S.R. Gambrel

A maestro of form, color and pattern, Steven Gambrel composed this Upper East Side living room to be elegantly livable and ever so slightly edgy — note the pink sunburst-patterned mirror, the purple Michael Harris for Mdina vase, the cardiogram-patterned curtains and the Roberto Rida abstract lamp perched on a Mastercraft console he found on 1stDibs. The marble of a 19th-century English mantelpiece from Jamb informed what the S.R. Gambrel founder calls “an unusual palette,” anchored by the pale green-gray of the Venetian plaster and silk carpet. Gambrel says he also sought out “handsome materials” — such as the bronze of a rare Philip and Kelvin LaVerne Fantasia coffee table, from Donzella, and the eggshell inlay of the nesting tables — to complement vintage finds, including two 1955 Jacques Adnet armchairs and a pair of 1950s Marco  Zanuso Lady chairs from 1stDibs dealer Bernd Goeckler. “The inspiration,” the Manhattan designer says, “was nineteen-forties New York interiors, where historic architecture meets twentieth-century furniture.” And in his hands, it looks effortlessly timeless.