From Empty Apartment to Sumptuous Sanctuary
By FRANCES SCHULTZ
Posted: 2008-06-09 17:33:23
The unfinished living room area that leads into the dining area is a blank canvas for designer Celerie Kemble.
Reprinted with Permission of Hearst Communications, Inc. Originally Published: The Ultimate Transformation
Photo by Don Freeman
The living room is anchored by a curvaceous custom sofa made by J. Edlin Interiors and covered in Troika Velvet in Crème from Brunschwig & Fils. Blue and white slipper chair in Castello Aragonese blue velvet from Clarence House. Round swivel chairs are Celerie Kemble collection for Laneventure, in Lido Woven Stripe in Aspen by Brunschwig & Fils. Walls covered in dark chocolate faux shagreen from Celerie Kemble collection for Valtekz. Ceiling and trim, Ralph Lauren Architectural Off-White. Vintage carved cocktail table from Epoca, through 1stdibs. Sisal rug is Natura Walnut from Stark Carpet; antique Oriental is also from Stark.
Reprinted with Permission of Hearst Communications, Inc. Originally Published: The Ultimate Transformation
Photo by Don Freeman
The living room area looks directly upon the area that Kemble chose for a sumptuous dining nook.
Reprinted with Permission of Hearst Communications, Inc. Originally Published: The Ultimate Transformation
Photo by Don Freeman
Apartments like this have more than enough glass, so the corner banquette is built right up against the window, anchoring the room. Banquette covered in black coffee angora mohair from Clarence House is paired with a pedestal table from David Sutherland and chairs from Nancy Corzine.
Reprinted with Permission of Hearst Communications, Inc. Originally Published: The Ultimate Transformation
Photo by Don Freeman
Richard Ginori china and vintage cobalt glassware contrast richly with the green suede tabletop and the dark coffee banquette. ("Of course in a real house you'd have to put glass on the suede," says Kemble.)
Reprinted with Permission of Hearst Communications, Inc. Originally Published: The Ultimate Transformation
Photo by Don Freeman
The inset wall next to the kitchen could have been used for a dining nook, but Kemble chose to turn it into a relaxed and elegant office area, complete with a wide-screen television.
Reprinted with Permission of Hearst Communications, Inc. Originally Published: The Ultimate Transformation
Photo by Don Freeman
A blue leather wing chair from Brunschwig & Fils and a Kemble-designed desk from Laneventure. Frescoed panels from Amy Perlin. Glass jars handcrafted by Elizabeth Lyons. Ottoman, Laneventure in Ralph Lauren satin. Vermeil light fixture, 145 Antiques.
Reprinted with Permission of Hearst Communications, Inc. Originally Published: The Ultimate Transformation
Photo by Don Freeman
Entry-hall paper is Armando in Sea Green from David Sutherland. Just beyond, in the living room, the designer's coveted "fish lamps" are from Fat Chance in L.A., through 1stdibs.
Reprinted with Permission of Hearst Communications, Inc. Originally Published: The Ultimate Transformation
Photo by Don Freeman
An open kitchen plan like this lends itself to richer colors and patterns in the rest of the space -- with all that light coming in through the windows and no walls dividing the space, you don't need to worry about deeper colors darkening the room.
Reprinted with Permission of Hearst Communications, Inc. Originally Published: The Ultimate Transformation
Photo by Don Freeman
Thermador appliances and new pulls for the open kitchen. Fabric on stools is Pisa in Terracotta from Clarence House. Light fixtures from 145 Antiques. Ceiling and trim Ralph Lauren Architectural Off-White.
Reprinted with Permission of Hearst Communications, Inc. Originally Published: The Ultimate Transformation
Photo by Don Freeman
FRANCES SCHULTZ: Before you got your chic little hands on it, this was an apartment typical of its modern, urban ilk an open, glassy, loftlike space, typical of new construction today.
CELERIE KEMBLE: True. I had a big white box with floor-to-ceiling windows. I felt like a kid in a candy store with the chance to grab all my favorite flavors and create my own delight.
You had the ultimate freedom: no client.
But I did have an imaginary client.
Who is she?
A woman in her late forties or early fifties, single again, and for the first time doing up an apartment just for herself. She has a daughter in college whose bedroom doubles as guest room. She likes nice things but didn't want formal. She's barefoot when she's at home, and I thought the apartment should be delicious and sumptuous and something you were wrapped in...
Well all that faux shagreen swathing the walls is a heck of a start.
You're used to seeing shagreen in tiny bits on picture frames and snuff boxes, but used this way it's like the whole space becomes a jewel case.
And those colors you chose add to the effect. Cream and chocolate...
...and teals and persimmons and celadons with bits of shimmery lima bean.
People think, in an apartment like this, that they have to decorate modern. But you did just the opposite.
I wanted a warm and inviting setting that would accommodate antiques and fine objects without becoming precious. It had to be cozy and comfortable.
Not so easy in a bland space. What was the biggest challenge?
Scaling and arranging the furniture so it felt right to have a cocktail party that turned into a dinner party and having it all work. The apartment isn't technically a loft, but when you have the kitchen, living room, and dining room all in one space, what else is it? We wanted to make the apartment coherent, so we put down almost wall-to-wall sisal, which I love to layer with other rugs. A lot of my wood finishes were cerused oak, which works really well with the sisal.
And tones down the formality.
Yes. I used a lot of lovely "Park Avenue Lady" fabrics silks and velvets that were fairly serious, so I lightened up in other ways, with the wood finishes, with simple frames for artwork, with a mix of high-low in other furnishings.
I'm on the brink of obsessing about the sofa. Love those curves! It's gotta be the sexiest thing on 10 legs I've ever seen.
We designed the sofa to go with the round lamp tables at either end and still fit on the 10-foot-long wall. The first thing I wanted for the apartment were those fish lamps! I had seen them on 1stdibs.com a while ago and fallen in love with them.
I hear you did a lot of shopping for this on 1stdibs, that amazing Website teeming with antiques and treasures from dealers all over the world.
It actually made it possible for me to decorate this the way I really would a house, by shopping for one-of-a-kind things with character and personality. Some showhouses end up looking like furniture showrooms because the designers' choices are so limited, and I didn't want that. 1stdibs has a vast selection and lets you organize and file pieces so you can go back and look at them all together and see how they get along.
You defied expectation again in partially covering a corner window with a banquette for the dining area. It's ingenious if not cheeky of you to cover the window it sort of grounds the room.
It's in the middle of an L-shaped space, so it relates to both the living room at one end and a library area at the other. After all, how often is your dining table actually set? This one is pretty even when it's not dressed for dinner. Banquettes are warm and cozy and give you the fun of pillows. And you don't have all those chairs grazing around like a herd of antelope.
And it doesn't really block the view.
Only the view straight down, but it's a parking lot.
You also put an elegant, leggy desk in front of a window. With a rather surprising chair.
The desk is from my collection for Laneventure, and that Brunschwig chair is like sitting in your own room -- with the lights of West End Avenue rolling out beneath your feet.
The master bedroom. All I can do is sigh.
I wanted it really feminine and cocooning. It's all creams and soft grays and a color that just smells like cantaloupe but is probably closer to apricot. The sheers at the windows diffuse the light, so the effect is all soft and dreamy like the old way they used to shoot movie stars with Vaseline on the camera lens. It's the light every woman wants to be seen in.
2008-02-05 15:21:08
