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"View Slideshow\n\nTo many interior designers, infusing a home with life and the spirit of its residents is a never ending process. The home evolves as times, tastes and interests change. An excellent example is the Manhattan apartment of Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, daughter of actress Rita Hayworth and the late Prince Ali Khan. \"My home is in a constant state of flux,\" the princess explains. \"I am always adding new objects and moving things around.\"\n\nTen years ago Princess Yasmin moved to New York and met, through a friend, the young interior designer Samuel Botero. They immediately understood each other's tastes and have been collaborating on her residences ever since. \"In a way, we've grown up together,\" says Botero. \"I helped Yasmin with her first apartment, and over the years our outlooks have broadened. She never says Just go ahead and do it,' but takes an active part in every phase of a project. We've had great fun and many amusing adventures along the way.\"\n\nIn this apartment, collections of Ballet Russe costume sketches, Oriental rugs, family photographs and heirlooms, arranged casually and with a great deal of flair, create the unmistakable signature of Princess Yasmin Khan. The influence of old-world tradition is evident throughout. \"I have a genuine appreciation for art and antiques and I enjoy collecting things with a past or family history. They become part of me and create the only atmosphere in which I feel truly at home,\" she says.\n\nIn planning the design, a balance had to be struck between the princess's traditional preferences and her flexible, modern way of life. \"Yasmin likes to entertain small groups, from college friends to heads of state,\" the designer says. \"She needed areas appropriate for different occasions, as well as space to accommodate an ever growing number of objects.\" A former guest room adjoining the living room provided one solution. The designer transformed it into a library \u2014 more intimate than the rather formal living room \u2014 giving it access to the living room through French doors. Botero achieved visual continuity by outlining the bookcases and the entrances of both rooms with Neoclassical pilasters and moldings suggested by the architectural details of the 1930s building. \"It was not meant as a Postmodern gesture,\" the designer explains. \"It was an effort to define the entrances and to relate the library, in scale and context, to the traditional scheme of the apartment. I wanted the rooms and the objects in them to look as though everything had always been there.\"\n\nSamuel Botero determined the layout of each room, organizing the larger pieces first and placing them to their best advantage, before choosing colors and fabrics. \"Giving each room a definite structure makes it easier to change the art and accessories as new additions are made,\" he points out.\n\nBolder about using color here than she was in her former apartment, Princess Yasmin says, \"Besides a dominant neutral shade, we've used pastels to highlight the art objects and create a warm, lived in atmosphere. In the dining room, for example, we chose a pale soft textured cotton to enhance a pair of Kirman tapestries that belonged to my father.\"\n\nPrincess Yasmin told Botero she had long desired a bedroom with the look, serenity and whimsy of a garden. \"With this in mind, I covered the walls and upholstered the furniture in floral chintz,\" the designer explains. The result: another expression of a modern princess's aesthetic, in a residence where respect for the past enriches the present with meaning."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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