters, vases, and other home decor specialities, and accessories, such as jewelry cases, small books, and wine bags, among others.

“You can find new and old here, antique and contemporary,” points out Ms. Haleta. “Our focus is classic design, and we have custom furniture, which can be custom-ordered, or purchased off the floor. We have pillows with antique fabrics, including silk and linen, antique accessories, and antique furniture, as well as modern styles.

One-of-a-Kind

Displays of Ms. Karyn’s fabrics create a wonderful blend of colors and patterns, including many floral designs, and are all one-of-a-kind.

In addition to the array of choices in the store, Amy Karyn offers complete interior design service. “We’ll go to the client’s home and help them with everything from pillows and bedding to window treatments,” explains Ms. Haleta. “It’s $350 for a home consultation, and we’ll make suggestions as to color and style, help with space planning, and take photos.”

Taking special care to emphasize the client’s taste and style, from concept to consultation, the designers at Amy Karyn make a point to get to know the clients, their needs, priorities, and life-style. “We aim to help you create a home environment that will give you continual pleasure,” says Ms. Haleta.

Amy Karyn believes that the key to a successful design, whether a fabric pattern or room decor, is affinity: an affinity between the pattern and the texture of the fabric, or between a room and the proportion of furniture within it. There must be a likeness, a connection, and congeniality.

Regular Customers

This “affinity” extends to the successful relationship between designer and client, adds Ms. Haleta. “It is important to develop a relationship with clients and build a level of trust. This can take time, and we have been very encouraged. We have many regular customers from Princeton and beyond, including New York and even overseas. We look forward to more design work.

“I love working with the customers, especially helping them with design,” she continues. “People come in with an idea and you start to pull it together. I love it when it really comes together, and it clicks for them.”

Whether you stop in for a design consultation (complimentary when in the store), to select a hostess gift of a unique corkscrew, wine stopper, fragrant candle, guest towel, or a one-of-a-kind Amy Karyn pillow or lampshade, you will find many choices within an elegant and relaxed setting. A variety of artwork from selected artists is also on display.

Currently a sale of furniture, including selected floor models at 30 to 50 percent savings, is underway. A number of home decor items is also on sale.

“There is a new surprise here every day — for us and our clients,” reports Ms. Haleta. “People are always asking for different things, and we always try to do special requests.”

Amy Karyn is open Monday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday until 8:30, Sunday 12 to 5. (609) 945-0791. Website: www.amykaryn.com.

Return to Top | Go to Princeton Personality