Taking his cues from the 1933 social-commentary-as-comedy Dinner at Eight, a film that bears a more-than-passing relevance to the present moment, interior designer Richard Mishaan immersed himself in the trappings of Art Deco, brokering a delicate marriage between the iconic look of that period and the tastes of the 21st-century modern sophisticates who reside in this home.
His imaginary client is a couple in their 50s with grown children. Like the character Kitty Packard, a distinctly modern, social-climbing siren played by Jean Harlow, they're committed to their own perceptions of glamour and chic, and not afraid to push the envelope. The winning result is a downtown duplex with a heavy dose of uptown panache.
Here are a few tricks Mishaan employed that are likely to make Kitty's bold style linger long past the 8 p.m. call to dinner.
Strike a balance. "There's so much good, affordable design that's available," says Mishaan. In the powder room, he specified a pricey embroidered wall covering and the TraverseŽ vanity and lavatory from KOHLER. "The vanity is a beautiful architectural piece, yet at the same time it's a great value."
Invest in pieces that are one-of-a-kind or handcrafted. Mishaan was judicious in choosing a few spots in which to spend. In the formal living room, he used his own designs for the sofa and slipper chairs and customized a white lacquer commode with amethyst-encrusted pulls. True to his high-low strategy, Mishaan offset the investment in hand-painted walls with a moderately priced pair of Crate and Barrel table lamps, in an antique brass finish, that flank the living room sofa.
Mishaan was inspired by the curvaceous theme found in the building's architecture. The library features many of his own furniture designs-round-backed Kyoto club chairs, settee and pouf. The bas-relief wall panels are from Baker; the carpet is the Aberdale Antelope by Karastan®.
"I think dining rooms should be follies," says Mishaan. "They should stimulate all the senses." With that in mind, he selected Tony Duquette's elaborate abalone shell chandelier for Baker, covered his own dining table in a black piano lacquer finish and customized the large screens with a malachite fabric that references the stone pulls of the console. Floral arrangements by L'Olivier.
"Kitty was over-the-top, sometimes outlandish," says Mishaan. In the master bedroom he channeled her coquettish nature with Karastan®'s Mystical Zebra carpet and an oversize headboard in a crushed steely blue velvet and silk taffeta trim by Kravet; it's paired with a tufted bench in matching fabric that features Lucite legs.
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