Kirar designed all the furniture for the W project. “I’m influenced by turn of the century Vienna, Orientalism and Danish modern,” she says. Kirar collects vintage furniture and lighting from flea markets and thrift stores in every city she visits. When designing a room with a view of the city, Kirar pays attention to where the eye rests, keeping art and accessories to a minimum. The chandelier in the dining room (above) is a vintage mercury glass piece she found at a flea market in Europe.
Armed with degrees in sculpture and interior architecture from the Art Institute of Chicago, Kirar turns out rooms that are sculptural and materials-driven. She often teams up with local artisans on projects, and for this 31st-floor Dallas condo, Kirar tapped Dallas metal artist Robert Wohlfeld to carry out her design for a patinated zinc wall and a bronze plate fireplace surround (above and below).
Kirar also holds licenses with Tufenkian rugs and Baker Furniture, among others. This Baker chair is one of Kirar's own designs, while the rusted chain link table was a team effort between Kirar and metal artist Wohlfield. The rug is one of her designs for Tufenkian.
Kirar and Molthan, who met a couple of years ago in Dallas at a party for Kohler, wanted to create something sophisticated and artisan-driven, she told me, but that also gave a nod to its Dallas and Texas roots.
"We designed it for an imaginary client from the standpoint that I wanted to design something serene and calm that played up the view. Mark wanted to do something different for Dallas that hadn't been seen before, but he wasn't sure what that would be. I was happy to be the one to tell him what it should be," she says, laughing. The apartment has recently sold to a couple from out of state.
A room divider in the entry is made from a blown up photo of a tumbleweed (her homage to Texas) and developed on semi-translucent film, by artist Amanda Weil. You can see a glimpse of the master bedroom wall behind it, created from "tiles" of hair on hide.
Says Kirar: “There’s so much going on outside the window, you need places that are contemplative, such as the zinc wall (shown below). Inside there’s not a lot going on, but there are a lot of materials and detail.”
"I do find that my artist background allows me the benefit of a real knowledge of materials," she explains. "While I was studying fine art I took weaving and pattern work. It makes a difference to have physically had your hands on the materials and literaly made a product before trying to convey to an artist how to do it."
Arteriors product images photography by Don Freeman
This blown glass metal chandelier is from her massive debut collection with Arteriors. "I felt like I was in a candy shop working with Arteriors," she says. "So often one can be realy limted by a company’s resources, but the world is my oyster with them. I could do leather, inlaid mother of pearl, carved marble, whatever. There was almost too much choice." If many of the pieces in the collection are made from metal, it's because "that’s where my heart is," says Kirar. "I was a metal scultpor, my grandfather was a welder. There's so much history in my family working with metal."
Classic...the design of this house 3513 Princeton Ave. was inspired by Quilan Terry's Waverton House in Gloucestershire, referenced in David Watkin's book Radical Classicism. I love it when talented people come together on a project -- Dallas architect Richard Drummond Davis designed the house, which my friend Dana Card, her son Jonathan Rosen, and a group of other investors commissioned. It took two years. The house is for now sale for $3,449,000 through Briggs Freeman. Dana and Richard took great pains to pick the unusual blue-gray color of the rough back limestone, and to design a house that looks like it's been there forever. I think they succeeded. 
This broad glass door is one of my favorite details in the house. Old houses always had big old doors, and this one is modernized with large panes of glass. 
Michelle Nussbaumer of Ceylon et Cie did the furniture staging inside the house. I think it's the first house she's ever staged. I'm a sucker for Michelle's blue and white porcelains and her layered, collected style. 
The lacquered paneling in the house is a gorgeous creamy color that has been cerused. Cerusing is making a big comeback lately on furniture, too. 
Bare windows usually bug me, but the lines in this house are so beautiful that you don't need draperies to soften the edges. 
The gray-blue color on the walls is the same great color Dana has on her walls at home. I would love to show you Dana's Swedish-inspired house someday if she'll let me shoot it!
This is a really elegant staircase isn't it? It's simple, yet curvy. The gorgeous dark wood floors run throughout this house, and I'm delighted to say there's not a bit of wall-to-wall carpet anywhere, even in the bedrooms.
I love this graphic metal headboard with the antique wood side tables and old drawings.
I think there are five shower heads in here, of varying sizes. This shower is the size of my kitchen. 
This is the attic room. They're always my favorite rooms in houses, because I can imagine having an office up there. The roofline and windows make for interesting backgrounds for wallpaper, or a fantastic color of paint. 
Quinlan Terry would love this window. 
Small corner libraries like these are so chic. This is really a perfect house for seating groups within one large space. 
I'm not much for red upholstery, but this small sofa looks terrific in tomato red linen. The red ottoman, which serves as a coffee table, helps pull it all together, don't you think?
What a great house for art! All the open spaces, tall ceilings and natural light really show off Nix's collection.
Only someone with a lot of confidence can pull off a wooden rabbit. I think that's why Stanley Marcus loved whimsy. He was sure of himself and his ideas, even if others weren't.
I really love this tailored bedroom with its checked carpeting, beautiful wood, clear glass lamp, and fresh linens. 
