"He popularized French Empire, especially in the decorating world at a time when decorators were really key to people.
The Concorde's beauty emerged from the context of the 1960's, a period interior decorators now call retro.
"There's a frustration when the decorator leaves that the place is never going to look as good as when he styled it," Mr. Gambrel said.
Tiffany was fortunate in that his career as a designer and interior decorator coincided with the Gilded Age, a period of extravagant displays of wealth and excess among America's upper class.
And even when a decorator does the grand style, it's not so dusty and cloudy.
"As long as they're good-looking," said Brian McCarthy, a New York decorator, when I described the two, seeking professional advice on what to do with an impulse buy.
After the remodeling the public paid $12 a head over a two-week period to view the decorators' handiwork.
One of his portraits, of a haunted-looking child, was on display at a frame shop when Marichu Beilby, an interior decorator, noticed it in 1951.
Sarah Hasenfus, an 11-year float decorator, said when she was decorating the deer, she imagined what a horse would look like.
There was a moment when the duo set themselves up as actual decorators, Mr. McGough said, but "it went south fast".
Christie's offers one of its periodic "Interiors" sales on June 21-22, a bonanza for decorators that features everything from figurines to fauteuils in a variety of periods and styles.
