Jesse Floyd
The Louis XVI Roll Cylinder desk, standing along the left-hand wall inside Styylish at 55 Leonard St., stands out.
The finish on the kingwood veneer is flawless, glimmering under the lights. The intricate diamond-shaped, yew-wood inlay gives the cover a three-dimensional appearance. The lid is elegantly curved, and the proportions are perfect. It is hard to fathom that it was built by hand in France before the American Revolution.
When Styylish owner Sylke Berlinghof-Nielsen talks about the desk, her expertise is obvious. Some customers would be drawn to the intricate inlaid exterior, while others would be in love with the history represented by the piece.
“You open it and it has the original leather surface, and you can wonder, ‘Who wrote letters here?’” she said. “Or here, you can see the ink spilled from the inkwell.”
On Friday, customers won’t be able to walk through Styylish in person. Berlinghof-Nielsen is returning to her roots, closing the brick-and-mortar shop at 55 Leonard St. and returning to online sales.
Styylish is a well-established online business, starting small in 2013 and expanding in 2019. She mostly works with interior designers and collectors. But last year, there was a chance to open on Leonard Street and just see what happens.
“I said I would try this for a year, which is what I did,” said Berlinghof-Nielsen.
She said the problem is just one of logistics. She spends a lot of time traveling to buy furniture, most of which comes from Europe. She also has meetings with designers and clients and a lot of back-end work that takes her away from the Belmont shop.
When you combine that with the fact there isn’t enough foot traffic to really support the brick-and-mortar business, the end becomes a matter of when, not if.
“I want to emphasize that this has nothing to do with the landlords,” she said. “They have really worked to accommodate my needs.”
The building is owned by Locatelli Properties, which owns several Belmont Center buildings.
When you think of antique furniture shops, you probably conjure images of old barns or houses stuffed rafter-full with a motley collection of great, good, and odd stuff. Styylish is not that. If you are walking through the doors, it’s likely you know what you want, or you’re just curious.
Some of the items, for example, have been sold to designers working months in advance of project completion. They see the perfect table, the ideal lamp or the best chair and they buy it, knowing that antiques are unique.
For Berlinghof-Nielsen, antiques are a family business, dating back to her grandfather, who sold antiques in her native Heidelberg, Germany almost a century ago. Before moving to America, she had developed a rich network of connections in Europe, and that remains her focus.
Closing up the shop will be an adjustment. Sharing her knowledge and the camaraderie around a shared interest has been a big part of the fun of running a brick-and-mortar store.
“I love the social part of it, talking directly to people who love the pieces, love the antiques,” she said.
And each piece she sells is unique. Each is handcrafted, and at one time, there might have been a match; time and human nature have combined to ensure that that French desk, for example, has no equal.
“So if you look at it and don’t buy it, you won’t see anything like it again,” she said.
