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In a brief moment of misunderstanding, Melissa Powell admits she doesn’t mind the bugs: “If you have a garden like ours, you’re going to wind up with an occasional worm in the bathtub,” she says. Her wife, designer Kate Reid, laughs because the bugs she was referring to are decorative ones—dazzling, hand-beaded scarabs parading along the edges of the couple’s living room curtains.
They explain that these were a must-have for Reid, but at first vetoed as costly and unnecessary by Powell. Ridiculous. Offensive, even!
“But she loves them now,” says Reid of the whimsical 18-yard beaded border in their teeming-with-life Manhattan apartment. The compromise is one of only a few they made in the process of decorating their home; they are fully attuned, aesthetically and otherwise.
The women, who’ve been together for 10 years, are uniquely ensconced in the design industry. Reid is a partner at the New York decorating firm Marshall Watson & Reid Deane Ganes; Powell is managing editor at Sandow Books, the book packager responsible for bringing design titles by Ellie Cullman, Suzanne Kasler, Bobby McAlpine, Gil Schafer, and others to life.
But clients with extraordinary tastes and budgets to match didn’t influence or hinder these creative professionals—their personal style ethos is as clear as a bell, and big on roses.
Potted roses on the rooftop, illustrated roses on the walls and ceilings. Their preferred wine: a bubbly California rosé. “Some people want designer handbags; Kate wants David Austin roses,” Powell says. The iconic British flowers, known for their dimensional scents, star in this Victorian-era apartment’s most enviable feature: a rooftop garden, a miniature Surrey on the skyline. The outdoor room, with a wisteria-covered pergola and layers of dahlias and allium, is only out-bloomed by its nearest interior space, a primary suite fully drenched in cascading roses.
Lisa RomereinThe rooftop comes alive with sweet peas, wisteria, roses, and more. Yellow chairs, AllModern.
Lisa Romerein
Grapevine scrambling up the apartment’s façade lends to the rooftop’s Secret Garden charm. Luna the cat admires the blossoming nasturtium, allium, cosmos, and more. The vintage lantern is Moroccan.
“My grandmother was a major design influence on me, and she had a toile bedroom—walls, curtains, everything,” Reid recalls. “It was the first time I’d ever seen that, and here, I thought, we’re doing that! We’re going to make a cozy enclave of serenity for ourselves.” (Cue the birth of their first baby. And a few years later, another. Serenity be damned!)
Flowers suffuse the main living spaces, too. In the living room, pale pink glassine walls stretch up to a moody Victorian floral-papered ceiling, and the kitchen has two-tone berry-colored cabinetry. The ceiling is wallpapered there as well, a subtle textural pattern with flecks of gold. Clearly, ceilings are not to be ignored in this house: There’s even a charming creep of ivy in the skylight above the tub, as if art-directed. It’s actually decoupage, one of the many projects that Reid got up to during maternity leave after their first child.
Lisa Romerein
Reid, inspired by her grandmother, enveloped the primary bedroom in a blush rose pattern.
The buoyant spirit of the house, with sentimental objects and antiques throughout, could fool a guest into thinking it’s all baby giggles and rooftop rosé sessions, but Reid applied rigor, ingenuity, and grace to make this 1,800-square-foot apartment work. Twenty years in the office of Marshall Watson will do that—elegance only appears easy. Mismatched door frames received clever paint solutions; toys were tucked away in ample storage; and an awkward transition between floors in the primary bedroom was solved with a clever curtain scheme.
Like a garden, the growth doesn’t stop. Recently Reid proposed a new ceiling wallpaper. “I was totally against the idea,” Powell recalls, “but then she sauntered in and held it up to the ceiling. I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, Kate is a genius.’ ”
“To me, wallpapering the ceiling makes people in the room feel held,” Reid says. “And that’s a gift—that’s my gift, to envelop the people here, to make them feel hugged.”
Guest Room
Lisa Romerein
Lisa Romerein
Painterly peonies (wallpaper, House of Hackney) blossom across the guest room. A vintage heart-shaped headboard lends bohemian spirit to the room.
Kitchen
Lisa Romerein
Reid perked up the petite kitchen with two-tone cabinetry in berry hues (Barrett Brick and Carter Plum by Benjamin Moore).
Dining Room
Lisa Romerein
In the dining room, rattan peacock chairs (Creel and Gow) surround an antique Biedermeier table.
Living Room
Lisa Romerein
Portraits of Reid’s mother (bottom) and grandmother (top) watch over the living room. Beaded insect trim, Samuel & Sons.
Nursery
Lisa Romerein
A playful dinosaur-patterned wallpaper (House of Hackney) and quilt made by the designer’s father animate the nursery.
Bathroom
Lisa Romerein
Insects make another appearance in the bath, where beetles and moths flutter among the wallpaper’s leafy branches (Timorous Beasties). The embroidered stripe shower curtain fabric is by Fabricut.
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Featured in our September/October 2026 issue. Interior design by Kate Reid; photography by Lisa Romerein; styling by Helen Crowther; written by Sophie Donelson.