LIVING & DESIGN
→ Palette cleansing Peloso and Mahabir are calmed after a hectic day by the neutral tones of their Riverdale home.
ning and time to go to bed for her
their own furniture line. But when
when it’s 10 in the morning here.
you ask Peloso about his profes-
But when she comes to town for
sional bucket list, he goes far beyond
those two months, Peloso ensures
designing a new line of chairs with
Elix has a space to call her own.
his name on it. “It’s reasonable now
want to date the edited version
“For her, having a bedroom gave her
to build a pop-up, a restaurant or an
of Peloso’s on-screen TV persona.
a sense of permanence or a sense of
event space where you can digitally
“That is who I am,” says Peloso, “but
place. It feels like home to her.”
change the entire thing,” he says,
that’s me at work, which isn’t me
With nearly two decades of décor
going off on a tangent that’s indica-
probably thought, ‘What a f*cking
all the time. Having someone who
industry experience, the design vet-
tive of his passion to forever refresh
know-it-all.’”
didn’t know me like that was actu-
eran’s career continues to evolve. He
and reinvent spaces. “We could
ally kind of endearing.”
recently joined forces with another
start the evening at the pyramids
That fateful meeting led to several dates, though Peloso’s career in
But what really keeps Peloso
designer dynamo, Jamie Alexander,
and end up in New York City. We
the media spotlight wouldn’t come
grounded is his 11-year-old daugh-
to form Peloso Alexander Interiors.
can digitally project anything and
up until one night when a bottle of
ter Elix, who for 10 months of the
Now the duo tackles both commer-
change what happens on every wall.
wine showed up at their table, cour-
year lives a world away with her
cial and residential projects, build-
Your environment can continually
tesy of the restaurateur. But Mahabir
mother in Dubai, something that,
ing on Peloso’s international portfo-
change. We’re in a place where our
wasn’t impressed: “In my head,
in an off-camera moment, makes
lio. “My background is fine art. I’m a
attention span is Twitter. So does
I thought, ‘Oh my God, he brings
the on-air veteran visibly emotional
creative guy,” says Peloso, recogniz-
space have to adapt to keep us inter-
everyone here. How did I get myself
about missing his little girl. The story
ing that his own shortcomings made
ested?” And don’t get him started on
in the middle of this? I’m smarter
of Elix’s conception is something out
the merger a no-brainer. “Jamie’s
3D printers that will soon be able to
than that. I can read through this,’”
of a movie, like one of those puppy
background is business, so he has
spit out entire buildings. “One day
he recalls.
love promises we all make but never
that organizational skill. He’s also a
soon, instead of going to the hard-
actually keep: “Her mother and I
very capable designer. Plus we have
ware store to buy a screw, we’ll sim-
blossoming
went to high school together. We
a very similar aesthetic.”
ply print one out. How long will it be
romance. “I had it in my head that
made this deal that if we got to be
Their team works with up to a
until we’re able to say, “I’m having
he was an accountant,” Mahabir
35 and neither us were married or
dozen clients at a time, including a
a party and I’d rather have 10 chairs
says, laughing. A breath of fresh air
had kids, we would have a child.”
current project converting a funeral
than a sofa. Print. A lot of people will
for the designer who was thrilled to
Incredibly, they did. But time zones
home into a loft space for a law
say we can’t do that. And you’ll say,
finally meet someone who didn’t
have always been a factor. “It’s eve-
firm. They’re also looking to launch
‘Why?’ “
Until that point they’d kept career chatter
out
of
the
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23/10/2013 2:20:04 PM