![]() "Part of the whole raison d'être of this place is to be able to have people to stay," the resident continues. "I think some of my children find the crisp white walls a relief after the richness of the rest of the décor-although they've come to love the overall effect as much as I do. "We thought we'd have just one normal room," she concedes. For the guest room, however, the client decided to rein in her fantasy in case it proved too overbearing for the family and friends she intended it for. Surprise and theatricality also set the tone in the master bedroom, where a large Aubusson tapestry and several giltwood mirrors lend panache to what would otherwise be a typical, small, 19th-century bedroom. So I put in furniture and objects not only from France but from all over the place-from Stockholm and London to Milan-because I thought they would go together in a lively, lighthearted way while creating a really warm, inviting atmosphere." "The French have this amazing variety of grand, beautiful spaces, and they furnish them with a few spindly chairs that no one wants to sit on! However historic places are, I very much believe in designing them for the way we live now. "One thing I've never understood about French interiors is the furniture," he remarks. I have to say that both my client and I had lots of fun in the process."įollowing his original impulse to increase the sense of scale, Corrigan chose large pieces of furniture, which dominate the main rooms without crowding them. Rather than strip them out, which would have been a terrible shame, we decided to go with them-not to say go over the top with them! This allowed us to pile on the various effects, layering the carved, paneled and gilded walls with paintings and mirrors so that the whole creates a riot of reflected form and color. "There were already plenty of amusing details here dating back to when the apartment was built in the 1860s. "My overall idea was that the interior should look like a kind of jewel box, filled with decorative surprises," Corrigan says. Having established this intriguing hall-of-mirrors effect, Corrigan concentrated on bringing his client's French fantasy amply alive. I don't know why the original owners had put the window in-perhaps they needed to keep an eye on each other-but we decided to capitalize on it by putting mirrors of exactly the same size on opposite walls in the living and dining rooms, so that when you look through the window you see everything reflected to eternity!" Of course, I could have blocked it up, but it lent what is essentially a small, intimate apartment a dramatic sense of scale. There was another curious thing: On the interior wall separating the two rooms there was also a large window. I scoured my favorite salesrooms and antiques shops until I found a set of four large 18th-century paintings, and then I simply used the doors as walls to hang them on. So while all the basic renovation was being done, I cast around for a solution that would make these two central rooms feel less like passageways. "The narrow living room had no fewer than five doors-enough for hordes of fleeing lovers and angry husbands to come rushing through! And what remained of the wall space there and in the dining room was taken up by windows. ![]() ![]() "It was as though the whole interior had been designed for a permanent French farce," Corrigan says with a laugh. The apartment's living room and dining room consisted almost entirely of doors. ![]()
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