Lebanon-born fashion designer Reem Acra launched a career based on extravagant gowns—floaty, frothy red carpet pieces built for the likes of Olivia WIlde, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Swift—so when the newest issue of New York Design Hunting (buy it here!) steps into her 3,200-square-foot home in NYC's garment district, revealing a jewel box overwhelmed with "lavishly embroidered" 200-year-old textiles and built-in gold-leafed cabinetry (above), it's not a shock, though it's breathtaking nonetheless. Much of it is her own design, including the golden crescent dishes in the dining room, the embroidered lampshade in the foyer, and the oversized wallpaper motif (inspired by embroidery on an Acra jacket) in the living area.
A practiced thrower of plush dinner parties—"When my mother threw a party even as a kid, she'd call me in and say 'Organize it for me.'"—Acra keeps her dining room primed for an event, and nothing says swanky party quite like hostess-designed dishware, golden chopsticks held up by figurines, six buddha lamps, and a "Plexiglas display case containing lavishly embroidered 200-year-old velvet textitle from turkey." Oh, and let's not forget the cabinets, covered in gold leaf and Plexiglas.
Take a turn and see more global glamour, like a vignette with religious icons inlaid in chunky golden frames, velvet banquettes, and an Acra-designed table made from blocks of resin enshrouding sequin-embroidered lace inside. She brought in doors salvaged from an Ottoman house in Beirut and a wood-and-glass cabinet designed by her brother. Have a look, below:
· All Designer Digs posts [Curbed National]