In a home like Barbara and Donald Tober’s, a row of neatly wrapped gifts could be mistaken as part of the decor. The living room of this couple – she’s the chairwoman of the Museum of Arts & Design, he’s the co-chief executive of the Sugar Foods Corporation – is full of ribbons, trimmings, and handmade objects. There’s an elk made entirely of beads by Sherry Markovitz and colorful objects like a seafoam green Limoge tureen created by Cindy Sherman.

But this particular pile of presents, with pale blue ribbons, appeared only briefly on Thursday afternoon at the baby shower Mrs. Tober held for her protege Lisa Elson, who is expecting a boy in June. The Elsons and the Tobers have been friends for several years, but their relationship intensified when Mrs. Elson’s husband, the architect Harry Elson, took on a yearlong renovation of the Tobers’ Park Avenue apartment.

The project began when Mr. Tober asked Mr. Elson if he did kitchens. The affable men were discussing Mr. Elson’s design for Mr. Tober’s office. “I told him I’ve done a ton of kitchens,” Mr. Elson said.

Mr. Tober had only one wish for his: a place to eat his breakfast. He can now reach for his bowl cereal from the comfort of his chair, and enjoy the view from his window.

Mrs. Tober wanted an office for herself and her two employees. Since she’d left her post as editor in chief of Brides magazine, which she held for 30 years, she’d been conducting her museum and other business out of the kitchen. It had been 10 years of making do.

“It was not a very good way to work. I had to de-office the kitchen every time I had people over for dinner,” Mrs. Tober said. Now she has a spacious office with three workstations and walls of storage cabinets.

The kitchen and office’s clean modern style – Corian counters, white-lacquered cabinets – is a radical departure from the cluttered and cozy rooms in the rest of the apartment, with their books, pillows, antique letter openers, and art on all surfaces.

“I love the design,” Mrs. Tober said, adding that the fabrics had faded since Irving & Fleming had decorated the apartment in 1984. It was time to freshen things up.

During the renovations, the Tobers relocated to a temporary residence and designer Alan Tanksley stepped in to revive, but not change, the original decor. New drapes, upholstery, and wall coverings were installed to faithfully match the old. The placement of every object was documented so it could be removed and put back – no small feat considering the number of fragile works, including a Dale Chihuly sculpture and a Tang dynasty horse.

The glazed and hand-painted walls and floors were also touched up where they needed it. When the Tobers moved back, they celebrated with a dinner for the Elsons and about a dozen other people who worked on the project. Was Mrs. Tober pleased? Just look around. “The apartment,” she said, “is a total tribute to craftsmanship, and this was a triumph of restoration.”