Chicago's Branca

And, of course, it wouldn’t be Branca without a few of Alessandra’s repurposed classics. Empire lamps are freshened with lampshades made of unfussy ticking. Delicate vintage fabric trims are framed and meant to be hung as works of art. Eighteenth-century French church artifacts live again as elegant lamps.

How does Alessandra make it all work together? “It all kind of comes together somehow,” she muses, “a little like stir-fry.”