Section I
The Arrival The elevator doors open, the hallway runs ahead of you, and the door is at the end of it.
01 You step through the door. What are the first three seconds supposed to feel like?
03 The hallway from the entry — should it conceal the view and then release it, or hand it over immediately?
04 What do you want a guest to say before they say hello?
Section II
What Makes It Curated The difference between a decorated room and a curated one is the thing I most need to understand about you.
05 What makes a room feel curated to you rather than merely decorated?
09 Someone whose home, taste, or eye you genuinely admire — and what specifically about it.
Section III
Rooms You Have Never Forgotten Places, not styles. The name of the room matters more than the adjective.
11 A room anywhere in the world you still think about. Where, and what was it doing?
12 A hotel you did not want to leave — and the one detail that did it.
13 A restaurant or bar where the room was better than the meal.
14 A museum or gallery space that changed the way you look at rooms.
15 A city you would move to tomorrow. What is it about how people live there?
16 Somewhere you have traveled that you want a trace of here — but only a trace.
17 A hotel bathroom, restaurant bar, or shop interior you would copy outright.
18 Something you have brought home from travel that needs a proper place in this home.
Section IV
How It Should Feel The same room at three different hours. It should not feel identical in all three.
19 6:30 in the morning. Alone, coffee, nobody coming. What is the room doing?
20 11 at night. A record on, one other person here. What is it doing now?
21 Twelve people, a Saturday, everything going at once. Now?
22 Three words for how you want to feel here. Then three words for how you never want to feel here.
23 What do you want people saying about it in the elevator on the way down?
Section V
The Building Founders Tower, 1962. Googie, cylindrical, listed on the National Register. It has opinions.
25 What made you choose this building over anything newer?
26 How loudly should 1962 be heard in the finished space?Select one… A whisper A conversation A declaration
27 What in the existing unit is sacred and must survive?
28 What must go and never come back?
Section VI
Colour Colour is where most people hedge. Please don't.
30 Your favourite colour. Not the considered answer — the real one.
31 If you could introduce three colours into this home — even in small doses — what would they be? Be specific. Name them the way you would name them out loud: oxblood, moss, ink, terracotta, not just 'red' or 'green'.
32 Which colour families genuinely appeal to you? Select all that do.Greens — olive, moss, forest Blues — lapis, slate, ink Reds — oxblood, rust, terracotta Yellows and golds — ochre, amber, honey Purples — plum, aubergine Browns — walnut, tobacco, chocolate Blacks and charcoals Creams, bones, and whites Pinks — clay, dusty rose
35 A colour you would wear but never live in.
36 A colour you would live in but never wear.
37 The last object you bought purely because of its colour.
38 A colour that makes you uncomfortable — and could you be talked into it in one small dose?
39 Should the palette be one note held for a long time, or a chord?Select one… One note, held A chord Quiet everywhere, one loud accent
40 If exactly one surface in the kitchen is permitted to be loud, which one earns it?
Section VII
Whites and Neutrals The single most consequential paint decision, and the one nobody asks about properly.
47 A colour or finish in your current space that you know is wrong but have not fixed.
Section VIII
Material and Texture 50 Patina or pristine? Where does wear read as character, and where does it read as neglect?
53 A material you love that nobody would expect you to love.
54 Something you never want to see in your home again.
Section IX
Stone The island slab is the single most consequential material decision in the unit.
56 If the island slab were hung on a wall instead, would you still want to look at it every day?
57 Any colour or family of stone entirely off the table?
58 Backlit stone?Select one… Yes — I want it Once, in one place only Never
Section X
Textiles and Soft Things 63 Is there a garment or fabric you own whose texture you would like translated into furniture?
66 Candles. Yes or no, and where?
68 A light fixture you have seen somewhere and never forgotten.
Section XII
Sound The listening room is built. The kitchen sits beside it.
70 What plays when you are alone? And what plays when there are twelve people?
71 Should the kitchen be acoustically separate, or does it join the listening room?Select one… Separate and quiet Joined — one continuous acoustic space Joined, with the option to close it off
72 How do you feel about silence — is a silent room comfortable, or unfinished?
73 The first record you would play in the finished space.
Section XIII
Art and the Collection 74 Which pieces are coming with you, and which ones need a wall built for them?
78 Is there a piece you have been waiting for the right room to own?
Section XIV
The Table How you feed people determines the plan more than almost anything else.
80 The biggest dinner you would realistically host here. A number.
83 The bar — on display, or concealed?Select one… On display, always Concealed until needed Concealed, but theatrical when it opens
84 Describe your coffee ritual exactly, step by step, including the vessel you drink from.
85 The one appliance you would be genuinely unhappy to live without.
Section XV
Automation and Systems Fifteen floors up in a 1962 building, the systems matter as much as the surfaces.
91 Anything about the technology in your current home that drives you crazy?
92 Is there a system, gadget, or piece of equipment you already own that the design has to accommodate?
Section XVI
The Private Hours The part of the home no photograph ever shows.
93 What happens in this home that no guest ever sees?
94 Where do you want to end up at the end of a hard day, and what is in that spot?
Section XVII
Air and Scent 96 What should it smell like?
Section XVIII
The Dream, With No Ceiling Forget the budget entirely for these. I need to know the whole want before I decide what is possible.
98 No budget, no constraints, no practicality. Describe the condo you actually want.
99 If you could only do three things to this unit, what would they be?
100 What is the one thing you would regret not doing?
101 A feature you have seen somewhere and always wanted, however impractical.
102 What would make you walk in and think: worth every dollar?
Section XIX
The No List Just as valuable as everything above. Be blunt.
104 Trends you find exhausting.
105 A material, colour, or shape you never want to see in this unit.
106 Anything in the work shown to you so far that you would want considerably less of?
107 Investment range you have in mind for this phase.
108 Target completion date, and any hard deadlines — events, guests, travel.
109 Who else weighs in on decisions, and on what?
112 Your travel schedule and how the unit should be accessed while you are away.
113 Pets, allergies, accessibility, or anything else that shapes how the space has to work.
114 Anything about how you live that I have not thought to ask?
Section XXI
What to Send With This Attach anything here, or paste links. Photos, floor plans, screenshots, PDFs — as many as you like.
116 Paste links to boards, saved posts, or anything online that is doing something right.
117 Links to anything doing something wrong. Equally useful.
118 A playlist, film, book, or artist that is the correct emotional register for this home.
