from Domino. October 2005

The toys that architect Lisa Mahar sells at her New York City shop, Kid O, are not just for show, though the place is strikingly spare and their designers read like a who's who of mid-century modern. The store defies the idea that children are maximalists at heart. For Mahar, this highly curated modernism is as much a way of life for her as it is a matter of aesthetics. When she and husband Morris Adjmi, partners in Morris Adjmi Architects, renovated their duplex in Manhattan's West Village this year, they applied the same pare-it-down philosophy, designing a neutral box with a restrained palette, repeated materials, minimal storage and hits of vibrant color. ''The design of this place and the design of the store don't allow you to be messy. They tell you what to do,'' she says. Mahar constantly culls her family's posessions, donating clothes and toys so only choice objects remain. The result is an oasis of calm, all-clean surfaces and open spaces, enlivened by soft fabrics and iconic modern furniture...(cont'd)