PRIVATE LIBRARY – SADDLE RIVER – NJ

LIBRARY

MALCOLM MCKINSTRIE II, MALEOD DESIGN GROUP LLC, FORT LEE

In his theme, “cocktails with Cole Porter,” Malcolm McKinstrie combined the dark, detailed wooden wall panels in the library with gray wool men’s suiting fabric from Belgium by Designtex in New York. The fabric convers a Louis XVI fauteuil chair from Agostion Antiques in New York, as well as the flat Roman shades of the window treatment, which are trimmed in a Mandarin red mohair plush. McKinstrie expanded the use of that accent color with the two 18th-century mandarin red lacquered stools that serve as end tables, also from Agostino, providing an element of chinoiserie. Agostino also provided the design;s focal point, a black lacquered Louis XV bureau plat.

The arrangement stands on a custom pearl-gray sisal carpet from Starr Carpets in  Englewood. Additonal accessories include gilt-bronze bamboo floor lamps swing arm lamps from Vaughan of London, as well as Art Deco statues depicting the four seasons by Quatrain Antiques form John Rosselli. But perhaps the finishing touch is the two dozen silver picure frames throughout the room, showing archival photos of Cole Porter with his wife and various celebrites; the imgaes were carefully chosen by the designer to make the room seem like Porter’s own personal library. “It’s very straighforward,” McKinstrie says. “Simple, sophisticated and man-about-town.”