One of my favorite rooms in the 2011 Kips Bay Decorator Show House was designed by Celerie Kemble and her team at Kemble Interiors. Due to the historic significance of the home, many of the designers were required to work around certain features and that included the wood paneling in the library. With a little magic and lots of light colors, the dark and masculine room was transformed into a woman's library, "a sanctum for a siren." The shelves are filled with books on fashion, poetry and contemporary literature and there are plenty of places to sit and read or chat with friends. Since the walls could not be touched, the team focused on adorning "the ceiling, floors, windows, furniture, and bookcases with every trick of their craft to add glimmer and put a little switch in its skirts." Artist Miriam Ellner created the amazing ceiling of gold leaf and other metals on the reverse side of glass, verre eglomise, to create a "Chinoiserie inspired skyscape fantasy." A room this size filled with so many special pieces could have look cluttered but instead your eye is drawn around the room as it slowly unveils itself. I could have spent all day in this room which in my mind makes it a huge success.
Photos by Heather Clawson for Habitually Chic except for #1, 5, 10, 14, 16 and 23 courtesy of Kemble Interiors
