For Colombian-born interior designer Samuel Botero, “humor is one of the essential qualities of human existence,” he says. “By humor I don’t mean funny,” he elaborates. “Humor in an interior lends it an easy charm. It is in the placing of a priceless piece of furniture, the juxtaposition of hopsack and silk velvet, the lack of pretense or worry over the rules.” Botero—who has lived and worked in New York for the past 30 years and now has a staff of seven—is comfortable in many styles, though all of his interiors are distinguished by his aesthetic bravado—an indoor waterfall wall that spans three stories, an apartment in which all the wood is stained black, a living room with walls covered in green Talavera tiles.

Whether it’s an Arts and Crafts-influenced ski chalet in Telluride, Colorado, or a flamboyant Manhattan town house full of Asian art, the best results, he says, come from an open dialogue between designer and residents. “Some clients resist solutions that may seem unfamiliar to them,” Botero remarks. “Others leave it all to the designer and do not participate in the process. A really successful interior develops from the synergy between client and designer.” Here, too, humor is indispensable: “It helps lead a client to a new point of view, to relax the tension that can sometimes develop when people make unaccustomed decisions. ‘If I had to be a chair, I’d be that one’ can say reams more than, ‘Oh, what a fabulous chair.’ ”

Samuel Botero

212-935-5155

www.boteroom