Photo: Simon Upton Style: Carlos Mota (Carlos Mota)
Bright interiorI can't believe it!I hired a decorator! And just yesterday I considered representatives of this profession to be almost charlatans. What do they actually do? They bring together those who want to buy furniture, paint, chandeliers and curtains with those who want to sell furniture, paint, chandeliers and curtains. Not bad! But intermediaries have always seemed like an unnecessary link to me. Especially after working at New York magazine, where I ran the "Sales and Discounts" column. All day long I scoured the city like a bloodhound, looking for great deals. I was interested in absolutely everything: from a batch of shoes to spaces in an underground garage, from beaded handbags to grand pianos. The main thing is to eliminate unnecessary links and go directly to the manufacturer. So in terms of the ability to find unique things for ridiculous money, I can give any decorator a hundred points ahead. And now, having thrown all my principles aside, I happily use the services of such an intermediary. What happened? I must tell you that I have absolutely no experience in setting up a home. It just so happened that, having lived to be thirty, I managed to get by without my own nest. First there was a room in a college dorm, then I moved in with a friend (an attic had just become available in his townhouse), and then... then I stayed there legally - my friend became my husband. When a new apartment loomed on the horizon, I suddenly realized that in order to create the right atmosphere in the house, the ability to buy something cheap is not enough, because cheap is not always angry.
On the advice of friends, I turned to Miles Redd.A cheerful, impeccably dressed Georgia native welcomed me into an office straight out of Alice in Wonderland: checkered floors, bright blue walls, clever lighting that created the illusion of sunlight spilling throughout the room. My new apartment, alas, did not evoke such fairy-tale associations. But the Granmercy Park building - my God! I fell in love with it the minute I stepped onto the ancient mosaic floors. An ancient mechanical elevator, dark wood paneling - everything here recalled the old-fashioned student dorms where I had spent my youth. The apartment was a long string of rooms, formerly called the "spinsters' suite". (Probably in memory of the days when spinsters needed six rooms and a servants' quarters.) Unfortunately, the stricken place had endured several botched renovations over the last hundred years: the partitions had been knocked down, the floors were whitewashed, and half the dining room was taken up by a giant wine cabinet. And while our real estate agent called the apartment a sweetheart, it was a style disaster.
I was dying to know what he would say aboutour purchase Miles. "It looks like a shopping mall after an explosion," he purred cheerfully, without even having time to properly inspect the apartment. "But I'm going to make a gem of it." I definitely found my man! Besides his "killer" Southern charm, there were two things that attracted me to Miles. First, his ability to work with small spaces, and second, his bold manner of handling color. My own aspirations did not go beyond the ubiquitous shades of unbleached canvas, but Miles pushed me to much brighter solutions. On my own, I would never have chosen rich turquoise, intense orange, let alone black! The fact that we used glossy paints instead of matte ones for the walls helps the rooms not look gloomy: on the contrary, they simply shine! Ebony floors and silver-plated door handles complete the picture. Naturally, I tried to bring home a lot of bargains. Some of them were perfect – like the curtains I ordered on a trip to India (Miles had supplied me with samples in advance). But Miles rejected the gilded wallpaper I had dug up online: “You’re not a bird to live in a gilded cage!” I knew one thing: I wanted a lot of wallpaper – unlike painted walls, it gives a sense of permanence and individuality. We spent a long time going through different options, taping samples to the wall, and eventually settled on three. For the nursery – a shaggy wallpaper in the color of golden wine. For the dining room – a deep orange, designed back in the “Vienna Workshops”. (This was the first modernist design movement, and my Germanophile husband first noticed the renovation in 2014.) Finally, for the bedroom, we chose a hand-painted chinoiserie wallpaper from De Gournay.
They caused the most battles and in the end«ate» the lion's share of the budget. At first, we planned to cover only one wall with them to save money. But Miles convinced us not to be greedy. His main argument was the mantra of a regular at sales: «When you buy the best, you cry only once. When you buy cheap, you cry for the rest of your life». Of course, he was right. We love falling asleep in this «winter garden». Two years after the renovation began, the apartment finally became a home for our small family. I can't imagine what could be improved here! For example, the living room. All these soft, stain-resistant surfaces are absolutely safe for our son, who has just started walking, and at the same time the setting is perfect for social events and cocktails. Of course, some things will have to be revised over time - when we have a second child, we will convert the office into a nursery. But that's even better. Leaving a few touches "for later" is a sign of a strong relationship with your decorator. And without him, you can't go anywhere!
