Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Home Sweet Hudson
Email to a friendPrint this article
Jill Goldberg must have rubbed a genie out of a lamp. The actress turned decorator turned home interior shop owner seems to have been granted some wishes. Her longtime beau, an artist with a studio in the same neighborhood as her shop, recently proposed; the Improper Bostonian just named her Best Home Décor shop, and a major national magazine has been calling and asking to come by to take pictures.
So is she heady? Self centered? Boastful? Um, no. She is, like her store, inviting… smiley, cozy and casual. She calls Hudson, tucked into an Alice in Wonderland nook in Boston’s South End, “a purveyor of fine home furnishings and accessories.” I call it what I want my house to look like.
Jill lived in Los Angeles for eight years after growing up in New England. She studied acting and was working somewhat regularly when she had an epiphany: she didn’t want to be one of those people. She had to get out of LA and out of the business, back to her roots and what was in her blood. (Her uncle owned a carpet store and her mother now owns Mitchell Gold). This was a lucky turn of events for homeowners in Boston and everywhere. Hudson has also opened a beautiful store in Wellesley center.
Goldberg’s signature design sensibility is a lively, modern mix of east coast antique classic style and California laid back glamor.
“In LA I discovered a more casual and clean design style, a mixture of the white slipcover look, funky vintage finds and larger pieces, with less clutter in a room. Then back in Boston I found that mixed in well with traditional New England silhouettes,” she says.
As far as influences, Goldberg says she reads so many magazines, watches so much tv (especially old movies) and peruses so many websites, that she grabs inspiration everywhere, not in any specific place or genre or discipline. Hudson is full of things that grab the eye but go well with everything.
“Any trend that will date your home in five years I hate! Classic design always stands up to time.” Arranging a table for entertaining for example, she uses her grandmother’s plates, each one decorated with an image of a different vice. What could look old fashioned in a grandmother’s dining room looks creative and fun in Goldberg’s hands.
Her taste balances beauty with quality and individuality. Her customers adore her because she chooses so carefully, and fills her store with things you won’t see anywhere else.
“Personal style in any home is all about the persons accessories… books, lamps, photos, knick-knacks, these are the items that make a house a home and give it personality… and most importantly, give it the personality of that particular home owner. I think a person’s fashion sense and their home do have a connection, not a major one, but for example I wear the same thing over and over, and it is comfortable, worn and simple; and when I look at my own home that is what I see!”
all photography by Annie Kenney
HUDSON
PURVEYOR OF FINE HOME FURNISHINGS AND ACCESSORIES
http://hudsonboston.com/
312 Shawmut Avenue
Boston, MA 02118
t: 617.292.0900
HOURS
Tues, Wed, Fri, Sat from 10am to 6pm
Thurs from 10am to 7pm
Sunday from 11am to 5pm
Monday reserved for the Trade by appointment.
Comments