On many levels, New York designer Sasha Bikoff can relate to the surreal. Her career blasted off with the digital publication of a glam 4,700-square-foot apartment at the Dakota. The article on the renovation in MyDomaine drew clients, and eventually she was dubbed "interior designer for the young and wealthy" by The New York Times.

And then there was the amazing kaleidoscopic staircase designed for the Kips Bay Decorator Show House in 2018. Insta hit on the gram. One of those images caught the eye of Donatella Versace, who put it on a mood board and tapped Bikoff to design space in the revered Palazzo Versace in Milan during the prestigious Salone del Mobile week last spring.

And now everything is surreal. As in the new normal. Tough for design creatives, who so rely on firsthand life experiences -- travel, art, fashion and nature -- to shape their visions. Even though her Greenwich Village home is cool, she was feeling a bit cooped up. So she shed the stir-craziness and headed to her father's rural Massachusetts home, where her stepmom, a decorator, has a barn full of antiques. "I feel like I'm in the English countryside," she says.

Like many, she is restless. She just can't read a novel or nonfiction these days. But she has been watching "Belgravia" and "Maison Close," and old films from the '60s and '70s. And she's devouring classic design coffee table books like "Dior and His Decorators" and Bunny Williams' "On Garden Style," where she hopes to pick up tips for her own garden. She's building a home in East Hampton, Long Island, and she pictures lots of white and yellow wildflowers -- and veggies.

As one who loves to cook, she's also been a bit nostalgic during the quarantine, focusing lately on Persian cuisine (her mother was from Iran), channeling the time-consuming traditional dishes that her grandmother used to make. She recently made khoresh bademjan, a beef stew with eggplant and tomato.

Admittedly a social butterfly, Bikoff missed the hoopla that would have surrounded her lighting debut at Currey and Co. A virtual rollout replaced the spring market launch in High Point, North Carolina. (Fingers crossed for October!)

The design rock star loves making a glam entrance in the most stylish head-to-toe outfit, often with eye makeup coordinating. Like the time she impressed Donatella in an absinthe green leather Versace dress, topped with an acid green trenchcoat and neon green liquid eyeliner to match. "I don't dress understated, "she says. "It's part of my joy."

For now, Sasha's natural effervescence is dialed down.

"I've been wearing robes and pajamas all day. The most I'll dress up is to put on a sweater and leggings."

She is cautious about being too optimistic about the other side of the pandemic. But she hasn't tossed her rose-colored glasses. This bumpy ride is good for reflection. Fabulous for dreaming, more daydreams, as her sleep cycle has been disrupted.

When life as we knew it was interrupted, the 32-year- old designer was on fire, adding home furnishing licensed collections like charms on a bracelet. Her aesthetic casts a wide net: 18th-century French Rococo ("love its opulence, carved floral gilding and femininity"), 1930s Art Deco (from Miami, France and Italy; "It's about shapes, especially chairs. Of all furniture, I love chairs the best"), 90s Space Age Modern ("exploration and the unknown, bubble and egg shapes"), 1970s French, American and Italian Modernism, and 1980s Italian Memphis Milano.

She's obsessed with disco culture and "anything from the late '70s, early '80s "when NYC was super glam, everyone dressed in Halston and Bill Blass and women started wearing power suits."

Besides the lighting line, there's mosaic tile for New Ravenna. Textiles for Fabricut's Vervain line launched in Paris at Maison et Objet in January. She usually starts with textiles. "It has to do with color and pattern, a way to balance space and move your eyes through it."

There's a common design thread, though her work is anything but common. She boldly tosses pattern and color about, marrying them in unexpected ways, sometimes to a maximalist extreme with elements of Pop art and '50s kitsch, but always chic and sophisticated.

One modern take on toile for Vervain includes charming images of her favorite things: croissants, disco balls, Birkin bags, the Arc de Triomphe, to name a few, in pastel palettes as luscious as macarons. Also velvets: Lipgloss (a hot pink crinkly panne) and La Discotheque, "the other side of velvet, smooth with an iridescence and sprinkled with diamonds on a night sky." It was inspired by a jacket she bought in Paris.

A new chandelier features a circular cluster of lifelike hibiscuses -- her favorite flower -- in white with a coral center with a hint of pink. She's passionate about pink. "It's feminine, happy. Close to nude. It represents 'girl power' to me." And canary yellow -- "it's sunshine. Laughter and joy." Which we all need these days.

"I'm always striving to do something different," she says. "Kind of be revolutionary and innovative with my design. What I create is not for everyone, but I want people to talk about it."

She credits her mom and grandmother for her style sense. "They were so fashionable. My grandmother was a tastemaker -- taught me gardening and floral arranging, decorating with Persian and European antiques. She hosted the most beautiful parties."

From her, Bikoff learned to appreciate French and Italian couture -- "the construction, material and prints, the craft and artistry." She doesn't enjoy shopping, though, unless she's traveling. Then it's among her favorite things to do -- "like going to a museum."

"I like to see how things are merchandised. And I love vintage shops. John Galliano from the Dior days. Chanel from the '80s and '90s. Yves Saint Laurent, Thierry Mugler, Claude Montana. I love to mix vintage with new."

That's exactly what she does with her interiors. They're rich in character, sometimes whimsical, high-low.

"Period pieces are often very playful," she says, with intricate carvings of flowers, fruits or birds. "You can modernize antique classical pieces with fabric."

As an art history and fine arts major, she took advantage of college time in Paris, living in the Saint-German arrondissement, painting, visiting art galleries and scouring chic antique shops, as well as the Marche aux Puces. Bikoff actually had had visions of becoming a pop singer -- she even had a record contract at 18 -- but her grandfather totally nixed the idea, insisting on college.

Eventually Bikoff took a job at the prestigious Gagosian Art Gallery in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood. "I learned a lot about business and discipline," she says, but she yearned for the creative. And at age 25, in 2013, she opened her eponymous firm. An avid collector (she once owned about 100 Memphis pieces), she currently has an online shop and is a dealer on 1st Dibs (www.1stdibs.com).

When Bikoff took on that very heady interiors job at the Dakota -- for her mom -- her guiding philosophy was: "Art is the highest form of creativity. For me, design is functional art. When you enter a space, it should inspire, ignite a sense of creativity. Tell a story. Engage us in how life is, who we are."

She approached the job as if she were painting, starting with the walls, floors and ceiling, building up layers like paint pigment and texture. "Then, surround then yourself with things you love, that tell a wonderful romantic story.

"My mother believed in me," says Bikoff, who admits she was in waaay over her head. "My goal was to constantly make her happy." It was a bittersweet time, as her mother was battling cancer; she died just two year later, in 2015.

"I'm a bit of an old soul," she admits. "I always say, if I were reborn, it would be in 19th-century France or '70s disco, Studio 54 days. I definitely have an affinity for the past and people always dressing up, not just in jeans and T-shirts. "

As for the future, so much still is unknown. There's an outdoor furniture line in the works, and residential projects on hold. "I would like to do a tabletop collection, hotels in New York and Miami."

And Sasha Bikoff will be ready for her next act. She recently posted a Botticelli-inspired image of a Hollywood star standing in a giant scallop shell, like the masterpiece "Birth of Venus." Her caption: "Me, emerging from quarantine."

"I am a romantic," she says. "I believe in dreams and happy endings."

Sources

-- Currey and Co., 877-768-6428, www.curreyandcompany.com

-- New Ravenna, 757-442-3379, www.newravenna.com

-- Sasha Bikoff Interior Design, 646-524-5941, www.sashabikoff.com

-- Versace Home Collection, 888-721-7219, www.versace.com

-- Vervain, 800-611-8686, www.fabricut.com/vervain

Have we ever been more anxious to spend time outdoors?

With today's new norm of staying in place, the strangest spring in memory is largely in lockdown mode until we get COVID-19 tamed. But that doesn't mean we can't dream about the summer days when we can stretch out on a chaise, grill to our heart's content and drink a few cold ones with friends.

And since many of us now have the luxury of time, we can plan like never before! Prep that outdoor space. Clean the grill. Use it! Acquire some new skills -- culinary techniques and dishes -- before your official welcome-to-summer soiree. You might even hone your presentation skills for the debut of "social undistancing."

We've been getting heartening messages from furniture manufacturers, like the Spanish company Andreu World: "For all the good times that will surely come."

While many manufacturers are shuttered, others are still doing business. And retailers are welcoming customers to their websites, where there are guides galore for outdoor living.

It seems so long ago that we were introduced to 2020 collections, this past fall at the Casual Furniture Market in Chicago and the more recent international trade show Maison and Objet in Paris. There is a lot to offer.

An overarching trend, of course, is the furthering of the cohesive outdoor rooms that mimic gathering places indoors, for drinking, cooking, dining and lounging. All of which translates to comfortable furniture in a wide range in style, color, pattern and texture. Seating and dining are the main areas of interest, but so are fire features (tables, fire pits or outdoor fireplaces), outdoor kitchens and pergolas, or some kind of sheltered space. Also, some manufacturers appear to be taking cues from the contract sector (products designed for offices, hospitality, hotels, etc.), looking to integrate battery chargers or USB ports for phones and laptops into seating or tables.

Here's what's on tap for 2020:

-- It's all in the mix. Diversity is the lesson to be learned from high-end outdoor manufacturers in Europe. Not only are materials merged in single pieces of furniture, like concrete or porcelain with teak tables, but also, wood is being paired with outdoor wicker and rattan, and metal, for an eclectic look.

-- Folding screens are an emerging category, and we're down for it. Folding screens made out of slatted wood or rope, in a range of styles, provide a bit of architecture and a means of creating a corner, defining a space. In addition, there's a marvelous hybrid: a vertical planter wall. At Mamagreen, the wall plays with positive and negative space and provides space for several planters. Plus, it's on casters, so it can be moved about. It's like a room divider, and with the extra benefit of foliage, a wonderful addition to a patio or deck. Plant stands with staggered placements for pots are another strong option.

-- Practical add-ons. With modern modular seating, same-height tables can be an extension at the ends, or even the middle, handy for snacks, books or magazines. We're also seeing new features: Plank and Hide's new etched aluminum end table has the look and feel of wood grain and doubles as a functional food service station, with one large stainless steel container for an entree like pasta and three rectangular slots for salad, fruit, veggies.

-- The easiest glow up: pillows. Sure, a bold color can go a long way. But have you seen patterned pillows lately? Many of the designs continue to extend beyond traditional florals and geometrics. Couture touches like mitering and accenting with fringe or buttons are signature for Elaine Smith, who is very much inspired by fashion. This season, we were absolutely blown away with the Frontgate pillows that were inspired by botanical prints from the New York Botanical Garden. The digital imagery is absolutely brilliant.

-- White-on-white is a clean, modern look in powder-coated aluminum with matching upholstery or striking in contrast with teak frames.

-- Embracing new finishes for teak. We're seeing a lot more distressing, similar to what happens naturally over time. But it's skewed a bit warmer, a little less gray and more refined than rustic. Baixa, a new three-piece sectional for CB2, for example, features a gray-washed mahogany platform base with tight, overstuffed cushions.

-- Rope and wovens are moving from neutral to color, extending options for accents. A mustard-hued chair in handwoven synthetic rattan from CB2 is a great example, as are several rope collections from Talenti, shown in a shade of brick red.

-- Color is reflecting sophisticated palettes from nature that also are on trend indoors. Largely driven at the high end in Europe, some of the palettes include a rosy brick, plum, mustard and teal, as well as paler versions of these. Green still is a force. One of the most attention-grabbing new collections from Lloyd Flanders is a woven sectional shown in a brighter green called "basil."

-- Cook outdoors in style. There are more design options now for cabinetry to go with those grills, outdoor refrigerators, wine coolers and sinks. In Europe, there's more of an integrated approach, and we're seeing more of these all-in-one concepts that merge at Italian brands Ethimo and Talenti.

-- Light it up. It's hard to imagine early examples of outdoor lights, which were, well, pretty lamp -- essentially table lamps with bland shades that showed little imagination in style and merely made indoor looks outdoor safe. With fun, sassy stripes from Sunbrella, Maori is one company to offer a range of shaded floor lamps or freestanding cylinders. Woven looks also have exploded, as has the category of lanterns, most of which are battery operated.

-- Gimme shelter. The romantic vision of a Victorian pergola has morphed into a very modern pavilion, with a choice of walls, roofs and even integrated light and sound.

With a current focus on wellness, the notion of a relaxing oasis where you can chill in your backyard has never resonated more.

Sources

-- Anthropologie, 800-309-2500, www.anthropologie.com

-- CB2, 800-606-6252, www.cb2.com

-- Ethimo, www.ethimo.com, distributed through Morlen Sinoway Atelier, 312-432-0100, www.morlensinoway.com

-- Frontgate, 888-263-9850, www.frontgate.com

-- Janus et Cie, 877-705-2687, www.shopjanusetcie.com

-- Jensen Leisure Furniture, 800-403-0403, www.jensenleisurefurniture.com

-- Kannoa, 305-651-9655, www.kannoa.com

-- Kettal, 786-552-9002, www.kettal.com

-- Lagoon Furniture America Corp., 786-420-2934, www.lagoonfurnitures.com

-- Mamagreen, 312-877-5155, www.mamagreen.com

-- Missoni Home, 866-966-0390, www.missoni.com

-- Pavilion Furniture, 305-823-3480, www.pavilionfurniture.com

-- Pottery Barn, 888-779-5176, www.potterybarn.com

-- Talenti, www.talentisrl.com, distributed through Morlen Sinoway Atelier, 312-422-0100, www.morlensinoway.com

SIDEBAR

Get It Together

To frame those professional outdoor grills, fridges, wine coolers and the like, there now are more options for cabinetry, most recently at retail home stores such as Pottery Barn. In Europe, there's more of an integrated approach, and we're seeing more of these all-in-one concepts that include built-in sinks, grills with optional fridges, wine preservers and ice makers at Italian brands Ethimo and Talenti.

Trim -- in fashion or home furnishings -- often is described as a finishing touch. Iconic as the braid punctuation on a Chanel boucle jacket, it can be subtle on upholstery as in a barely there piping that edges a chair, or a same-color banding that contrasts simply in texture or sheen. Or perhaps it can wake up the skirt of a white sofa with a cobalt Greek key border. Sassy fringe on a handbag or cladding the side of a chair? Oh yes, fringe can be dramatic.

Six years ago, Laura Kirar boldly fashioned fringe out of leather strips and wrapped it around her shaggy Guernica chair for McGuire. And 15 years ago, London-based Kelly Hoppen used chain mail in an imaginative way -- as a fringy skirt on a curvaceous rusty-red velvet chair for a collection that she designed for Century Furniture.

Today, fringe is noticeably entertaining. Billy Porter immediately leaps to mind. The performer's glittery peacock blue jumpsuit, cropped jacket and matching eye shadow were everything on the Grammy red carpet -- but it was all about that hat. He rocked glittery crystal fringe that served as a curtain hanging from the wide brim down to his chin.

But we digress -- just a little. Silky, shimmery fringe certainly is having a moment again in home decor. It's popping up on the sides of chairs, rimming ottomans, sometimes in color-blocked layers. It's framing mirrors and even dripping from sconces and pendant lights, like the crescent-shaped ones from the Spanish brand Houtique.

Beyond fringe, woven and embroidered bands, piping, cording, galloons (decorative woven trims, often with metallic gold or silver thread, used in military uniforms and liturgical garments), pompons, rosettes, gimp, soutache (narrow, flat decorative braiding) and tassels are commanding attention in the trim universe, which at its most posh level is called passementerie. And at the haute level, trim can be much more than a finishing touch. In fact, most of what's happening with trims in interiors is about personal expression, customization -- those pivotal elements that really lend character.

"I consider it just as important as the fabric," says Jana Platina Phipps, AKA the Trim Queen. A blogger since 2013, she is passionate about embellishments in fashion, interior and DIY -- not only well-versed in the field, but a hands-on designer. "It can become a tool to signify style like nothing else. And it can bridge design elements in a room like nothing else."

Some of the most coveted trims still are handmade, with the finest yarns and threads, even pure gold, which kicks up their price to $500 per yard and more.

At Heimtextil, the international textile show in Messe Frankfurt, and Paris Deco Off, where luxe fabric brands show their newest collections and trends, both in January, standouts were bold because of palette, use, and mixing of materials, scale and tactility.

-- Wide bands are making more of a statement.

-- Matte finishes. Though silks are still strong, there's movement to linen, wool and blends for a natural, more casual look.

-- A mix of materials seemed fresh, even with high contrasts such as matte with shiny, rustic with refined.

-- Natural elements like mother of pearl, seashell, cork and raffia are especially strong in drapery tiebacks.

-- Embroidery. Complexity of design really shines through the best artisans. Motifs include geometric, architectural and floral.

-- Ribbon patterns included animal prints, camouflage, stripes, sequin florals and lace.

-- Leather. No longer relegated to piping alone; banding also reflects decorative treatments, like shredding, perforating and top stitching. Vegan alternatives and hide also are part of the conversation. Leather also was used as tassels in curtain tiebacks -- solo or in combination with other fibers.

-- Bling. In addition to metallic threads in gold, silver, copper or color, beading is woven in or applied to trims. We saw crystal, pearl, sequin and glitter looks.

-- Metal elements. Think nailheads and circles. In drapery, mirrored, stainless, brass spheres, plus textile ones "striped" in iridescent metallic strips.

-- Intricate weaves were dazzling in richness of pattern and color. An example of some of the most energetic weaves is the work of Elizabeth Ashdown, a London-based artist. One of the U.K.'s last remaining passementerie-makers, she uses traditional weaving techniques with an energetic use of vivid color, pattern and material to create contemporary, exclusive one-off pieces.

Inspirations for trim creators are coming from fashion and architecture.

Chicago-based interior designer Frank Ponterio recently debuted a textile and trim collection for Clarence House during Paris Deco Off. He says he was inspired largely by growing up in Italy and from travel photos.

His fabrics include soft lambswool, nubby alpacas and linens, and the trims are highlighted by details such as stitching on hide and metal rings on linen. He describes the collection as "refined and authentic, tailored precision, pretty and strong, delicate but livable."

"For trims, I looked at men's fashion. A multicolored cord was inspired by friendship bracelets. There's a leather trim on a linen background, stripped back and forth -- it came from a jacket design, the leather strips shirred on the bodice of the coat."

Ponterio says he has doesn't have a particular decorating style, though he has done a lot of significant historical work, as well as contemporary.

"I have a little more fun with contemporary detail, even in a classical interior," he says. "I want something to feel thoughtfully put together, curated and bespoke."

In a living room setting, his metal and linen banding edges a window shade. A skinny piping punctuates the seat of an ottoman covered in lush alpaca. Linen pillows are decorated with cut vegan leather bands. A rug is framed by a decorative border.

"I've used gimp or flat tape on the inside of a cabinet, on the face of shelves as a nice surprise detail. And on upholstered walls. I've dressed up old picture frames with flat tapes. It's another tool in our toolbox."

Another area of design that has seen an uptick is that of outdoor trims. Even Houles, a high-end French brand nearly 100 years old, known for exquisite passementerie that has graced the Chateau de Versailles, introduced an indoor-outdoor collection called Palma, which has a fresh, modern look.

Modernity is also the hallmark of a new Houles collection by Michael Aiduss, who says he wanted to make traditional trims less fussy. His collection was inspired by the ancient Greek style of the early 20th-century Villa Kerylos in the south of France -- but it's stylized and appealingly geometric.

Milanese designer Lorenza Bozzoli also looked to geometry to create her Couture collection of ottomans produced with handmade fringes woven on 19th-century looms. Her work recalls a sinuous aesthetic typical of 1930s Art Deco and the architecture of Gio Ponti.

How trims are used makes all the difference. It's all about editing. The key is nothing in excess.

"Layering is being done much more than ever before, especially in window treatments," says Phipps, the Trim Queen, who recently entered a business partnership with ThreadCo, a New York City-based manufacturer. "Like grosgrain (ribbon) on top of gimp or something to add dimension. Designers are using trim in contrasting colors around upholstered walls. Everything is more of a statement."

Sources

-- Caravane, www.caravane.fr

-- Clarence House, 800-803-2850, www.clarencehouse.com

-- Elizabeth Ashdown, info@elizabethashdown.co.uk, www.elizabethashdown.co.uk

-- Fabricut, 800-999-8200, www.fabricut.com

-- Houles, 212-935-3900, www.houles.com

-- Houtique, info@houtique.es, www.houtique.es

-- IKN, Ikon perde, ikonperde@ikonperde.com, www.ikonperde.com.tr

-- Kravet, 800-645-9068, www.kravet.com

-- Lorenza Bozzoli, info@lorenzabozzolicouture.com, www.lorenzabozzolicouture.com

-- Trim Queen, www.trimqueen.com