Master Suite, Downtown Minneapolis

Photo by Karen Melvin

March 2009

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Project: Master Suite, Downtown Minneapolis
Designer: Shelly Riehl Dávid
Firm: Riehl Designs, 952-473-4175,
RIEHLDESIGNS.COM

Cosmopolitan style and kick-back comfort come together with ease in this thirty-seventh-floor condo master suite at The Carlyle in downtown Minneapolis. The project, designed by Shelly Riehl Dávid for restaurateur Keyvan Talebi (who was featured on the cover of our September 2008 issue), is a study in natural materials, Dávid says. “We drew our inspiration from earthy minerals—platinum, pewter, crystal, and silver,” she says. “It’s relaxing, but the embellishments create a a sophisticated mood and an effect that glimmers with the city lights at night.”

Photo by Karen Melvin

A narrow wall span with a see-through gas fireplace and zebrawood paneling draws a subtle boundary between the sitting room and bedroom areas. But fabrics and finishes ensure that the spaces read as a cohesive whole: Cut-silk velvet was used for the upholstered headboard and chaise longues as well as the custom duvet, and the zebrawood night tables match the wall paneling. Sand-colored wool carpeting carries through both spaces.

Photo by Karen Melvin

Walls feature what Dávid calls a “silvery, almost platinum color.” For dramatic impact, the primary wall features a wall covering by Arte, its damask pattern formed with tiny, subtly shimmering crystals. A pewter-colored paint decorates the suite’s other walls as well as its cove ceilings. Dark-stained wood crown molding adds detail to the cove, tying it to the other wood finishes in the suite. “I believe in integrating ceilings with the rest of the room’s design, especially in a bedroom where you’re in bed looking up,” Dávid says. “I can’t stand white ceilings.”

But the pièce de résistance is the handmade silk Fortuny chandelier. “It’s a signed work of art, hand-painted in gold with a little Murano crystal hanging from the bottom,” Dávid says. “At night, it lights up like the moon.”