1958: Richard Mishaan is born in Bogota, Colombia, but political unrest forces his family to flee to South Florida when he's five years old. 'What Colombia meant to my family has stayed with me my whole life," he says. 1976: Studies communications at Emmerson College in Boston, then decides to "wing it" and transfer to New York University in 1978. 1980: Graduates with a Liberal Arts Bachelor's Degree and, a year later, enrolls in Columbia University's Graduate School of Arch

Using his signature sleight of hand, Manhattan designer Richard Mishaan transforms a tall and narrow townhouse living room into a serene and surprisingly spacious retreat. The challenge with the living room of this New York City townhouse was its proportions-- it is only 19 feet wide. And its very high ceilings could also have distorted the scale of the room. On top of that, we were asked to incorporate some beautiful furniture items that had belonged to the client's mother