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Interior designer Mario Buatta used color to breathe new life into a New York couple's dark penthouse. The living room has a barrel-vaulted ceiling. Stark carpet.

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Multiple tables make the dining room less formal. Vaughan chandelier. Stark carpet.

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In the 1950s and '60s the apartment's former owner, Earl Blackwell, played host to celebrities such as Peter Duchin, Elsa Schiaparelli and Greta Garbo. To create the library, Buatta merged two small bedrooms, then paneled the resulting room in pine. The portrait is by Chiu Ya-tsai; a work by Vulliamy is at right. Stark carpet. Gracie silvered ceiling paper. Christopher Norman chintz.

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The bleached-wood master bedroom floor is painted with a green pattern. Lee Jofa drapery fabric.

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Buatta (inset) hung a faux-tortoiseshell wallcovering in the card room to highlight selections from the couple's art collection. The landscape is by He Shang. Nearby, an oil by Wifredo Lam hangs above a work by Carlos Mérida. A 19th-century games table serves as the room's desk. Clarence House fabric on armchair cushion.

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Landscape architect Mario Nievera conceived the plantings on the wraparound terrace that overlooks the city. The design is a blend of Chinese and Mediterranean elements, accented with a bold choice: turquoise ceramic garden seats. Kreiss furniture.

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