Every object in this room has a reason. The Chinoiserie cabinet came first — the starting point everything else had to answer to. The pink glass mirror from India, the ikat, the carved coffee table, the ranunculus that happen to be there on a Tuesday. And then the “Low Ceiling” sign — a custom piece I originally made for a client’s Turkish-inspired den, I painted by hand, kept because it still makes me laugh and because it says something true about how I work. Serious knowledge and genuine wit aren’t opposites. In a room that’s really working, they’re the same thing.