The idea for the lamp was Palmieri’s. “They gave me one of those looks like, ‘Are you sure?’” says Palmieri. “I persuaded them that it was a critical component to allowing the Zuber mural to be more artistic and less stylized and formal. Without the lamp it wouldn’t have been captured nearly as powerfully as it is now.” Mark agrees, even though he admits that his first reaction to the lamp was shock. “We chose it a little tongue-in-cheek,” he explains. “You walk in the house and it’s serious, then you see this. I like that it’s binary. You’re either going to love it or you’re going to hate it.” When guests visit, Mark says the reactions range from the enthusiastic – “Can I ride it?” – to the reserved – “Hmmm…that’s nice.” While the room is done largely in white, there are bursts of fuchsia, yellow, and cobalt in the room’s center and in the wall art that invite a look beyond the lamp, much like the effect of a wellcomposed painting. 46 SHAKERONLINE.COM | SUMMER 2016 Provocative and whimsical Step back into the foyer and through the sunken great room and it’s clear that careful thought was given to every design and decorative element in the room. Look closely and there are subtle reminders of the theme. A gentle fringe on the lamps is reminiscent of a smoothly brushed mane. The base of the glass coffee table resembles a horse bit. Swirls of magenta on a white canvas evoke a sense of fluidity. A pair of angular vases calls to mind a horse’s head. “I always try to incorporate some sense of whimsy in my designs because I feel it lends an air of fantasy that is so void in most people’s lives,” Palmieri says. “The beauty of fantasy is that it really triggers a lot of chords with senses and emotions. The key to this working well is giving the reader of the room a small peek into this fantasy, but not telling the entire story. It’s up to the viewer to take those clues and compose their own ending.” The room’s opposite end includes a custom-made lacquered dining table with seating for ten. Above it, a sculpted fringe chandelier mimics the movement in the great room’s painting. Magenta accents on the dining table’s end chairs, end tables, and window treatments complement the painting. It’s hard to be in the room and not want to feel the fabrics and inspect everything more closely. But daily life in the home is hardly like being in a museum. That’s not the feeling the Vogels wanted to project. For sure, they’ve invested a lot of time and money into their renovations, but that’s also because they truly enjoy and appreciate the process of design – the planning, the construction, the detailed work. Sonya says the net result is a home that’s very livable. “I practically live in the kitchen,” she says.
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