Sleek in the City

There was something about the Traina's home that I posted yesterday that reminded me of this New York apartment.  It belongs to eccentric fashionista Daphne Guinness and was designed with Daniel Romualdez who she said got what she wanted right away.  It was featured in the March issue of Archtechtural Digest and is a clear indication of why you should be buying the magazine again.  I love that even though you know a designer helped with the apartment, it still looks personal.  You can tell that she chose all the art because she loved it.

Guinness says that some people get a little turned around in the entry hall of mirrors but it looks chic. Mirrors are especially great at opening up dark spaces in New York apartments. The photograph is by Daido Moriyama.

Sometimes I wished magazines included floorplans so you could see the flow.  I'm not sure where this part of the entry lies but I love the kaleidoscope look of the butterflies in Another Amazing Transcendental Experience by Damien Hirst from 2003.

A close up of Daphne Guinness in front of the Damien Hirst piece.

One wall of the living room is also mirrored. Hanging over it are works by Nobuyoshi Araki, David LaChapelle, and Bert Stern.

Wish we could see more of the library too.  I always love to see what books on are on a person's shelves.

Of course, I love the green Chinoiserie paper covering a screen in one of the bedrooms.

Another bedroom looks like it's mirrored but it's really Mylar wallpaper from Florence Broadhurst. I follow Daphne Guinness on twitter and find her fascinating.  It seems like her New York apartment reflects her interesting personality and her sophistication perfectly.



Photos by Thomas Loof

Tory Burch at Home

You didn't think I'd write a post about Tory Burch's personal style without following it up with her chic apartment did you? The 9,000 square foot, not so humble, abode was created by combining apartments in The Pierre Hotel by architect and designer Daniel Romualdez. It was only featured in Vogue but recently, bits and pieces of the apartment have been popping up again including the kitchen, above, and breakfast nook that were seen in Elle magazine.

Tory also recently created a table setting for a casual lunch in her kitchen for the House Beautiful magazine.

Also featured in Elle was her breakfast room that was redecorated at some point in Arbre de Matisse from Quadrille.

As you can see in this older photo of the kitchen, the breakfast room in the background had yet to be upholstered in the Arbre de Matisse print. I am also loving that green kitchen floor. It looks so clean and cheerful!

Of course the pièce de résistance is the circular foyer lined in beautiful Gracie chinoiserie hand painted paper in pale green. In the distance is the library.

The library is larger than most New Yorker apartments!

The red lacquer bar of the foyer would have made a good addition to my bar post.

The drawing room walls are lined with green silk velvet fabric while the dining room beyond is lacquered in orange. Not sure if you can tell in this photo but the mouldings are painted to look like tortoise shell.

The blue and white porcelain looks pretty against the moss green velvet walls.

This is a badly scanned photo of the drawing room but it gives you a sense of the furniture including the sofa which was designed in homage to Givenchy. It also looks like the kids have fun touching the velvet walls!

The apartment was featured in Vogue in 2004 so not sure if Tory's sons still sleep in bunk beds but it's a great room to use for inspiration for little boy bedrooms.

The colors of the apartment flow through out the space and into this bedroom and Tory's closet below which I know we all covet! I know there is probably much more to this apartment than we've seen and I hope Tory will open it up to more magazines. Maybe ELLE DECOR can feature it in their next fashion issue. Hint hint!

Photos by Francois Halard for Vogue and from Elle and House Beautiful magazines