Staging of a Ralph Rapson home

Project: Staging of a Ralph Rapson home
Decorator: Ammar Steven Alshash
Firm: Dwelling Designs, 5041 France Ave. S., Mpls., 612-922-9361

When homeowner and budding developer Jodi Peterson was planning to add an addition to her contemporary home in Edina’s Rolling Green neighborhood, she looked no further than the local statesman of modern classic architecture, Ralph Rapson. And when she needed to fill the home with furnishings and accents to entice a buyer, she turned to Ammar Steven Alshash, proprietor of modern classic and contemporary furnishing store, Dwelling Designs. Peterson asked Alshash to appropriately accessorize the home without stealing any of the architecture’s thunder. For Alshash, a young decorator with no formal training other than growing up “in the business,” the opportunity to, in less than half a year’s time, fill an 11,000-square-foot home with furnishings perfectly fit for architect Ralph Rapson’s architecture was a welcome challenge.

By using minimal furniture, lots of subtle layers—as seen in the varying of textures and materials—and an organic color palette, Alshash was able to keep the focus on the strong lines and fine features of the architecture while playing off the neighborhood’s natural surroundings. All of the furnishings in the living room, dining room, and den had to appear to float—like the open air that connects them. Barcelona chairs by Knoll, a glass Noguchi table, and one-armed chaises all fit this mold. And when Alshash couldn’t find a piece to fit, he had it made, even enlisting Rapson to design the fourteen-seat dining room table in Brazilian cherry wood.

To give the space warmth and dimension without adding bulk, Alshash focused on fabrics and textures. In the den, a suede Bensen sofa and Hyde Barcelona chairs by Knoll are placed on top of a shag carpet from New York City’s ABC Carpet & Home. In the living room, Alshash had the chaises stuffed in goose down, giving them a slight bulk—a lovely contrast to the Rapson–designed marble fireplace. Alshash chose the rug from ABC Carpet & Home to mimic the flames of the fireplace.

To pull the entire space together, but to give each room individual identity, a texture is never repeated. This allows Rapson’s use of Brazilian cherry wood and Boticino Classico marble to act as the seamless thread tying the rooms together. The stunning architecture of Rapson’s most recent project clearly needed no improvement, but Alshash’s expert eye and mix of modern classic and contemporary furnishings make the architecture pop.