This isn't "man in a gray flannel suit," it's siren in silver lamé — and glinting gold jewelry.

It's the bicolor Rolex Jubilee! Well, we made a few risky moves, but we're glad we did.

What were the risks?

The mirrored fireplace, the living room rug, the dining room wallpaper, the dining room rug....

They do grab your attention.

When the architecture is classical — this is a 1980s Georgian Colonial — you have the freedom to experiment with the decorating. But it's funny how things happen. The original plan was for the palette to be gray, yellow, and white, with a big splash of lavender in the bedroom.

How did it evolve from plain gray and yellow to silver and gold?

It all started with the marble floor in the solarium — my clients thought a classic tile floor would make a nice transition from the outdoors. But instead of black and white or charcoal and white, we chose gray and white because it feels a bit more modern. Then we added that Clarence House wallpaper with the gold fretwork over silver foil. Suddenly the solarium had a strong silver presence. And the next thing I knew, so did the living room.

How did that happen?

We got that gray rug, which reads silvery because of all the silk in it.

I'm wondering why you said the rug was risky.

I meant as opposed to picking an Oriental or a traditional English rug. It's modern, in a David Hicks kind of way, and not something the clients would have thought to do. At the same time, I got the rather startling idea of replacing the mantelpiece with a silvery antique mirror and a chimney breast. So from the start, the two strongest elements in the room were silver.

Why did you want to redo the fireplace?

It was in a dark corner, off-center, with a standard-issue Colonial-style mantel pasted on the wall. Instead of trying to minimize the odd positioning, we built out the chimney breast and made it a grand gesture. I remember being home when it was installed and thinking, "Well, I'm either going to be fired or it's really going to work." I'd never done anything like that before, and it really pushed the lines of tradition for my clients.

Apparently they didn't fire you.

Oh, it changed the room. There were two dark corners, and it reflects light. Taking the mirror from the floor to the ceiling also heightened the space.

And glamorized it. But I think the real showstopper in the house is the dining room wallpaper.

It certainly takes gray from the mundane to the spectacular. Gray becomes mirror. I'd been wanting to use that silver tea paper for a long time — it brings such a warm luminescence into a room.

Ah. So did you want to use it because it's flattering?

I think I'd lose my mind if I had to imagine what people would look like in every one of the rooms that I do, because they'd all be wearing the wrong outfits. It's a place I just can't go! Okay, I'm guilty of the cheap trick of the pink lampshade lining and the peachy powder room, but beyond that I don't design rooms that are going to artificially enhance a person's appearance. As for the silver paper, it brought light into an otherwise dark room.

The striped wool carpet isn't a choice everyone would have made for a room with shimmery, hand-painted wallpaper.

Actually, it's a wonderful juxtaposition, a perfect foil for the formality and fanciness of the Gracie paper. But interestingly, even though it's a flat weave, it feels fairly refined in that room. So it's not at all off-kilter.

What inspired you to put that swirly pattern on the chairs?

I've always been fond of that faux-bois moiré print — it's Alan Campbell's Meloire Reverse. It's elegant and earthy at the same time. And it's a favorite pattern of my client. My clients really use their dining room. They entertain a lot, and they have three young children — 11, 8, and 2.

Children, dogs, frequent guests: they don't worry about all these silks and hand-painted papers and pale colors?

You can't live like you're in a museum, even if your house is like a museum. My client likes things lived-in. Her best friend's child rubbed his back against the Gracie wallpaper and left a mark, but she wasn't the slightest bit bothered about it. She said, "I'll always look at that mark and think of him. It's part of the story of our lives. I don't want to put too much emphasis on these things. Stuff — there's no real value in that."

That lavender bedroom comes as a bit of a surprise after the consistency of the palette in the other rooms.

It's my client's favorite color, and she knew from the start that she wanted a lavender bedroom. She told me the other day that this would have been her dream room when she was growing up.

It can't have been her husband's dream room.

Even he likes it! It's restful, romantic, and happy.

By Emily Evans Eedermans