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Designer Rafael de Cárdenas's apartment for cover girl Jessica Stam is a jewel-tone paradise with a dash of silver-screen glamour

Written by David Colman • Photographed by Roger Davies
Produced By Carlos Mota

There are all sorts of things people will not do for themselves. Few, for example, feel the burning urge to make their own shoes or build a laptop. And abandoned pasta machines across the land prove that, really, store-bought lasagna noodles are just fine.

But people won't be dissuaded from blithely taking on one of the toughest tasks on the planet: renovating and decorating their homes. Jessica Stam, one of fashion's hottest young faces and a favorite of photographer Steven Meisel, did exactly that with her previous apartment, in New York City's East Village. It was only after a year of arguing with contractors and agonizing over every minor furniture choice that the blue-eyed model finally crumbled.

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