Modern Luxury [Hardcover]

Richard Mishaan (Author), Elizabeth Gaynor (Author), Pamela Fiori (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 19, 2009

Interior designer Richard Mishaan believes that all good furniture and art can be combined successfully regardless of style, period, or price. Drawing on his international background and love of travel, he combs the world to find exquisite, unique pieces for his clients. Mishaan skillfully brings together furnishings and objects from myriad periods—Italian neoclassic, seventeenth-century French, African tribal, Art Deco, Biedermeier—in a contemporary fusion style that has become his signature.

Mishaan approaches his projects with the knowing eye of a curator, integrating art and objects into the flow of everyday life. A proponent of introducing an element of luxury into all spaces, even the most utilitarian, the designer shares his inspiring ideas for how to infuse every room—from well-appointed formal dining and reception spaces to private spheres for relaxation and work—with personality and generosity of spirit.

This lavish color presentation showcases dozens of completed projects, from elegant townhouses to pied-à-terre apartments, spacious second homes, and corporate offices. Mishaan's extensive knowledge of the fine arts, architecture, and modern and historic furnishings is revealed in engaging commentary that details his creative process, discloses his most valuable tips, and explains how his experiences have informed the creation of his own custom furniture and retail line. A directory of the designer's favorite sources from around the country and around the globe encourages those interested in creating eclectic and sophisticated interiors of their own to begin.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Richard Mishaan is the head of Richard Mishaan Design, an interior design and architecture firm in New York City. He also designs a collection of furniture for his design store, Homer.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter One: A First Impression
Richard Mishaan

An entrance hall is a gateway into someone's life. As a first glimpse of how a person presents himself or herself, it must be arresting and beautiful. I like to establish a client's design message up front—with color, the placement of art, or perhaps the way a door beyond captures the light and frames an adjoining room.

A foyer is uniquely suited to a kind of formality. There should be a degree of emptiness about the space because it's a place that people flow through. Very few elements are extraneous, so things placed there and the surface finishes you choose will attract attention and ought to be eye-catching. A stairway banister and newel post can be crafted as artistically as sculpture. The floor, the walls, the furniture, the artwork—all are essential parts.

Graciousness requires that the space be hospitable, planned with the idea of welcoming guests. The room speaks to the owner's identity. But the self-contained quality of a foyer, as a place unto itself, is freeing in a design sense. Here, I am at liberty to introduce, to amuse, to surprise. It's the perfect staging ground for stunning art and for unexpected visual connections.

A front hall has a job to do, but not at the expense of aesthetics. The necessities are a table where the mail is left and a surface to put down keys. Briefcases and shopping bags want a place under a table or console. People need convenient areas to hang coats and stash umbrellas. I prefer to offload utilitarian tasks at a secondary entrance, if available, so I can focus the “wow factor” to make a great impression in the formal entry.

Our own country house has a very large foyer that incorporates three areas of equal visual importance: a weighty Tuscan console table with a playful sculpture on it by Niki de Saint Phalle, a sweeping staircase, and an ornamental, eighteenth-century Swedish ceramic stove that stands on the deep umber-stained wood floor. The stove was my grandmother's, and it is full of meaning for me. After World War II she began her life anew, in Denmark. As long as I can remember, I've been going to visit family in Denmark, so Scandinavian blue-and-white porcelain is a big through-line for me. My grandmother loved that stove dearly; it heated her bedroom and made an indelible decorative statement. When I inherited it and the movers brought it to my house, they happened to set it down in the front hall, and it was as if the stove had claimed its rightful place. I love the serendipity of how that came to be.

I like to receive people in a grand way, but it's not about being grand. When we give cocktail parties, people love to cluster in our foyer. When there's music, it becomes a dance floor. On cold winter days when the kids were little, they skateboarded in this hall. There's a certain luxury in just having that space to use.

None of the objects in our front hall is really related, but everything relates. The ingredients may appear to be random, but they were chosen with care. We've assembled pieces with personality that hint at ours. They are strong pieces that reinforce or offset each other but can also stand alone decoratively.

If design is done right, the elements of a room work well together without it being obvious why. Meaningful objects inevitably come into your life, and it is for you to define the proper associations among them. In an entrance hall, you can strikingly establish those relationships. You can also set the rapport you want your guests to have with your home. It's not essential that the front hall deliberately send a message about what's coming next. But, frankly, it always does.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: The Monacelli Press (May 19, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580932282
• ISBN-13: 978-1580932288
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 0.8 x 11.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #735,187 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for any college-level arts library strong in interior design, July 18, 2009

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Modern Luxury (Hardcover)

Interior designer Richard Mishaan believe all interior design can be blended regardless of style or price, and uses his international background and love of travel to create unique settings for his clients. His projects showcase dozens of his completed works in all types of interiors, from corporate offices to small homes and elegant settings, and offers a directory of his favorite design resources. Perfect for any college-level arts library strong in interior design.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Modern Master, August 23, 2010

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imogene jaffe (NEW YORK, NY, US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Modern Luxury (Hardcover)

A beautiful book with wonderful photos of stunning interiors. The rooms combine interesting objects and art in luxurious settings.
I feel inspired by the originality and mix of periods and styles. Loaded with content .Mishaam shares his take on design. I will be
Using his ideas...wish his store Homer was still on Madison.

12 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the best 2009 book, July 9, 2009

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A. Gift For You "As if...." (Sasebo, Japan) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Modern Luxury (Hardcover)

i love this book.... it's drop dead gorgeous... glossy pages - lovely, glamorous rooms...

i have not purchased an excellent interior design book such as this in a long, long, time... i will keep my copy forever...