For designer Douglas Graneto, creating a captivating space for a couple that loves to entertain meant giving the home a rich color story.
While the penthouse sits in striking contrast to the gray skyscrapers beyond, framing shiver-worthy views of the stoic steel maze outside, the space unapologetically welcomes with deep purples, lavenders and magentas.
When designer Douglas Graneto set out to design the penthouse for his long-term clients, an Indian couple with a love of entertaining friends at their home, he knew that the space’s color would need to tell a tale that could excite upon first glance.
“We wanted something that was fun and shocking, something that was a color story that spoke to us,” says Graneto.
Vintage chairs upholstered in a Dedar fabric.
The couple asked a close friend, Indian furniture designer Vikram Goyal, to collaborate with Graneto on the home — resulting in a blend of antique pieces and modern designs, colorful furniture and equally vibrant Indian art collections. The color story, however, needed to start with an anchor piece.
“They had an antique rug with purple and gold, and that became the inspiration for the living room space and its coloring,” say Graneto. “Purple just had a richness to it, and it brings more life, luxury and sumptuousness into the room than a plain black or grey color scheme.”
In the living room, the wallpaper is a silk from NewWall, the sofa is Christian Liaigre in Dedar fabric, the carpet is an antique and the coffee table is by Lorin Marsh.
Once the antique rug was established as the living room’s color base, Graneto worked with Goyal to create a space that drew out the purple and gold hues with bronze accents, Art Deco pieces and vintage furniture. Although purple was the eye-grabbing hue in the living room, it didn’t dominate the entire home.
“Purple has some nice depth, and it can blend with a lot of other things,” says Graneto. “It can be neutral, too, if you want it to be. It doesn’t have to dominate.”
Take for example, the home’s entry, which features a stunning peacock wallpaper (peacocks are considered good luck in Indian culture) that is primarily green and turquoise — but is complemented by two purple lampshades.
In the entry, the lamps are from Carlos de la Puente with lampshades by Blanche P. Field and the wallpaper is by Cole & Son.
“We had the lamp shades made specifically for the lamps,” says Graneto. “We bought silks in India and brought them over to make everything feel and look unique and special.”
Though the entire home tells a captivating color story with such unique pieces, each room reflects a different chapter of that story — some moodier, some brighter and some more subdued.
Elle Decor
