Designer royalty

Prestigious industry magazine Architectural Digest has named New Zealander Sandra Nunnerley in its annual AD 100 directory which represents a “selection of the top architects and interior designers whose work has featured in Architectural Digest over the past several years”. For Nunnerley — who W magazine has called “the most fashionable designer in New York” — the design process is “collaborative, exploratory and appropriate to the specific needs of the client.” Through her work, which she describes as “timeless, classic, tailored and modern,” she seeks to give her clients interiors that will endure. “Fashion may influence design,” she observes, “but you can’t change rooms every season.” Noting that clients sometimes fear that hiring a designer will lead to out-of-control budgets and inflexible design dictates, she says, “I listen to my clients and give them interiors they never dreamed of.” She is now working on a residence for expatriate New Zealanders in New Zealand, a town house project (designed by Robert A. M. Stern), two estates in Connecticut and a “classic” Park Avenue apartment, but there is one design development that so far has eluded her: “I can’t wait for an interior where there are no electrical outlets or cords. They are the bane of the interior designer’s life!”