Design Contest- Sex and the City- Samantha Jones

We were so excited when we got this entry from Christian at Maison21. Many of you are familiar with Christian's blog and his wonderful talent as a designer. It’s an honor to have him participate in our design contest. And what a great entry. This dude has taste and a wicked sense of humor. Enjoy!

Ed at Swank

his digital "in the mood" board ^

every time we come across sex and the city on late light tv, maison2, like gay men and straight women everywhere, drops what he is doing and stops to watch. after all these years it still entertains, and the story and characters are still so involving and well defined- right down to the new york city apartments our girls live in.

as a designer, maison21 appreciates the work the set decorators put into each set, to reflect the characters that lived within: carrie’s apartment was a mix of extravagance and thrift store boho- a t.h. robsjohn-gibbing chaise in her living area that probably cost a months salary, and a bench at the foot of her bed that she probably found on the street; miranda’s apartment was clean, contemporary, and stylish, yet slightly corporate in it’s decor, and charlotte’s apartment was impeccably turned out and decorated to perfection.

but somehow, maison21 always felt the production designer missed the mark with samantha’s apartment- it just didn’t really seem to reflect her character at all. it should have been sensuous and luxe as befitting both her status as a bombshell and a very successful business woman (and not afraid to flaunt it), it also should have reflected both her masculine and feminine sides, and above all, it should have SCREAMED sex.

now, these many years later, thanks to swank lighting and the material girls, maison21 gets a chance to rectify the situation! ladies and gentlemen, we give you “samantha jones’ waaaaaay sexier in the city boudoir” (as imagined by m21).

first, to set a seductive mood, m21 started with a monochromatic palette of mysterious twilight silver-grays and pewters for paint and fabrics, to which he added a little sparkle, a shot of color and a healthy dose of old-fashioned glamour. he kept the furniture and window coverings tailored and somewhat masculine, but softened them with feminine touches: the roman shade and headboard are pewter silk, with a black satin ribbon border, and the black-lacquer custom nightstands have mirrored drawer fronts for a femme-fatale vibe. on the walls, we’ve added girly framed graham & brown chrysanthemum floral wallpaper in a sensual plum and metallic print- the perfect backdrop for the luxe chic of the swank lighting vintage white opaline barbini lamps, on lucite bases. we’ve crowned the lamps with black satin shades, lined with silver foil- so when lit, they glow like jewels.

we also gave samantha a king-sized bed on which to romp, but remember- this is new york city, and though her apartment cost a small fortune, the bedroom is still quite small- so the only place the bed and headboard could possibly go was in front of the window. that’s ok- no great loss there- just a million dollar air shaft view, anyway!

last, no samantha jones boudoir would be complete without some blatant sex appeal, so we gave her a decadent and vaguely s&m-luxe faux chinchilla bed cover, and in a slightly more tasteful nod to a classic ceiling mounted “love mirror”, we’ve papered her ceiling in donghia’s “looks like tea paper” silver leaf wall-covering.