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"There&amp;#039;s a lot to be said for knowing one&amp;#039;s clients well. Dan Barsanti, co-principal of the Westport, Connecticut-based design firm Healing Barsanti (Patricia Healing is the other half of the 25-year partnership), had already decorated homes for the owners of a New York City apartment when they asked him to design their new Manhattan pied-\u00E0-terre. The couple, a financier and his fianc\u00E9e who call Westport home, bought the three-bedroom unit before the building -- a favorite of celebrities from J-Lo to A-Rod -- was even finished. The businessman had been wowed by the expansive views from the still-incomplete high-rise when he was taken to the top in a construction elevator.   The apartment itself, with floor-to-ceiling windows facing north and east, was delivered raw: Barsanti had a blank slate to finish. &amp;quot;I wanted to give the space architectural integrity,&amp;quot; he says. Barsanti added baseboards and deep crown moldings and created coves to conceal uplights and curtain rods.  &amp;quot;I don&amp;#039;t start with a look,&amp;quot; says the designer. &amp;quot;I start with a feeling.&amp;quot; In this case, the vibe was &amp;quot;a little luxe, a little special. I wanted the clients to feel pampered and taken care of.&amp;quot;  For their part, the homeowners were keen on comfort. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s a retreat from the suburbs,&amp;quot; says the fianc\u00E9e. At home in Connecticut, they spend evenings by the fire. In warm weather, they dine nightly on the porch. &amp;quot;We wanted a departure from our previous New York apartment -- something a little more contemporary but comfortable, with big sofas and spaces that maximize the view,&amp;quot; she says.  Barsanti created rooms with an eclectic, forward-looking style that freely blends new furnishings and vintage pieces, textures and patterns with neutrals, and clean-lined contemporary elements with just a hint of ethnic flair. (The designer also worked around the dining room table and chairs the clients brought with them from their previous New York apartment, a rental near the United Nations.)  The entry hall sets the tone of sophisticated style that Barsanti carried throughout the 2,300-square-foot apartment. He covered the foyer&amp;#039;s walls in mirrored panels (the glass is treated to look antique) set into frames covered in bronze leaf to simulate solid metal. The ceiling is covered with squares of wallpaper that resemble painstakingly applied silver leaf (see What the Pros Know in the next page).  Mirrored panels conceal doors leading to the two bedrooms on one side and the kitchen and a third bedroom on the other. Straight ahead and to the left, glass doors with bronze-leafed frames to match the surrounding walls open onto the living and dining rooms. When the owners come home at night, the lights of the city twinkling through the window-wall beyond reflect off the vestibule&amp;#039;s walls; the ceiling casts a reflective glow, too. &amp;quot;I wanted there to be a sense of mystery when you arrived,&amp;quot; says Barsanti. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s mysterious but also calming,&amp;quot; says the fianc\u00E9e.   In the living and dining rooms, Barsanti added deep crown moldings that give the rooms architectural definition and conceal cove lighting that casts a warm glow against the ceiling, which is covered in a shimmery wallpaper similar to the one covering the entry hall&amp;#039;s ceiling. The walls are finished in an off-white vinyl wallpaper that suggests the reflective luster of lacquer -- but without the expensive, labor-intensive lacquering process.  Patterned pillows and curtains and a pair of vintage brass table lamps evoke a vaguely Moroccan feel; dark upholstery, a 1970s Italian marble coffee table and gold-hued accents strike a chord of disco-era glamour. &amp;quot;I like design from the &amp;#039;70s. People were sexier then,&amp;quot; says Barsanti. &amp;quot;By nature, I tend to go glam; so does the man of the house; she, on the other hand, is the voice of reason. This project was about being comfortable but luxurious -- and not pretentious,&amp;quot; he adds. &amp;quot;So we tried to keep it understated.&amp;quot;  Throughout the home, Barsanti stuck with soft, well-appointed fabrics and generously proportioned furniture that invites lounging, like the living room&amp;#039;s Marina sofa from Nancy Corzine (the designer calls it one of his favorites of all time). The master bedroom has Madison faux-suede walls (by Lori Weitzner through Bergamo) and a cashmere-upholstered bed and faux-fur ottomans. Trundle beds in one of the guest rooms are upholstered in gray flannel-like fabric. &amp;quot;The idea is that you feel ensconced,&amp;quot; says Barsanti.  Indeed, his clients are happily ensconced in their aerie among Manhattan&amp;#039;s skyscrapers. &amp;quot;We hope to spend more time there,&amp;quot; say the homeowners. &amp;quot;It will be home for many years to come.&amp;quot;  What the Pros Know  It&amp;#039;s often said that the ceiling is the &amp;quot;fifth wall&amp;quot; of a room -- and it&amp;#039;s usu ally the forgotten one: Most people focus far more attention on floors and walls. But the fifth wall is becoming an increasingly important design element. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m very big on doing ceilings,&amp;quot; says designer Dan Barsanti. He points out that a painted or papered ceiling not only makes a room look more finished but reflects more light and can render a space &amp;quot;softer, quieter and more peaceful. . . . Dark ceilings in particular can emotionally settle a room and make it come together.&amp;quot; In this New York apartment, Barsanti applied dark wallpaper with a slight metallic luster to the ceilings of the foyer and living and dining rooms. He had standard-width rolls of wallpaper cut up into smaller squares that suggest the patchwork quality of gold- or silver-leafed surfaces; they also skirt the visual distraction of long seams. Papering a ceiling doesn&amp;#039;t require any special paste or hanging techniques, Barsanti says -- just a hat for the installer to ward off accidental glue drips. Click here to see the resources. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elledecor.com/home-remodeling-renovating/a3846/global-glamour-a-51818/>