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Designer Anthony Baratta embraces colors, patterns, and periods in a ticker-tape parade of unfettered glee. “There’s an unwritten way we approach design—mixing an American Empire piece with, say, an 18th-century French desk,” Baratta says of the free expression that has characterized his four-decade reign as an arbiter of American style. In decorating this Manhattan apartment for longtime clients, he felt even more bold. The wife, fluent in Baratta’s shorthand, not only appreciates his whimsy but “pushed us to go further,” he says. Little did she know that “going further” would translate to hours and hours of stitching quilts.
Baratta took inspiration from Gloria Vanderbilt—once a resident in a similarly grand Manhattan apartment and a lover of quilts as decor—and suggested commissioning custom pieces to hang as art in the family room. The homeowner loved the idea, and commandeered it. “Excuse me, quilting is my hobby—I’ll make them,” she asserted, and then refined the patterns, colorways, and fabrics with Baratta’s partners Erick Espinoza and Jaime Magoon. “She became a codesigner with us,” Baratta says. “It was exciting to watch this group creating something, like your best art class in high school.”
In the quilts and throughout the home, blues abound, a favorite hue of both designer and homeowner. “I treat it as a neutral,” Baratta says, noting the apartment’s formal architecture and natural light could handle the shade in spades. He tamped down any hint of stuffiness by pairing blues with cheery reds and crisp whites. “It’s so versatile and allows us to play with values. The blues can recede a bit, and the reds can become the punctuation mark,” he says.
Mark Roskams. Artwork © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved / DACS, London / ARS, NY 2026.
The foyer’s whimsical valance mimics a circus tent. The grandfather clock is antique.
What does not recede, however, is the jubilant narrative, which begins at the front door. “The story here is pure joy. There’s no holding back,” Baratta says. In the foyer, a striped wallpaper on the ceiling, edged with a matching tassel-trimmed valance, creates a circus-tent effect. In concert with the gingham marble floors, the entryway suggests that “this apartment is a celebration,” Baratta says.
To carry forth the building’s 1930s Art Deco glamour, Baratta worked with architect Russell Riccardi and Linden-Marshall Contracting to add back architectural flourishes that had been removed by previous owners. Fluted-column accents in the living room, parquet floors, and a pressed-tin ceiling in the kitchen imbue “candy store details,” Baratta says. “I mean, why not take it to that level?”
The east-facing living room is bathed in sunlight, “allowing the blue silk walls to sing,” Espinoza says. Magoon covered pillows and accent chairs in watermelon red, a hue that “leans slightly more feminine, softer, and easier to live with,” she says. A cerulean petite damask print cloaks the walls of the adjacent family room. “It’s the perfect backdrop for the highly patterned quilts. Its scale had enough interest without taking away from the art,” Baratta says.
While the quilts may have been patchwork, the apartment’s tight color scheme and frolicking pattern play—English chintz paired with folksy florals; pops of red-and-white checks, tartans, stripes, and harlequin here and there—is anything but.
“Everything matches throughout the entire apartment. It is so considered, down to the last thread of a rug, with nothing left to chance. That control keeps our work relevant over time,” Baratta says. “It’s a beautiful American framework, this melting pot of styles, without being stodgy.” French antiques and Victorian loveseats converse with Dorothy Draper–style white plaster wall brackets. “Putting it all together in unexpected ways is what makes it uniquely American,” Espinoza says.
And then there’s the quintessential feel-good esprit. “I like surrounding myself with things that make me happy,” the homeowner says. “It’s very personal when I walk in and see the quilts. So many play it safe and decorate in monotones. This is a breath of fresh air.”
Kitchen
Mark Roskams
Mark Roskams
Painted botanical studies on the doors of a kitchen cabinet make for scene-stealing extra storage. At right, a hand-stenciled checkerboard floor (Chris Pearson) and pressed-tin ceiling bring confectionery details to the kitchen. Art Deco–era chairs and an azure banquette (fabric, Perennials) surround a copper-and-wrought-iron table.
Living Room
Mark Roskams. Artwork © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved / DACS, London / ARS, NY 2026.
Mark Roskams
A cherry blossom landscape by Damien Hirst overlooks a midcentury Italian table. At right, a vintage velvet chair and kaleidoscopic patchwork ottoman sit beside the living room’s French-style marble mantel (Chesneys).
Family Room
Mark Roskams
A trio of quilts (handcrafted by the homeowner) hangs as graphic art in the family room. Wallcovering, Bennison Fabrics.
Guest Bedroom
Mark Roskams
In a pattern-rich guest room, the bed’s cardinal checks (Kathryn M. Ireland) meet walls of berry-hued florals (Lisa Fine Textiles).
Primary Bedroom
Mark Roskams
Romantic red-and-blue posies of roses bloom across the primary bedroom. The headboard of the custom tiger maple bed is dressed in an embroidered linen by GP & J Baker.
Wife’s Dressing Room
Mark Roskams
Baratta paired a custom fluted vanity with an antique geometric mirror in the wife’s dressing room. Sconces, Visual Comfort & Co.
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Featured in our July/August 2026 issue. Interior Design by Anthony Baratta; Architecture by Russell Riccardi; Photography by Mark Roskams; Written by Stephanie Hunt.