Designer secrets from Peter Marino

When I begin with a new client, I always...
Listen. The client talks; I listen.

The mistake most people make when doing their own designing is...
People often know the hues they want but are unaware of the changes in value and intensity that can make or break a color combination.
                       
                                           I have been so mezmerized by this picture, Christian Dior in Paris
The most unusual request from a client was...
To convert two huge bedrooms and baths into a 95-foot-long dressing room.

For someone who wants a big look on a small budget today...
Keep it simple. One good piece of furniture or art is all you need for a room to come alive.

One of the best things right now to collect for an investment is...
Emerging artists’ work: both art and commissioned furniture.

In the area of home electronics, people are asking for...
Uni-switching systems: One button and all the shades go up or down; one button and all the lights go on a preset, on or off; one button for temporary control.

In the next ten years the most important thing in design will be...
Aesthetics and comfort, just as always.

My biggest design mistake was...
Creating a “Salon des Refusés.” I took everything that my clients refused and furnished a room full of leftovers at my country house.

My favorite room to design is...
The library. I collect rare books and drawings, so I’m inevitably drawn to that space—much more so than to the living room or the family room.
                      
                                                                 Louis Vuitton store Paris


I change my own interiors...
Monthly. I move my paintings around and always change the entrance hall. Before, it was 17th-century drawings by the Italian set designers the Bibienas; now it’s white paintings by Robert Ryman and Miguel Barceló.

There are many rules designers should bear in mind. One is...
Place something bought in the current year in every room.

The order I follow when I design is...
Make sure the architecture is great, first and foremost—as everything else is easily changed.

Every home must have...
A soul.
                
Design likes and dislikes...
Likes: Anything real, artistic license, intelligent architecture, Southeast Asian hand-loomed silks.
Dislikes: Copies of antiques, copies of existing rooms, window treatments, unflattering light.

My personal dream house would be...
A glass box on a green hill.

Who or what has influenced my style...
Marella Agnelli, Jean-Michel Frank, Victoria de Rothschild, Andy Warhol, Fred Hughes, Fernand Léger, Louis Kahn.

Three essentials for entertaining are...
Good food, served quickly. Good company: a mix of people. A relaxed host and hostess who enjoy themselves.

If I could live anywhere (other than where I am), it would be...
I would never consider leaving New York. Ever. Not for two nanoseconds.
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