NJ’s Skylark Diner, Pride of U.S.1

THERE’S ONE REDEEMING FEATURE of Interstate U.S. 1 as it runs from southern New Jersey to New York City — unless you count the colorful, post-modern Michael Graves Miele factory near Princeton, always a welcome sight. Then there are two.

The one I’m talking about is the retro-styled Skylark Diner in Edison, N.J. It’s not an old diner that has been restored, but a recent one that’s at least as attractive, to my eye, as the vintage stainless steel thing (and I love the originals). The Skylark is screaming ’50s, with all the starburst, Sputnik, and ameoboid motifs that implies.

I often stop at the Skylark for a plate of eggs or a Greek salad on my way back to Brooklyn from Philly. It’s Greek-owned, and the food is way, way better than diner-normal, and reasonably priced.

I always gawk and marvel. I love the extent to which the decorative theme was carried out, partly with familiar mid-20th-century furnishings like fiberglass Eames chairs, below, but mostly with custom seating and lighting cannily designed to mimic a ’50s look.

Last Sunday night, I asked, finally, who designed the place.”Someone from Canada,” I was told. Not very illuminating. Also wrong. The interior design turns out to be primarily the work of Josh Nathanson of the Pawtucket, R.I.-based firm Morris Nathanson, which specializes in hospitality projects like resorts, cruise ships, nightclubs, and restaurants. Makes perfect sense.

Heading north, the Skylark is about a mile before the near-impossible-to-find turnoff to 440 (Outerbridge Crossing/Staten Island), on your right. It’s a place worth stopping, whether or not you’re hungry.

Lighting My Cottage Bathroom

TIME WAS, you could turn up a great Art Deco lighting fixture at a flea market for $3, but you’d have to look long and hard, and maybe re-wire. I’m thinking of something like the one at left. We do indeed have that exact fixture in its original incarnation in one of the bathrooms in Cobble Hill. Found it years ago for a few bucks, with a pull chain (that tends to stick).

Well, no more of those hassles. Now you can simply go to Rejuvenation Lighting’s online catalogue and pick and choose from reproduction retro-inspired lighting of all eras. The offerings start in the Victorian age, and move up from there through Arts & Crafts and Art Deco into the 1960s. You get to choose the finish, the shade, the projection from the wall (in inches), and so on. They’ll custom-build it for you, and ship it out in 2-3 weeks.

I’ve just done that. I was in search of a fixture for my East Hampton cottage bathroom, and under a mini-gun, since my contractor said he would throw in the installation if I got it to him at the right time — in about two weeks — and centered it above the sink, exactly where the previous one was.

Here’s the ‘before’…

I’m replacing something ugly but effective, above. I always felt four bulbs was overkill. It’s going, along with the inset medicine cabinet, both remnants of the bathroom’s last re-do in the 1970s. Staying, however, is the white-painted carved mirror at left, which I bought at a yard sale last summer for $20 <yay>.

Here’s where I initially thought I might go — something like this frilled fixture, right. It reminds me of Paris, somehow, and would have been fun.

But ultimately I chose the good old American-style chrome fixture with an 8″ white satin glass shade, below (boring, I’m afraid), for about $100.

I like that it can also be used facing up, if it’s too busy with the carved mirror, or if I decide I prefer more flattering (i.e. less illuminating) indirect lighting.

Do check out Rejuvenation’s catalogue. It’s fun to browse, and has the potential to solve a whole lot of problems.

My Bedroom Wall Color Revealed!

FOR THOSE WHO THOUGHT I might never make a decision about what color to paint the bedroom in my Prospect Heights garden floor-through (and I admit I was among those who thought it), I’m relieved to report that the day after Christmas, I made a supreme effort and slathered two — in some spots, three — coats of Pratt & Lambert’s Pale Carnelian on two walls of the room.

Turns out to be a true orange, clear and bright, though it’s hardly pale anything — if I had to name it, it might be Sunkist with a Vengeance. Thanks to everyone who made thoughtful and well-considered paint-color suggestions. I tried a few of them, but after sampling 10 colors, I really had to stop.

Here’s what that wall looked like before:

Since that back wall has two different-sized windows plus a door leading to the garden, the orange was intended to a) tie the wall together visually, b) provide a glimpse of color through the door from the living room, and c) generally cheer things up. Then I painted the ‘fireplace wall,’ below at left, or what was once the kitchen hearth wall in Brooklyn row houses of the 19th century. Now it’s just a jog in the wall, and I went with color there as well because it seemed to be a good place for it.

The rest of the walls will remain white. The orange is intense, and I want the wall opposite the north-facing, under-deck windows to reflect every possible ray of light.

Now I’m on to the remaining pieces for the bedroom. The main item on my list is an armoire or credenza to house family pictures, children’s art work, and other precious heirlooms that cannot all be displayed but must be saved for posterity. I’ve been shopping online and in person. There’s an alcove 78″ wide, so something long and low would be good — it could double as a TV stand.

I would enjoy something like this sculptural ’60s number (the pictures below are from Apartment Therapy’s ‘New York Scavenger’ classifieds section). I’ve heard tell of these appearing three times recently, so they must be around, but they get snapped up quickly for about $800.

More banal mid-century credenzas are a dime a dozen, in the $300-500 range. I could live with something like this if I had to:

That, plus a white shag rug from IKEA and bamboo blinds from Pearl River, and my bedroom will be good to go.

BROWNSTONE VOYEUR: Small and Stylish in Carroll Gardens

BROWNSTONE VOYEUR is a joint project of casaCARA and Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn. Look for it every Thursday on both sites.

ROBERT FARRELL, an architect and interior designer, has lived since the mid-1990s in a 600 square foot rental on the ground floor of a Carroll Gardens row house, with lumpy plaster walls and a tiny, tubless bathroom.

He stays mainly for the garden, a fifty-foot swath of lawn at the end of which he has constructed a romantic outdoor pavilion draped with nylon parachute cloth.

A corrugated plastic roof and waterproof parachute fabric make the garden room usable eight months a year.

Essentially a 15’x40’ rectangle, the apartment is bisected by a wood-and-glass room divider. The entry is into the kitchen/dining room; a home office is squeezed into one corner. The only other room is what Robert calls the “living bedroom library guest room den.”

To give the space more definition, he hung two sets of double curtains on either side of the existing divider, on rods five feet apart – linen on the outside, sheer underneath. “It softens the space and provides a choice of opaque or filtered light,” Robert says. “It also creates depth and drama: ‘What’s behind the curtain?” (Clothing, as a matter of fact.)

A sense of order prevails, thanks to a clear, linear furniture plan.

Liberal use of the same gray-green neutral paint on walls, carpeting and the drapery divider gives the apartment a cohesive feel. White accents like the mid-century Ant chairs and the glass light fixture in the dining room stand out. Strong doses of red in pillows, art, and glassware punch up the scheme.

Accessories include tribal weavings, baskets, and Danish modern glass. Each piece is carefully chosen and deliberately placed. “In a small apartment, you can’t have things scattered around,” Robert says. “Find the perfect place for each thing.”

The armoire and a pair of carved wood armchairs were found in a flea market.

A geometric kilim under the dining table is the only large area of pattern in the apartment. A glass table  opens up the space.

A precise arrangement of framed Op Art, historical prints, and patterned pillows brightens the area around the bed.