Kate Egan's newest store offers the lavish without being precious

Egan Rittenhouse - the 770-square-foot lifestyle boutique nestled inside that grand hotel off the square - is filled with beautiful home goods you never thought you'd ever want or need.

Take, for example, the carved wooden candlesticks (starting at $62) courtesy of Philadelphia furniture company Lostine, with calming wavelike engravings. Or John Derian's decoupage trays - especially the ones coated in rainbow colors - and Alexander Stadler's Philadelphia-centric etched cheese plates. Also: triangular glasses ($300 for a set) and a giant marble table anchored by a tree stump. This one-of-a-kind piece is $11,200.

But you will lust after them, nevertheless. Just because the offerings in the two-month-old store are lavish doesn't mean they are precious. In fact, Kate Egan says, you should use them as much as possible, if not every day.

"I love rooms. I love beauty in rooms, and I love interiors," Egan, 48, said. "Life is hard. Having a sanctuary you can turn to at the end of a hard day is important."

Egan's 25-year career in fashion, jewelry, and now home goods is centered on the idea that we should all enjoy a bit of luxury every day, despite our circumstances.

For the last decade, she's been known around town as one-half of the boutique Egan Day, the jewelry store she opened with then-husband Cort Day on Sept. 15, 2008. That was the same day Lehman Bros. collapsed.

Even though it was the beginning of the financial crisis, Egan Day's collection of quiet yet extravagant sparkle by designers such as Ted Muehling, Jonathan Wahl, and Gabriella Kiss helped the brand build a loyal, well-heeled following that includes actress Mariska Hargitay, clothing designer Lela Rose, and Merrill Mason, director of the American Philosophical Society Museum.

After her 2014 divorce, Egan moved to a "depressing Center City Airbnb," where she spent many long nights pondering her next business move.

"It was definitely a time for me to reflect and think about what I really wanted to do," Egan said.

She may not have been 100 percent sure how to parlay her established jewelry brand into a new concept, but she knew she wanted her brick-and-mortar space to highlight design and presentation.

Always the artist, Egan grew up in Silver Spring, Md., where she spent afternoons making paper dolls while her seven siblings played sports. She earned a bachelor's degree in painting at the Rhode Island School of Design. Next came her MFA in photography from the University of Pennsylvania.

Her first taste of the world of high fashion was in Muehling's showroom of jewelry and decorative objects, where she made the bulk of her jewelry industry contacts. From there, she worked in marketing for Parisian clothing company A.P.C.

In 2001, Egan became director of imaging at Sigerson Morrison - known for designing seductive shoes for working women - where she created the company's branding and in-store displays.

"Kate is graceful and understated, and that is Egan Rittenhouse to the nth degree," said Kari Sigerson. Sigerson also designs a collection of crafty, comfy flats called Alumnae, of which Egan carries just one style - the metallic Tunisian slide for $475.

"She curates everything in the store," Sigerson said. "There are so many special things in there. But none of it is intimidating. There is no snob appeal."

By the time Egan decided to focus on a store that featured mostly home and design items (with a little fashion thrown in - the store's opening party celebrated the popularity of caftans), she'd already struck up a relationship with Jay Shah, one of the owners of Hersha Hospitality Trust, parent company of the Rittenhouse Hotel.

Shah was looking to change the focus of the hotel's gift shop, which had been run by Evantine Design for more than a decade. The two had their first meeting over tea in early 2014 and spent the next two years refining the idea and working out the details of Hersha's investment.

On this Thursday afternoon in late June, the "Egan-arranged" flowers, designed by Matthew Muscarella (whom design gurus know from his work at Terrain) - pink peonies, purple lisianthus, and droopy white campanula - offer serenity. The pops of orange, mauve, and yellow have a woodsy, Game of Thrones meets tropical Golden Girls feel.

Eventually, among the coffee-table books, golden ladles, and stationery - this week she introduced gift cards that honor Philadelphia as the birthplace of America for the Democratic National Convention - Egan hopes to install a listening station to show off the leather Master & Dynamic headphones.

Headphones, posh shaving products - those are designed to bring men into the store. Women, after all, aren't the only ones in need of self-preservation, Egan says.

"I had a couple of rough years when I felt like my world was falling apart," Egan said. "But during that time, I built a beautiful new business and I learned how to take care of myself. This store is a manifestation of that."

ewellington@phillynews.com

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