For the Love of Old

We got this metal box at the antique store. Its black paint is scratched and chipped to reveal silver metal underneath.


It opens up which is nice. We can store books in it.


I love metal furnishings, and for me the more scratched and rusted the better. I like old things; I'm not a suburban Ethan Allen boy. I picture living in a loft with metal furniture and wood country furniture, overlooking the river. Very nineteenth century industrial. The idea of living with rusty, antique things was validated for me by a book called For the Love of Old by my friend Mary Randolph Carter, who was in charge of advertising and is now the editorial and creative director at Polo Ralph Lauren. Gorgeous book, written and photographed by Carter, as she is called. The subtitle of the book is "living with chipped, frayed, tarnished, faded, tattered, worn and weathered things that bring comfort, character and joy to the places we call home."

Carter had the most fantastic office at Ralph Lauren that I have ever been in – a big modern corner office on Madison Avenue but it was layered in rugs and antique textiles, piles of books everywhere. She had a roll-top desk, but we met at a big country wooden table. Going into that office was like taking a trip to an Adirondack Lake. It was very inspirational to me.

This black box will look nice next to the black leather and silver chrome Mies van der Rohe chair.