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"A great-granddaughter of the founder of fabled New York emporium ABC Carpet &amp;amp;amp; Home , Madeline Weinrib grew up -- like Eloise at the Plaza -- surrounded by choice rugs, chandeliers, and exotic furnishings. But while Weinrib inherited her family&amp;#039;s zeal for beautiful objects, she at first rejected the lure of that magical urban bazaar on lower Broadway. She wanted to be a painter, and the two worlds seemed irreconcilable. As Weinrib explains, &amp;quot;There was a real boundary between art and decoration then.&amp;quot; In fact, 12 years ago, when she agreed to design a collection of cotton rugs for ABC Carpet, the gallery representing her paintings considered it a conflict of interest and asked her to leave. Weinrib was heartbroken, but ultimately found the split to be a giant leap forward creatively.   Today she is part of the family&amp;#039;s corporate fold, drawing on her explorations on canvas to design decorative accessories -- from rugs to fabric to fashion -- that are refreshingly modern reinterpretations of the classics. These are showcased, along with vintage textiles and other finds from her travels, in the Madeline Weinrib Atelier on the department store&amp;#039;s sixth floor. But nowhere is Weinrib&amp;#039;s commitment to breaking down the barriers between art and decoration more apparent than in her own home, an industrial loft located above a small museum in SoHo. The expansive, sun-filled apartment consists of two high-ceilinged rooms: a vast space that encompasses the kitchen, dining, and living areas; and a comparatively compact bedroom where a white spiral staircase leads to a roof deck affording a picturesque view of neighboring water towers.  Weinrib&amp;#039;s home is her laboratory -- she still paints, mostly miniature abstracts, which she creates on the dining area&amp;#039;s French farm table. Reference books are stacked in built-in bookcases so tall an antique Chinese ladder is necessary to reach the top shelves. Every corner bears evidence of her artistic passion and appreciation for Kashmiri shawls, Venetian glass, English pewter mugs, and antique furniture and textiles. In the living area, gallery-white walls show off a wide-ranging art collection, from Weinrib&amp;#039;s own paintings to a Franz Kline drawing -- a college-graduation gift from her parents -- propped on an antique wood chest. The room&amp;#039;s upholstery and rugs are earth tones, a bit surprising for a woman known for her embrace of pinks, oranges, and purples. But the neutral scheme is a perfect background for Weinrib to brashly combine patterns. Here she places a Beni Ourain rug with a large diamond motif beside a pair of 1970s Milo Baughman stools upholstered in an energetic triangle pattern. A midcentury chair covered in spotted cowhide, and Weinrib&amp;#039;s spotted brown-and-cream pillows -- whose large circles have painterly blurred edges -- add to the room&amp;#039;s graphic punch.  Weinrib began collecting blue-and-white ceramics in high school, and the classic porcelain pieces inspired the palette in the bedroom, where indigo bed linens blend with the inky hues of her own fabrics, including a zigzag cotton used to cover a Victorian horn ottoman. Initially worried that the color scheme would look old hat, the designer began sharpening it with doses of black -- bedside tables, vintage reading lights, a geometric carpet -- so the room became a funky personal space with a decidedly unexpected edge. &amp;quot;Black is terribly unsentimental,&amp;quot; Weinrib notes with satisfaction. &amp;quot;It takes away the sweetness.&amp;quot;  That being said, she is a sensualist who can&amp;#039;t resist moments of pure glamour. A mirrored vanity from the &amp;#039;20s is arrayed with glittering perfume bottles, bowls of vintage beads, and bangles organized on silver candlesticks. In the living area, a 19th-century table with a worn velvet surface serves as a welcoming bar stocked with Venetian highball glasses (typically used for Weinrib&amp;#039;s house drink, Pimm&amp;#039;s Cup) and stirrers with pale-blue glass birds on top.  This intriguing material exuberance, where Victoriana meets the Middle East with a soup\u00E7on of chinoiserie, is a Weinrib family hallmark. An Aladdin&amp;#039;s-cave effect is the aesthetic signature of their trendsetting business, but in Weinrib&amp;#039;s loft, the bohemianism has been distilled to its essence. For instance, while the store&amp;#039;s main floor is hung with hundreds of dazzling chandeliers, the designer&amp;#039;s place is bedecked with just two: one in the kitchen and a small but exquisite Murano chandelier strung with blue and white glass spheres in the bedroom. It&amp;#039;s a note of admirable restraint but, as Weinrib admits, somewhat misleading. Among her apartment&amp;#039;s most interesting features are hidden wall cabinets whose shelves are laden with collectibles safely stored until Weinrib is ready to deploy them. &amp;quot;Even if I love it, I don&amp;#039;t put everything on display,&amp;quot; the designer says. &amp;quot;I am always ruthlessly editing.&amp;quot; Click here for the resources. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elledecor.com/design-decorate/house-interiors/a3861/madeline-weinrib-nyc-loft/>