Fifth Avenue Style: Howard Slatkin

Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue Style is a gorgeously illustrated book where the esteemed yet fame-shy American interior decorator opens the doors of his legendary Fifth Avenue apartment where he reveals a highly sophisticated yet comfortable bijou home that amalgamates 18th Century European chateau style, czarist Russia, Chinoiserie and Orientalism. This guided tour into his 6,000 sq.ft. Manhattan pre-war co-op and each carefully planned and cleverly arranged room illustrate perfectly the ease and flair of the extravagant tastemaker.

Slatkin’s palatial eyrie is a tour de force and masterclass in multi-layering fabrics, textures, colours, sizes and styles which, as by magic, never clash, detract or compete with each other; on the contrary, all of these ornate decorative strata live harmoniously side by side. Slatkin is notoriously famous for being an obsessive perfectionist and power entertainer; each and every single detail like the doorknobs, tiles and 19th Century silk lampshades were designed by him and his parties and their ‘tablescapes’ are legendary too.

Sitting room with gilt chairs by the window, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Blue bedroom with a draped canopy bed, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

What is fascinating about this book is that Slatkin ‘bares all’ from furniture plans, resolution of challenges, construction concepts to the selection of finishes and exquisite craftsmanship. Comparisons with Renzo Mongiardino and Henry Samuel are inevitable. There is undeniably a lot to take in when you look at these spectacular and completely bespoke interiors but blog A-Gent of Style took immense pleasure in taking the time to scrutinise, analyse and ultimately admire every single detail and ‘not to just look but see’as the maximalist himself professes. I hope you will too and that you will enjoy this compelling odyssey into Olde Worlde romantic artistry and boundless, lavish imagination that epitomise Howard Slatkin. (A-GENT-OF STYLE )

Joelle's Tips:

Fifth Avenue Style: Howard Slatkin: 9780865652897: Amazon.com: Books

Gilt clock on a blue chinoiserie wall, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Desk covered in objects in a tapestry-hung room, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

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Shoe shelves in a wood dressing room, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Window with a bronze figure and orchids, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Bed with white linens below framed art, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Design scrapbook pages of interiors, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Room hung with Old Master paintings, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Grisaille wallpaper and a carved door, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Breakfast tray on an antique desk, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Floral embroidered lampshade, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Candle and white flowers beside a carved panel, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Daybed against patterned wallpaper, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Fifth Avenue Style book cover with a dining room, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Grisaille pagoda mural and white flowers, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Dark salon with a gilt chandelier and portrait, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Man relaxing on a sofa in a richly decorated room, from the Howard Slatkin story

Scrapbook of design inspiration, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Bar cart and barometer in a paneled room, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Cream hangers on a paneled door, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Pink porcelain tea set on a painted table, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Bronze sculpture and glass cases on a desk, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Blue and white porcelain jar against amber panels, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Doorway into a lacquered dressing room, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Bronze figure on a gilt commode with roses, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Fifth Avenue Style book cover with geometric pattern, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Chinoiserie mural with candles on a console, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Living room overlooking Central Park, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Patterned walls hung with framed prints, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Linen closet with folded towels, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

White tulips on a gilt table with candlesticks, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Pale green salon with chandelier and gilt chairs, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Paneled doorway in a book-lined hall, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Green-paneled butler’s pantry, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Library with red bookshelves and candelabra, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Toile-lined walls and a gilt sconce, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Silk curtain with a tieback and a bronze bust, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Painted plate with a lemon and gilt flatware, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Collage of rooms and fabrics, Howard Slatkin’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Man with a small dog on a sofa, from the Howard Slatkin story

Joelle Maslaton Oster

A designer's eye on where to stay, what to live with, and who makes it. Studio Joelle designs homes, hotels and restaurants, from one room to a full project.

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