“It’s where I spend the most time, searching on the computer, working on a project, posting on my blog, or writing emails. It keeps me working hard,” he says. The workspace is styled to perfection with antique metal boxes, a demijohn lamp he designed, and a jieldé-inspired task lamp from restoration hardware. A black and white bertoia chair with an army-green seat pad, “practically made” for him, completes the scene. Functionality was a reigning goal for the studio, so paquette acquired dual-purpose décor that works just as hard as he does. Client binders, office supplies, and wallpaper samples are tucked away in a vintage locker that moonlights as a bench. A fabric library is stored in an entrance dumbwaiter (the historic building is a former hotel), and pantry shelves hold decorating books by idols like billy baldwin.
“STORAGE IS AND WILL ALWAYS BE AN ISSUE,” he concedes,
“but what it teaches you is to purge what you don’t use.”
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