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" Many people consider decorating, that intimidating job of pulling a home together, to be a step-by-step process. They tackle it one task at a time until the project is finally complete. But I&amp;#039;ve always found that with the best rooms, the ones we love to look at and spend time in, the steps never really stop. Change and evolution are as much a part of great design as elegant furnishings and fine fabrics.  The homes in this issue prove the point. Each is the result of adaptations, revisions, and sometimes full-scale renovations. And each change has only made the rooms more unusual, more reflective of the owners. And that\u2014not the placement of a chair or the choice of a window treatment\u2014is what makes design truly fascinating.  Steven Volpe, one of the most refined decorators working today, was quick to embrace loft living a decade ago, only to discover that vast industrial spaces and his classical training made for an unhappy marriage. That set him off on a process of education and a rethinking of what was truly important to him.  Perhaps it wasn&amp;#039;t pure serendipity that literary agent Lynn Nesbit was working on a book with renowned decorator Rose Tarlow when she grew dissatisfied with her own apartment. But that connection led her to one of Tarlow&amp;#039;s prot\u00E9g\u00E9s, and to a fresh vision of the way she wanted to live and entertain.  Trevor and Alexis Traina both grew up surrounded by high style, so it&amp;#039;s not surprising that their own home is a confluence of ideas from major design talents in both New York and California. Charles de Ganay&amp;#039;s ch\u00E2teau near the Fontainebleau forest reflects not only his family&amp;#039;s distinguished history but also his own preoccupations and passions\u2014everything from falconry to trekking through South America. And Gwynn Griffith&amp;#039;s startling makeover of a former metalworking shop in San Antonio couldn&amp;#039;t be more personal, featuring not only her own paintings and her extensive collections, but also works by her two artist sons.  Change isn&amp;#039;t easy, and renovation is invariably a hell of a lot more difficult than you could ever anticipate. But that doesn&amp;#039;t mean it&amp;#039;s not worth undertaking. What could be better than having a home that shows who you are now as well as where you have been? Design, like life, should never come to a standstill. Michael Boodro Editor in Chief  elledecormail@hearst.com "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elledecor.com/design-decorate/news/a3358/elle-decor-editors-page-september-2011-a-70265/>