When I think about the most luxurious spaces we’ve created, they’re often not the grand living rooms or sprawling kitchens. Instead, it’s the little hidden sanctuaries — the powder room you didn’t expect, the library tucked behind a jib door, the jewel-box dressing nook only the homeowner ever sees. They’re rooms designed for emotion, not showmanship — places where you exhale, dream, and surround yourself with the details that matter only to you.
Luxury isn’t always about “big.” Sometimes it’s about intimacy, discovery, and surprise. When you open a door and step into a powder room bathed in pattern and whimsy, or slide aside a bookcase to reveal a hidden library, that’s when design feels like pure magic.
These are the spaces where I pour in layers of detail — textured wallcoverings, bespoke millwork, collected objects, and lighting that glows more like candlelight than task light. They’re not designed for Instagram (though, yes, they often end up there!) — they’re designed for you.
A Jewel Box Escape: Chinoiserie in a Powder Room
This jewel-box powder room is the very definition of an intimate escape. Hand-painted chinoiserie birds dance across a shimmering metallic ground, wrapping the walls in a story that feels both delicate and decadent. In such a small space, every detail becomes amplified — the brushstrokes, the glow of the finish, the way the light catches the wings of each bird. It’s not about size or grandeur here; it’s about being enveloped by beauty, stepping into a world that feels like your own private secret.
Remount Ranch – Private Worlds Rich in History
At our Remount Ranch project in Wyoming, design became a love letter to history, intimacy, and surprise.
One of my favorite details is a hidden library, concealed behind a jib door disguised as bookshelves. Crossing that threshold feels like stepping into another world — intimate, storied, and filled with treasures. It’s design that asks you to lean in, to discover what lies just beyond.
Just as meaningful is the pool room, where the very walls are lined in a custom wallcovering crafted from a historic newspaper article about the ranch itself. In this space, architecture and memory intertwine — you’re not just swimming, you’re immersed in a story as old as the land.
And finally, a luxurious shower framed by an antique stone arch imported from Rajasthan, India. We brought centuries of craftsmanship into a modern home, layering global history into daily ritual. Even something as routine as a shower becomes elevated when the threshold itself carries the soul of another place and time.
These rooms remind me why I love what I do: weaving history, whimsy, and craftsmanship into intimate sanctuaries that feel deeply personal.
Kips Bay Palm Beach – A Coastal Dreamscape Powder Room
Designing for the Kips Bay Decorator Show House in Palm Beach 2022 gave me the chance to create one of the most imaginative Private Worlds I’ve ever dreamed up: a powder room that became an immersive blue-and-white jewel box.
Every surface — ceiling, walls, and even the floor — became a canvas alive with clouds, butterflies, tropical motifs, and ocean treasures. It was playful yet balanced, a little escape hatch into a fantastical world. In such a small space, intimacy is amplified, which allowed me to go bold and layer storytelling into every inch.
For me, this room was about more than design; it was about imagination and escapism, giving visitors a moment to step out of reality and into wonder. These Show Houses are once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to take risks, to share bold ideas with big hearts, and to support a cause that makes it all worthwhile.
Over the years, I’ve honed a few guiding principles when crafting these intimate sanctuaries:
- Secrecy & Surprise: Hidden doors, tucked-away alcoves, or unexpected powder rooms create delight.
- Material Depth: Grasscloth, plaster, and layered fabrics bring warmth and intimacy.
- Mood Lighting: Forget overheads — soft lamps, sconces, and reflective mirrors shape atmosphere.
- Curated Quirks: A vintage painting, a whimsical drawer pull, or an antique textile that only the homeowner truly appreciates.
In a world where so much of design can feel performative, these rooms are deeply personal. They’re not made to impress a crowd — they’re crafted to hold your secrets, your quiet joys, and your private moments.
And that, to me, is the truest form of luxury: a space that doesn’t just reflect beauty, but reflects you. When designing intimate spaces, I’m not just about creating a room — I’m creating a story only you know. Whether it’s a glamorous powder room, a bookcase that swings open to reveal a hidden library, or a small corner drenched in light and quiet, these spaces are where the magic of home lives.
Because the most luxurious spaces aren’t the ones that shout. They’re the ones that whisper.
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