A LITTLE OVERCAST today, which means searching for colour anywhere we can find it — the bright pink roses from P. on my desk at the office, a dash of red lipstick, and a glimpse, for old time’s sake, into Iris Apfel’s three-bedroom Manhattan apartment, from the June 2011 issue of Architectural Digest. A maximalist’s idea of heaven, there are stone pedestals piled high with art books and Baroque consoles, 19th-century dog portraits and gilded chinoiserie mirrors, antique carvings and costume jewelry, exquisite French chairs and so much colour . . .

“But style is like charisma. You know it when you see it.”—Iris Apfel