by Frances Madeson

hen Sheila Mark was still a young mother, she attended the New York School of Interior Design, and furnished model homes for a Staten Island builder. Eventually, she worked up the courage to open her own design emporium.

30 years later, the 5,000 sq. ft. Sheila’s Decorating continues to thrive on Orchard Street.

Five full-time employees assist the customers, half of whom are professional designers themselves, in selecting wall coverings, window treatments, and fabrics and trims for customized furniture. Sheila stacks catalogues from dozens of furniture makers and dazzles you with her encyclopedic knowledge of the field. To illustrate her ideas for customers, she’ll photocopy something similar in a catalogue and send it over along with a few swatches of fabric, for contemplation.

The fabrics hang floor to ceiling, in rich and ornate stacks, and Sheila knows the provenance of each. “These just came in from Europe,” she tells a customer. “Aren’t they be-yoo-tiful?” Furniture and throw pillows, too, crowd the showroom floor, where you can see examples of the finished products —headboards, chairs and ottomans, and specialty tables. Sheila wants her customers to sit on or at the furniture, to feel them, touch the fabrics, see what makes them most comfortable. She’s selling furnishings, but she’s also selling satisfaction. “My business is mostly repeat customers and word-of-mouth. When they walk out that door, I want them to be happy.”

One of her creative innovations is the home decorating service. “The customer calls to make an appointment. We go to their apartment and see what’s what. We try to keep as much of what they have as possible, but make the total effect look new by adding just the right pieces. Sometimes we’ll upholster existing pieces to give them a fresh look.”

At Sheila’s Decorating everything old is new again. “Trends come and go,” explains Sheila. “Today, my customers are fascinated by the classic looks of yesteryear. Also, specific retro periods; they’re replicating design concepts from the fifties and the sixties.”

After 30 years, she admits she’s looking to spread her professional wings wider, to once again work with commercial clients, “Like I did in the beginning.”

She certainly has plenty to offer.

Sheila’s Decorating, 68 Orchard Street (bet. Grand and Broome) 212.777.3767. Sun-Thu 9-5, Fri 9-3.