National Decorating Month: Past Lives Studio

April is National Decorating Month, and we're spending it with a weekly interview series featuring designers we admire. We're talking to them about what decorating actually means to them, what they're sourcing, and what advice has stuck with them over the years. For us, decorating is where so much of what we do comes together. We spend our days thinking about the objects, the art, the ceramics, but it's designers who bring those pieces into real rooms and real lives.

Last week we sat down with Katie Harbison. This week: Past Lives Studio.

Photo by Jonathan Hokklo

Past Lives Studio is a New York-based interior design firm and vintage dealership founded by Carly Krieger in 2021. The studio specializes in restored 19th and 20th-century furniture and decorative arts, with a focus on pieces from the 1920s through the 1950s: Viennese Secessionist, French Art Deco, Swedish Grace, Italian Modernism.

Carly's path into design came through a cold DM to The Somerset House in Williamsburg during COVID, where she spent a year learning from its founder Alan how to layer Baroque with midcentury, how to mix regions and eras in ways that feel fresh rather than forced. The education gave her the confidence to launch her own studio in 2021. She now shares a salon-style showroom on the 9th floor at 143 West 29th Street with Studio Nordic, designed to feel like visiting a friend's impeccably furnished living room.

Photos by Ethan Herrington (left) and Jonathan Hokklo (right)

What's the last piece you sourced that you're excited about?

Up until recently, I concentrated my collection on items from the early 1900s until the 1980s from recognized designers across a variety of European design movements. Only recently have I been starting to seek out more anonymous antique pieces from the 18th and 19th centuries to provide a more storied and character-filled canvas for the modern pieces to live amongst.

One piece I recently sourced that I'm really excited about is an Italian Florentine double door cabinet from the 18th century that's been gilded with gesso as well as painted an oxblood color. The two front doors feature hand-painted cherubs with wings. When you open the cabinet, the interior looks like it's been covered with a wallpaper that has a repetitious star design, but it's actually all hand-painted yellow stars on a dark background. I'll be participating in an antique fair upstate in May and plan on first showing it there!

Photo by Ethan Herrington

What's a historic interior designer or design movement you find yourself returning to?

I return often to postwar Italian design and find myself wanting to incorporate designs from the 1940s through the 1970s into my projects and into my inventory collection. Some of the most influential designers and architects of the time, from Gae Aulenti to Gio Ponti to Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, came out of this period. The emphasis on quality craftsmanship brought to life through modern manufacturing resulted in designs that were unfussy yet refined, with a focus on lightness, playfulness, and warmth. The Stereophonic RR 126 Radio by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni for Brionvega, designed in 1965, is a piece I dream about owning one day.

What does decorating mean to you?

To me, decorating is deeply personal. When I work with clients, I want them to be actively involved in the process so their perspective is woven into the design of their home. I aim to translate their lifestyle, personality, and preferences through the use of color and materiality, furniture, artwork, and objects. Through commissioning one-of-a-kind artwork as well as designing custom furniture pieces tailored specifically for each home, clients feel like they can see their point of view woven directly into the fabric of their homes. This is what helps clients feel connected to the space, and gives a home its heartbeat.

Photo by Jonathan Hokklo

What's on your mood board right now?

Bold and rich color and material combinations are currently on my mood board. I would love nothing more than to take on a project with a client that lets me play with these elements in a really expressive and unexpected way. I'd love to layer turquoise painted walls with mustard mohair upholstery and burl wood tables and case goods. I'd love to create a home that has the colors and textures of a coastal Italian summer.

Is there a color or material that finds its way into every project?

Unlacquered brass is something that gets incorporated into every project in different forms. I like using this material for hardware because time and exposure to the elements only makes it more patinated, aged, and imperfect, yet still beautiful.