An Apartment at One Dalton, is Inspired by The Homeowner’s Barbie Collection

Designer Dennis Duffy created shelving to house his client’s prized Barbie collection. Fixtures from Circa Lighting suit her love of glamour. The wall finish is a custom ombré application by Eric Erbelding, and the artwork is by Flora Borsi.

Art Applications refinished the interior of the living room’s Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams cocktail table

Duffy incorporated more subdued touches to provide a counterpoint to all the excitement, including a custom-designed storage cabinet boasting subtle Topex Design Swarovski crystal pulls.

Though the Christopher Guy dining chairs are neither pink nor purple but instead a Mokum animal print sourced through Holly Hunt, they were fun enough to earn the homeowner’s approval. The dining table is from William/D/Scott, and the photo of dancer Tiler Peck is by Ken Browar and Deborah Ory.

The kitchen shines courtesy of a mirrored backsplash from TileBar and a pendant from Coup D’Etat

In the makeup room, Duffy reupholstered a CB2 chair in fabric by Great Plains sourced through Holly Hunt as the finishing touch against a pink carpet from STARK and a Christopher Guy mirror.

Duffy didn’t change much in the powder room, but he did delight in finding a vessel sink “from an obscure source in Canada,” he says.

In the primary bedroom, Duffy designed cabinetry using an Osborne & Little wallcovering for the door and drawer panels. The too-perfect chair is from Jonathan Adler.

The homeowner knew exactly what she wanted. She just needed someone willing to give it to her. She’d moved into a blank slate of an apartment at One Dalton in Boston, in a unit a few doors away from her sister. “I love pinks and purples,” she says. “But no one wanted to design in pink. They’d say, ‘I can’t do this shade, it doesn’t look good. I don’t think I can give you the colors you’re looking for.’ There were all kinds of negatives.”

But Dennis Duffy of Duffy Design Group, who had worked with the owner’s sister years earlier, appreciates an obsession—and loves a design challenge. “When we called him, he was thrilled,” remembers the homeowner. “He said, ‘Of course I’ll help you. This will be so much fun.’ ”

Duffy set to work on a design for his new client that included refinishing floors and cabinetry, incorporating new gas fireplaces and surrounds, updating the primary bath and powder room, and installing new lighting and audio-video systems, along with sourcing new furnishings and finishes in colors and patterns that made her happiest. 

Every room is a standout, but both the homeowner and Duffy especially love how the primary bedroom came together, courtesy of a Jonathan Adler Barbie-printed ballerina chair, a gemstone-studded headboard, and custom cabinetry by Masterpiece Woodworks.

Duffy was also tasked with incorporating his client’s vintage Barbie collection into the new design. She estimates she has about fifty dolls from a variety of eras, “though I only get the ones that are glamorous,” she says. The showpiece is recessed-and-illuminated display shelving that runs along the main hallway, set into a hand-painted ombré wall. It was a learning process for the veteran designer, to say the least.

“When I went to install the dolls, I asked her which were the most important,” says Duffy. “I found out, to my horror, that you can’t take them out of the boxes or they lose their value.”

The display shelving accommodates around fifteen dolls (in their boxes), and Duffy created shelving throughout to display the rest, including a backlit corner shelf in the main bedroom that currently houses a special edition American Girl doll.

The owner has collected Barbies since she was a teenager, but this home presents the first chance she’s had to display them. “I never had the space before,” she says. “Now, when people come in, they can’t believe it. It’s so colorful. They say, ‘No one’s house is like this.’ I couldn’t love it more.”

Project Team
Interior design: Duffy Design Group