The photo below of her own home captures everything that has made Kelly Behun the rising star of the New York interior design world. Like in all of her projects, her home manifests the ‘curated interior.’ It is as personal, fresh, unexpected, and indicative of her deep knowledge in history, and her eternal passion for art, architecture and the culture of design, as can be. Behun has orchestrated spaces as if they were masterpieces of music, tailoring homes to the personalities residing in them; always keeping her eyes open for the right piece of furniture, for the perfect accessory, for the rugs, lights, textiles, sculptures, spending much of her time in New York galleries, in the markets of Marrakesh, in IKEA and West Elm, in small showrooms across the globe, and in artists studios, because according to her, elements at the core of the curated interior can be and should be found everywhere. Every interior designer that I know strives to create that type of spaces, but only the few master this practice. Today, when hosting Behun in the program Collecting Design at the Center for Architecture, it was clear why. In her brilliant and absolutely fascinating presentation, she spoke about beginning her career at the office of visionary hotelier Ian Schrager, where she worked under Philippe Starck. It is Starck who has been credited for formulating this type of spaces, where the object plays the key role, where the experience has been put at the center, where there is no definite ‘style,’ but rather a freedom from stylistic rules, leading to the personal approach, that can be found in those who are on the journey of learning. Thank you, Kelly Behun for contributing to the program Collecting Design: History, Collections, Highlights, and for illuminating on the culture of the ‘curated interior,’ for the inspiration, and for the encouragement to feel design.
