FIFTH AVENUE STYLE: A Designer’s New York Apartment.

Howard Slatkin, the Zeffirelli of interior design, has produced an operatic ode to his own apartment. FIFTH AVENUE STYLE: A Designer’s New York Apartment (Vendome, $60) is the most lavish book on the most lavishly detailed home I’ve ever seen. Not a bit of frippery, swag, frill or stone goes unturned. Italian palazzo meets Russian princess, all of it conjured out of a previously undistinguished Manhattan apartment — albeit one with nice views.

By DOMINIQUE BROWNING

Published: December 6, 2013 in The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/books/review/howard-slatkins-fifth-avenue-style-and-more.html?_r=0

Howard Slatkin’s philosophy is that a home should be a deeply personal refuge that gives pleasure and comfort, and in this book he shows everyone how this is done.

In this gorgeously illustrated volume, Slatkin, an interior designer and founder of the iconic home-fragrance and lifestyle brand Slatkin & Co., opens the doors of his legendary Fifth Avenue apartment and invites readers to accompany him on an intimate tour. Along the way he shares his practical—and often ingenious—methods for creating unique, personal rooms, shows how to make them comfortable and functional as well as beautiful, and reveals his secrets to entertaining with ease and flair.

Photographer Tria Giovan’s exceptional photography reveals how Howard Slatkin’s apartment—and any home—can achieve a level of sophisticated calm through careful lighting and floor planning, clever arrangement of furniture, and decorative display of personal collections of family photographs and objects. Drawing upon twenty-five years as a leading designer and tastemaker, Slatkin shows how rooms should flow naturally, how to create an intimate feeling, and how to find imaginative solutions for turning awkward spaces and limitations into assets. In Slatkin’s hands, a simple length of rope is transformed into a decorative molding, a claustrophobic passageway becomes home to a collection of blue-and-white porcelains, a kitchen evolves into a room fit for a St. Petersburg palace, and a living room turns into an exotic aviary of multihued birds. Using decorative finishes, tile, and salvaged architectural elements, Slatkin has created a memorable home that is the perfect backdrop for entertaining.

Praise for Fifth Avenue Style:

"Howard Slatkin turned the most basic of boring white box apartments--albeit a huge one--into a masterpiece mansion. His new book, Fifth Avenue Style, captures it all, from early mood boards to details like curtain tiebacks." - T: The New York Times Magazine

"I hope you'll take a look at...Fifth Avenue Style. I guarantee it will inspire you for years to come." - Habitually Chic

"A perfect gift is really all about the wrapping, a fact that Howard Slatkin, designer and author of the new book Fifth Avenue Style, knows oh so well. And, as the holidays approach, this huge, gorgeous, and all-tied-up book is one of those gifts that needs no wrapping." - Design Chic

"I love Fifth Avenue Style! You will too! Enjoy!" - Mark D. Sikes, Chic People Glamorous Places Stylish Things

"This fabulous design book consists of a detailed tour of Mr. Slatkin's extravagant Fifth Avenue abode..no detail is too small and none have been left out, including photos of the inside of closets to original floorplans and beyond." -The Zush

http://www.amazon.com/Fifth-Avenue-Style-Designers-Apartment/dp/0865652899