In Praise of the Grid

Designers Andrew Terrat and Dee Elms are big fans of the grid pattern and relied on it in multiple permutations to bring a subtle, masculine, unified look to Brian Kelly's luxurious living room. "Look closely," says Elms, "and you'll see the way we used the grid to add pop to all the textures, on the floor, on the fabrics, even the diamond-patterned latticelike pattern of the entry's demilune table. The grid is really the undercurrent of the room. It creates a symmetrical movement that ties the space together."

For the window seat and facing low-back sofa, they used a small-grid sable-colored velvet. For the room's major seating area, the sectional sofa is in smooth leather; the facing slipper chairs are covered in the same leather sewn into oversized blocks, creating a grid on seats and backs. Underfoot, small squares recessed into the carpet pile create a grid-within-a-grid pattern. And in the entry, the grid is turned on its side, in the form of the carved diamond pattern on the base of the demilune table.

"The grid is so versatile," says Elms. "Its great strength is that it offers both boundaries and freedom. It gives the eye some subtle diversity."