We live in a high-speed world, but Ellie Cullman has secrets up her well-tailored sleeve to enrich your home life with culture, history and comfort. So, you can unsnap your rose gold Apple Watch when you cross the threshold and enter a space that soothes the soul and embraces your style, whether traditional or contemporary.
Cullman founded the New York City firm, Cullman & Kravis, in 1984 with her best friend, Hedi Kravis, who died in 1997. Since its inception, the homes on the firms project roster have included properties owned by celebrities – among them Oprah Winfrey and Candice Bergen – and has resulted in travel as far as London and Hawaii.
Although cyberspace has changed the way we shop there will always be a need for real-life expertise in the designing process.
“Of course, the internet has had a profound effect on our work. So much information is available online. While the wealth of choices gives our clients knowledge and access – and we welcome their input – it is always our job as design professionals to advise and guide them in making the best decisions,” says Cullman.
“Great design has always been about proportion, composition, and a balance of colors and textures,” she adds. “Cullman & Kravis upholds these seminal principals. They are the hallmark of our success.” (For a peek into her New York City living room, see the photo above.)
FROM CLASSIC TO CONTEMPORARY DECORATING WITH CULLMAN & KRAVIS
By Elissa Cullman and Tracey Pruzan The Monacelli Press • $65
Interior design lovers will curl up immediately with this book – on a stylish sofa, Jimmy Choo’s kicked off. It’s a picture book with 250 illustrations and tells the stories of rooms the venerable team from Cullman & Kravis have perfected over the years. Lose yourself in a modern Miami villa; an oceanfront Palm Beach escape with museum-quality antiques; and a 100-year-old Westchester estate once owned by Brooke Astor that is now renovated for a young family. Find beautifully executed spaces from terraces to home bars. It even includes Cullman’s residence. The book is sized at a generous 9”x12” for a better view inside the dreamscapes.
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