John Saladino is well-known for his use of shape, saying that he "sees furnishings firstly as geometry-as squares, cubes, drums, triangles, and rectangles, which also happen to be sofas, chairs, tables, lamps, and paintings." But shape isn't the only thing Saladino is known for. He's also a big fan of combining different elements- rough and smooth, light and dark, outdoors and indoors- to give his rooms a feel that's well-deserving of his nickname of the "designer's designer."

On his website, Saladino describes the three "ingredients" that make up the philosophy that is central to his work: manipulation of scale (small rooms feel bigger and big rooms feel"more embracing" thanks to his use of "dramatic tension"), nuanced and elusive color ("color which changes according to the day and evening light"), and layered lighting (often using "theatrical solutions"). His rooms often feature fabrics and textures that are warm and lush, yet familiar enough to be inviting: crisp, white cotton; camel linens; olive green suede; dark, reddish woods; beige leather. He makes great use of color and uses a dramatic variety of textures. The feeling created is upscale yet extremely livable, like a New York theater (which is fitting).

He graduated from Notre Dame and the Yale School of Architecture, and later opened his design firm, Saladino Group Inc., in New York in 1972. Since then, the firm has grown into a "full service Architectural, Interior Design, and Landscape Design [Firm] with a multinational staff of 25." Saladino's projects have ranged from a palace in Kuwait to a garden on a private Greek island, and residences in Santa Barbara, Seattle, and New York. He's also designed furniture for companies like Dunbar, Bloomingdale's, Baker, Knapp, and Tubb's, and started his furniture line, Saladino Furniture Inc., in 1986. Saladino published a book, Style by Saladino, with Frances LincolnLtd. London, in 2000 (printed at New York's Monacelli Press), and has appeared worldwide in lectures, magazines, books, and television in the United States, England, Germany, Japan, France, and Italy.

You can read more about John Saladino on his website, where you can also see more pictures of his designs.