D4| Saturday/Sunday, October 19 - 20, 2019 **** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
FAST FIVE
Cement Topped
Nesting Table Set,
$598, shopterrain.comW
hen a client utters the four
fatal words “I have a vi-
sion,” it can halt the aver-
age interior designer’s
heart. Kirill Istomin was
delighted, however, by a homeowner’s ad-
mittedly unusual idea for the color scheme
of the master bedroom she shares with her
husband in a suburban-Moscow second
home. “I was prepared for a reference to
Givenchy’s recent collection or something
like that because she’s very into fashion,”
said the designer, who’s based in New York
and Moscow, “but she went on and on about
how she loved the macarons from Ladurée
in Paris.” Once his client suggested that the
powdery pastels of the brand’s sweets and
packaging inform the bedroom’s palette, Mr.
Istomin abandoned his working décor strat-
egy. “I thought, What a great idea,” he said.
He expressed those hues by way of the Eng-
lish-country style the woman had grown to
love when living in London. Result: a unique
room that’s quiet, comfortable and, despite
the British influences, somewhat French.
Mr. Istomin found the first embodiment
of macaron color in the Lee Jofa “Chelver-
ton Ii” floral fabric seen in the bed’s can-
opy, headboard and skirt. It’s more muted
than a standard English country pattern—
both the blue of the hydrangeas and the
green of the leaves are atypically soft.
“English would use florals, but in brighter
colors,” said the designer. The room’s décor
further diverges from classic Anglo eclecti-
cism in its avoidance of dark contrasting
colors, another request of the client, which
are usually present in the form of brown
furniture.
The flounciness of the bed’s canopy and
skirt and the room’s pattern mix, however,
are very Colefax and Fowler, explained Mr.Istomin, referring to the quintessentially
British design firm known for sumptuous
juxtapositions of prints. The pale blue check
that flows down the wall under the canopy
and sheathes the throw pillows comple-
ments the floral and “keeps the room from
being too serious.” Orienting the pattern on
the diagonal makes diamonds of the checks,
an effect very subtly echoed by tiny blue
checks in the silk-taffeta shades atop the
vintage porcelain lamps. The poofy-skirt de-
sign of those shades “isn’t what they’re do-
ing today,” said Mr. Istomin. “It’s very Brit-
ish and very old-fashioned.” But that
throwback quality adds a layer of imagined
family history to the scene: The lamps
could plausibly have been inherited from
poof-favoring ancestors.
Of the quilted bedspread, with its over-
size scalloped edging, Mr. Istomin said, “It’s
Grandma but in a good way.” The palest of
pinks, it evokes macarons, as does the yel-low of the tapestry that covers the bench at
the foot of the bed.
Built-in cabinets along the wall were
modeled after 18th-century Chippendale
breakfronts, but Mr. Istomin painted them
ivory, distancing them from Brit tradition
and adhering to his client’s edict to avoid
dark contrasting shades. The result nods
more to a French country look, as does, of
course, the fauteuil, or French armchair,
covered in silk velvet from Scalamandre.
In having a pair of mirrored nightstands
manufactured, Mr. Istomin achieved two
aims: He jazzed up the space and avoided a
cloying excess of painted furniture. “Their
shape is very traditional, like a little French
cabinet,” said the designer, “but the mirror
adds a bit of glamour, and because it’s re-
flective, it’s sort of there and not there.”
And by energetically reflecting the soft blue
of the custom carpet and pale celadon fabric
that upholsters the walls, the mirror doesn’t
compromise the pastel theme.
“This is my version of monochromatic. It
has some color to it, but it’s very subtle,
with the same level of intensity,” said Mr.
Istomin. “I wanted to make this room com-
fortable and pleasing to the eye, but quiet
doesn’t mean boring and uninteresting.” As
a space, it’s both special and digestible,
much like its cookie antecedent.SPIRIT GUIDE
BYCATHERINEROMANO
LIVING IN THE PASTELThe Ladurée treats
at far left were the basis for the color
palette that designer Kirill Istomin used in
this suburban-Moscow home.Set of Three Nesting
Tables ‘Gigogne,’$3,880,
1stdibs.comVintage Brass and Rose
Gold Italian Mirrored Glass
Nesting Tables,$2,600,
chairish.comTheyevokethepeek-a-boocharmofRussiandolls,buttablesthattuck
intoeachotheralsoofferinestimablevaluetothespace-challengedNesting, Nesting, 1, 2, 3
Sweet Dreams
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GreatFutures.orgSIMON UPTON (ROOM); F. MARTIN RAMIN/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (MACARON)DESIGN & DECORATING