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"Stephanie Stokes's Book, Elegant Rooms That Work\nThe designer shares her tips for creating functional traditional spaces in a new book\nIn her own Manhattan living room, interior designer Stephanie Stokes created a floor plan with entertaining in mind, carving out space for four seating areas and a breakfast table. A George II parcel-gilt mirror surmounts the marble Regency mantel, which the decorator had scaled down to better fit the room's proportions; neutral fabrics were used to downplay the seating's substantial scale.\nStokes's Manhattan bedroom features a tranquil palette of gold and powder blue. Modular boxes underneath the canopy bed provide hidden storage for linens and luggage.\nThe library in Stokes's home also serves as a guest room, media room, wet bar, and office of her design firm.\nStokes infused a home in Westchester with French country style. She delineated the dining area\u2014which flows into the kitchen and family room\u2014by using a rug that incorporates the hues found in the curtains and seat cushions. A rack was built under the window to house newspapers and magazines.\nA New York City couple gutted several rooms in their apartment to accommodate a larger dining and living area and kitchen. The cabinetry in the butler's pantry utilizes overhead space, offering storage for 120 pieces of glassware. Knives fit into slots in the granite countertops, and removable Masonite panels allow for customized storage in the cabinets.\nStokes crafted a family-friendly apartment in the Plaza hotel, employing substantial furnishings (iron benches, stone garden stools) that the children wouldn't be able to disrupt. The cocktail table, which features a shelf for extra storage, is sprayed with car lacquer for an ultradurable finish.\nFor a dressing room in the Paris apartment of Herm\u00E8s's Xavier Guerrand-Herm\u00E8s, Stokes combined unique furnishings and art from North Africa to make the space feel more personal. Customized screen doors with spear-like dowels backed with silk lend an airiness to the cabinetry.\n\nElegant Rooms That Work is available through Rizzoli ($50)"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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