BLOG - New Projects

It seems that it is the New York "condition" to long for a large, light-filled apartment or home.  We all seem to make some sort of compromise in order to live in such a great city. After being here for some time I have realized that this domestic compromise is one of my favorite parts of living in New York.  While maddening at times, it forces you to be creative in your approach to living.  It forces you to think outside the box for solutions to design and space problems.  

About a year ago, my husband and I set out to find our first home together.  Our list of must-haves was long and we felt we had the endurance to find the perfect spot.  Looking back on the experience, the apartment we ended up with was PERFECT at the time because we were going to make it into something completely different.  In our minds what we purchased was not what we actually received and our imaginations ran wild with the possibilities. Our architects were patient and brilliant.  "Can't we put more hanging space here?" Not enough depth. "What about a hallway there?" Structural Beam. And then of course it came, "I wish our bedroom was bigger".  There was the awkward floorplan, the endless variety of ceiling heights, beams, and of course the condo board "No your kitchen cannot go past that line!". We were navigating the New York condition and the dream home in our heads was slowly slipping away due to reality, budget, and the fact that what we bought was what we got.  Nearly a year later, what has emerged is an apartment that is in fact perfect for us.  We will love it all the more because of the amount of thought and time we put into each and every element. 

As a designer these inescapable realities gave me some wonderful excuses to focus on decorative practices that I have always loved but would never consider as a renter. One of these problems is described below.

Problem: Our dining room is at the far end of a long-narrow space that is quite dark:

Solution: Antique Mirror one wall.  Heather from Habitually Chic did an excellent post on Mirrored Walls and some of my favorite inspirations are below.

Rena Abbot's Living Room as seen on Habitually Chic

Dining Room of Janklow Townhouse

Bunny Williams

I agree with one of Heather's reader that mirrored walls can easily go tacky or Fun House.  They should not cause a space to become disorienting or never-ending.  But done in the right way, they can be a gorgeous solution to light and space issues.  The image of the Janklow townhouse was the most relevant to my project because I knew that I wanted to have some sort of blue venetian plaster in the room that would probably meet in the corner with the mirrored wall. I love how the affect in the picture above was to provide diffused natural light throughout the room and reflect the color at the same time.  In the end I chose a finish that is similar to the mirror in Bunny Williams apartment.  I love how it almost looks like an impressionist painting.

Within weeks the rooms we have imagined for the past year will become a reality for us....

I love pulling together fabrics for new projects and the combinations below are some of my new absolute favorites. 

A little background-the floors throughout the apartment are bleached white oak and crema marble.  The canvas, shall we say, is light, bright, and airy.

The scheme above is for the living room.  The plan is to paint the walls in a deep blue Venetian plaster (with just enough movement to not be heavy). The orange velvet in the top right of the image is for the sofa.  The gray blue large swatch is for the windows.  I love the tonality of this fabric and can't wait to see it in billowy full-length curtains.  The light blue wool (top row) and blue chevron (bottom right) are options for chairs, pillows, etc.

The Living Room of the apartment is connected to the study with pocket doors.  The Ikat is for the windows (romans)  and the blue and gray weave is for the sofa.  The glazed linen on the bottom right is for a chair and ottoman.  The thought is to paint the walls a deep chocolate brown lacquer. 

For the open Kitchen/Family Room the palette is clean and crisp greens, somewhere between an olive and a kelly green but not really either.  I just adore this color! The straw and green basket weave is for a big comfy L-shaped sofa.  The green velvet is for big pillows and the stripe with yellow and green is for the windows.  The cabinetry for the kitchen and family room will be white with the backs of the shelves painted green. 

The goal for the Master Bedroom was to create a soothing luxurious palette of grays and lilacs.  The bottom right fabric is for the windows (romans).  The top right gray/lilac nubbey linen is for the headboard, the gray and white print on the top left is for a bench and the purple mohair is for pillows.

One of our recent jobs was for a condo developer who wanted to decorate and furnish a model apartment as part of their sales efforts.  We like working on all types of projects and for this one the objectives were clear: stay on budget, get it done quickly, and keep the design sensibility as neutral as possible.  The building itself was beautifully constructed and our hope was to highlight the positive aspects of the space rather than overshadow it with heavy handed decorating decisions.  For these types of assignments, the palette should be subdued, refined, and have as broad of an appeal as possible.   We were able to add a pop of color in the scheme for the "child's bedroom" and here we chose orange (one of my favorite colors and gender neutral!).  On account of the budget and tight schedule, we were forced to explore many stock items from big box retailers.  By mixing these well-known pieces with custom window treatments and pillows, we were able keep the apartment schemes from appearing overly generic.  Below are the inspiration boards for the project. Enjoy!!!