Miles Redd's Most Fabulous Rooms - Gallery

Inside some of the fun interiors from the influential New York City designer

Written by Adam Rathe

“This is a corner of my current living room in NoLIta,” Redd says. “It’s full of all the things I love and it’s like 18th century meets 20th century. You can’t tell, but there are nickel insets on the floor.” In working on any room, Redd says what’s important is to pay attention to the bones of a space and let that direct the design. “I let the architecture guide me,” he says. “My broad-stroke philosophy is that if you get the floors and walls right, the rest is easy.”

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Photograph by Paul Costello

Miles Redd's Most Fabulous Rooms - Gallery

Inside some of the fun interiors from the influential New York City designer

Written by Adam Rathe

This portrait of Redd was shot in his bedroom and is, he says, a nod to the British poet Edith Sitwell who once posed for a similar portrait. Redd says his favorite part of the room is the play between the valence of the curtains and the canopy of his bed. “They do this positive-negative thing that was completely unexpected, but it works perfectly,” he explains. “Those unplanned things that work out always make you so happy.”

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Photograph by Paul Costello

Miles Redd's Most Fabulous Rooms - Gallery

Inside some of the fun interiors from the influential New York City designer

Written by Adam Rathe

“This was my apartment in college,” says Redd. “I was gong for a decaying English conservatory look.” Indeed, Redd decorated the space, on a far-flung stretch of Manhattan’s East 14th Street, with drawings from his classes at Parsons and finds from local thrift stores. “It’s a funny collection of things,” he says now. In his book’s introduction, Redd writes, “The apartment was crumbling and tiny, but I embraced it…there was a freedom in not caring, and I would not blink an eye at having a cocktail party for 50.”

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Photograph by Oberto Gill

Miles Redd's Most Fabulous Rooms - Gallery

Inside some of the fun interiors from the influential New York City designer

Written by Adam Rathe

For this New York City living room, belonging to a serious art collector, Redd wanted to let the client’s canvases—which are regularly rotated—be the most important part of the room. “She wanted a salonlike setting that was a backdrop for her fabulous collection,” Redd recalls. “She had the Rothko, and when I found those red leather chairs, I knew they were perfect to bring that same feeling into the room without it being too decorated or done.” His favorite part of the room? “You’re looking at it,” he says. “It’s the combination and the symmetry. When you have great paintings, it does elevate everything else.”

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Photograph by Paul Costello

Miles Redd's Most Fabulous Rooms - Gallery

Inside some of the fun interiors from the influential New York City designer

Written by Adam Rathe

For this Upper West Side apartment, which lacks a fireplace or mantle, Redd says the massive nickel-accented bookshelf was created to give the living room a focal point. For the bookish clients who call the spot home, having a piece made especially for them was key. “They asked me to translate this into something they would want to live in,” Redd says. “I look around to see what people have, I find out their needs, and I break it all down from there.”

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Photograph by Paul Costello

Miles Redd's Most Fabulous Rooms - Gallery

Inside some of the fun interiors from the influential New York City designer

Written by Adam Rathe

While he made the table and runner and bought the lamps for this dining room—which is in the same home as in the previous slide—Redd was happy to find that his clients already had plenty of decor that was to his taste. “Most people don’t have anything—these people were rare,” he says. “Plenty of these items already belonged to the owners of the apartment, and I was able to arrange them.” Working with clients who already have luxurious, cherished objects is something that any designer would take delight in. “The people who love to put together beautiful houses are always people I enjoy working with,” says Redd. “There’s a shared passion there.”

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Photograph by Paul Costello

Miles Redd's Most Fabulous Rooms - Gallery

Inside some of the fun interiors from the influential New York City designer

Written by Adam Rathe

Redd thinks the whole of this powder room is greater than the sum of its parts. “There’s not one thing that stands out,” he says. “It’s the curious collection of the different elements and how they play off of each other.” Those elements include walls inspired by the 'Spring' of Cy Twombly’s “Seasons” paintings, an 18th-century gilt mirror hung over a mirrored wall, a classical drawing, a painting of pheasants and a door upholstered in leather. “It’s the powder room of the apartment, and everyone uses that room,” says Redd. “We wanted to make it an unexpected surprise and put people in their own bizarre little world.”

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Photograph by Paul Costello

Miles Redd's Most Fabulous Rooms - Gallery

Inside some of the fun interiors from the influential New York City designer

Written by Adam Rathe

For the living room of this Delano & Aldrich-designed Long Island home, Redd decided to start with the floors and work his way up. “The house the clients bought was a 1930s country house, and they wanted a fresh take on the English country home,” Redd says. “We started with the rug; the foundation is this great Oushak rug, and we built up from there.” And despite a tricky floor plan, the designer ended up happy with the final product—especially, he says, the blue silk-velvet sofas. “Every single room in the house was paneled, and this is a beachy, pine finish, which gives off a mellowness,” he says. “It’s a funny room because there are a lot of openings, so there’s a curious furniture plan, but it does work.”

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Photograph by Paul Costello