Tier Options
Curation
Complete home decoration from trade sourcing to final installation.
A client who has recently moved, is moving, or wants to refresh a space without undertaking construction. New condo buyers who need to furnish from scratch. Existing residents who want to upgrade quality and coherence without disrupting the building's systems.
Bespoke
Museum-quality curation. Exclusive international sourcing. Ongoing collection stewardship.
A client commissioning a permanent home - typically a $3M+ property - where the objectss in the space are understood as part of the long-term investment in the residence. Clients who understand the difference between buying furnitur and building a collection.
Investment
Timeline varies by program. Curation runs 3–4 months from brief to installation. Bespoke runs 6–12 months, reflecting the nature of international sourcing and commissioned production. The timeline for each program is documented in its scope.
In Detail
Most decor is optimized for photography. Ours is optimized for use. The difference is visible in the frame of a sofa, the twist count of a fabric, the dye process of a rug, the provenance of an object. These are not details the client needs to manage — they are the details we manage, on every project, without exception. The result is a room that does not require replacement in five years.
What's Included
Decoration is the design discipline that addresses the objects in a residence — furniture, art, textiles, lighting fixtures, window treatments, and accessories. No structural work. No construction. Nothing fixed to the building is changed. What changes is everything within it.
Scope Details
- Space planning and furniture layout within the existing architecture
- Furniture specification and procurement: made-to-order from trade showrooms, secondary market, or custom fabrication
- Textile specification: upholstery, drapery, area rugs, bedding
- Art curation and acquisition
- Window treatment specification: heading, fullness, lining, hardware
- Lighting fixture selection
- Accessory and object sourcing and placement
- Full procurement management: purchase orders, lead time tracking, delivery coordination, storage
- Professional installation and final styling
Sub-Services Comparison
Decor is offered at two levels: Curation and Bespoke. The two programs share the same standard but draw from different sourcing channels and serve different client situations. Curation sources from the existing trade and secondary market. Bespoke commissions what doesn't exist and accesses what isn't publicly available.
The Process
Sourcing
- Trade showrooms: Made-to-order from the D&D Building and sister showrooms across Manhattan. These are trade-only — inaccessible without a professional relationship. The D&D Building alone contains over one hundred showrooms representing the primary sourcing infrastructure for residential design in the United States. A Curation program sources primarily from this channel.
- Secondary market: Auction houses and the secondary market for pieces with provenance, patina, or character that new production cannot replicate. Doyle and Christie's for estate material. 1stDibs and Chairish for curated vintage. Secondary market sourcing is active in both programs — more central in Bespoke, selective in Curation.
- Custom fabrication: Vetted New York workshops for upholstery, drapery, and millwork. We work with the same fabricators across projects — their consistency is part of the quality control. Custom fabrication is standard in Curation; long-lead international fabrication is the standard in Bespoke.
- International and commissioned: European ateliers, Paris décorateurs, Milan showrooms, estate pre-sale access, and direct commissions with artists and craftspeople. This channel is the defining characteristic of the Bespoke program. It does not exist in Curation.
What We Don't Do
We do not source from retail — not West Elm, not Restoration Hardware, not Wayfair. Every piece in a Decor program is made-to-order, individually selected, or specially commissioned. Not available to anyone who walks into a store. Not optimized for a warehouse shelf.
Process by Subservice
The distinction is not budget - it is the nature of the work.Curation draws from the existing market. Bespoke brings pieces into existence that did not previously exist.
Curation
Bespoke
Site survey and measurement, lifestyle and brief development, budget framework, preliminary concept direction. This phase establishes exactly what is needed before any sourcing begins.
Extended brief development including investment philosophy, provenance preferences, cultural references, legacy intentions. This is a significantly deeper conversation than standard decoration briefing.
Furniture layout plans, preliminary sourcing and selections, material and finish specifications. Client review and approval of direction before procurement begins.
International sourcing trips and remote sourcing. Estate and pre-sale review. Commissioned piece development including artist and craftsperson selection, concept development, contract.
Purchase orders placed for all approved items. Trade lead times are typically 12–20 weeks for made-to-order pieces. Progress tracked and communicated throughout.
Curated presentation of all proposed pieces with provenance, condition, and placement rationale. Client review and selection. Confirmation of commissioned work.
White-glove delivery, professional installation, styling and final placement. Punch list resolved within 30 days of installation.
Commissioned pieces in production. Purchased pieces in transit. International logistics managed including customs, insurance, and condition reporting.
White-glove installation. Art hanging. Final placement and styling. Collection documentation.
Collection management, acquisition advisory, and curatorial services on a retained or project basis after initial installation.
Ideal For
The Client
A client whose residence is complete or near-complete at the structural level, and who wants the objects in that space to be as considered as the architecture. Common situations: new purchase of a property — glass tower, pre-war co-op, or townhouse — where the unit was delivered empty or with developer staging. Existing long-term residents who want to upgrade the quality and coherence of the space they already occupy. Clients making a primary investment in a permanent Manhattan home and treating the decoration as part of that investment, not as a finishing gesture after the real decisions have been made.
What This Addresses
The Decor Standard
Every piece specified in a Decor program — whether Curation or Bespoke — is evaluated against three criteria: will it be physically sound in twenty years, will it remain aesthetically relevant, and does it represent genuine craft by a maker whose work deserves to exist in this residence.
Most residential furnishings are optimized for photography. Ours are optimized for use. The difference is visible in the frame of a sofa, the twist count of a fabric, the dye process of a rug, the secondary market value of a piece five years after installation. These are not details the client is expected to manage — they are the details we manage, on every project, without exception.
What Decor Is Not:
Decor is not staging. It is not the selection of objects to appeal to a broad market. It is the selection of objects for a specific residence and a specific life — and those objects are specified to last beyond any market cycle. Decor is also not the same as renovation. If the kitchen layout doesn't function, furniture placement cannot fix it. If there is no built-in storage, a rug cannot create it. Decor operates at the surface of a residence — the objects within it. The architecture beneath those objects belongs to Design and Build.
Not A Fit If
The kitchen needs to be reconfigured, built-in storage needs to be added, or the lighting infrastructure needs to be replaced. Decor operates at the surface of a residence. For any work that modifies what is fixed to the building — cabinetry, systems, structural elements — the correct starting point is Home Upgrade, Home Improvement, or Home Renovation. If the project involves a new construction property and the client also wants smart home integration, outdoor terraces, home gym, and home theater — the correct scope is Home Improvement, which can include a full Decor program delivered in coordination with the systems work.
Tier Evolution
Decor clients frequently return for Design or Build work on the same property once they have experienced the result of a professional decoration program and want to extend that quality to the architecture of the space. The most common evolution: Curation client returns for Home Upgrade to address the kitchen and bathrooms. Bespoke client engages Home Renovation or Home Remodeling to bring the structural quality of the space to the level of the collection. The design quality compound — which is why the order matters.
Building Requirements
Applicable Architecture
Decor applies to all building types. Board approval is not required for either program — no structural or mechanical work is involved. The practical constraint is service elevator dimensions for furniture delivery, which we assess during the initial site survey. In pre-war buildings with small service elevators, certain large pieces require disassembly and reassembly on-site — this is standard practice and is accounted for in the delivery and installation phase.