Home By Design: Five Luxurious Bedroom Suites

From Russian neoclassical pieces to Louis XVI and antique Swedish mirrors, the designer demonstrates a knack for blending a variety of styles in unexpected ways. “Everything comes together to be a style in and of itself,” he says.

Even the antique mirrors were arranged in a thoroughly modern way. “When you use antiques, it doesn’t mean it needs to feel old,” the designer says. “It can feel modern and contemporary with antiques.” The end result is anything but cluttered. As Pavarini says, the space is so calming, even though there is a lot of detail in the room: “A good room is like a constellation. Everything needs to revolve in harmony.”

The designer’s take on a Renaissance bed chamber is well-suited for the 21st century. Pavarini also relies on lighting as a unique design tool. “That’s the most visible sense of drama in the space,” he says. The LED lighting strategically placed between the upholstered headboard and wall creates a breathtaking effect. Antique lighting, which includes everything from 19th-century French Victorian sconces to an art deco-style sconce from 1918, adds distinction to the soothing space. The Simonet Frères French art deco chandelier from the 1930s takes center stage inside the bed chamber.

The 1940s art deco pieces by French furniture artisan Jules Leleu include the rosewood and bronze ormolu desk that features a small painting suspended on a fishing line above. “The painting levitates above the desk,” Pavarini says. A Russian neoclassical table at the foot of the bed and Louis XVI-style bedside tables blend together beautifully when mixed in such a masterful way.

The lounge chair was designed by Pavarini and manufactured by Anthony Lawrence-Belfair, who also made the desk chair and window treatments. Other objects of interest include the Elyseé chair by Niermann Weeks, a lounge chair by Lorin Marsh, and a metal and mirror side table by Carole Gratale.

A number of sources contributed to the show house project including Philips, which provided the LED lighting. The floor, provided by Exquisite Surfaces, hails from a chateau in France. Bergamo donated more than 200 yards of contemporary fabrics, such as the velvet drapery panels that cascade from the ceiling.

For the famed Kips Bay Decorator Show House in
New York, the designer crafted a bedroom known as “Buonanotte.” The name, which means good night in Italian, stems from his heritage. “Often my designs have a very European flair,” he says. “I am reaching back into my past.”

Pavarini, who has a satellite office in Paradise Valley, Arizona, says his work also tends to have a dramatic flair, which is due no doubt to a former dance career that led to set and costume design. “Without that experience, what I do today would not be what it is,” he says. “We are a culmination of our own history.”

As the grandson of the founder of one of New York City’s primary 20th-century construction companies, Pavarini is clearly a master of balance and proportion. For starters, the furnishings in this spectacular space span two-and-a-half centuries.

The classic window shutters were provided by Window Works of Livingston, New Jersey. Bed linens by Anichini, such as the chestnut mink pillows and throw, kick up the cozyfactor. A celestial painting by Spec Fin Designs, featuring the constellations Pegasus, Aries, and Aquarius, contributes to the ethereal quality of the space.

It has been said that Pavarini’s projects are done in a very poetic manner. This can be seen in the lavish bed panels that provide views showing “slices of the room,” he says. “I like to include a little bit of illusion somehow. I take a very theatrical approach, but one that is non-threatening. I like to mix it in a context that becomes very livable.” From this room, the designer was commissioned to design fifty apartments in the historical Apthorp building in New York.

In the end, the show house speaks volumes about the power of design. “When we change our interiors, we begin to feel better about ourselves,” says Pavarini, who describes this project as a pure vision without outside influences. “I can be edgy. I can be inventive. I can mix different layers. I design a show house as if I was designing a couture gown. It’s very personal.”

Lastly, the inventive space serves as a designer’s laboratory. “This is where we mix our potions for a design that is new,” Pavarini says. “This is where you want to push design forward to touch people so they would want to live in that way.”