Contemporary Design in Downtown, New York
This home is very special to me for multiple reasons… the apartment is in my old neighborhood and every site visit felt like a trip down memory lane. The building is new construction with one of a kind architectural details, beautiful arched windows and spectacular views. This apartment is home to a very private client, who considers himself a bit of mature soul, cares for natural materials and wants to enjoy the natural patina and age on his home as life progresses. In these days where I so often work with performance materials, a brief with focus on pure fabrics and materials changed my entire sourcing strategy. The creative freedom and clarity of vision, quick decision making and focus on craftsmanship was what I and my trades enjoyed deeply. Photography by Daniel Wang.
This dining room shows the combination of great furniture selection, art, architecture all nestled in the beautiful New York City. This home needed custom drapery from the start to accentuate these beautiful arched windows. The custom ripple fold drapery in beautiful fabric softens the space and frames the windows. We used a family dining table and added custom chairs. The punk portrait of Queen Elizabeth adds the perfect focal point.
The great room is shown here in this wide angle shot. This spot is really where everyone who walks into the apartment stands and pauses to soak in the house, the wndows, the views and the feeling of being somewhere calm and restful high up in the sky. We have five functioning areas in this great room - the living room, the dining room, kitchen, breakfast bar and a bar area. When I ceated the flow of this room, I wanted to ensure there was room around the perimeter to explore and mingle. The sofa is a beautiful leather which will age with use over the years. The blue wing chairs are upholstered in a beautiful cashmere wool. The barstools are functional as they tuck under the countertop if required and swivel for party nights. The rug is 100% wool and brings in the greens, blues and tans used everywhere in the house. The coffee table is custom made with a mix of oak and honed carrara marble. The throw pillows are suede leather and linen.
The leather sofa is inviting and brings one in. The sofa faces a huge television flanked with custom walnut floating shelves to display books, memorablia and games. The media unit not only fits the TV niche and provides much needed storage, and it a beautiful piece. The soft curves, the beautiful walnut finish and the metal legs in a lovely antique bronze make it one with the home. The bar and the art in the foyer lend a great spot for the eyes to rest. Featured art here is a Bob Dylan Print, yes you heard it right… Bob Dylan.
This master bedroom is one of my favourite rooms in the house. I added so much to this blank slate. Starting with function always, we added some sound proofing and insulation behind this beautiful feature wall. This is the shared wall which is the TV wall for the neighbors, so we wanted to ensure some protection. I also wanted to add sconces for nightime reading. The design intention was to do a hand plaster on the wall and create a marble ledge as an additional surface. We wanted to create a darker canvas here as the room is bathed in sunlight especially in the mornings. The addition of the baseboard and crown moulding make the modern home warmer and layered.
The feature wall is beautifully executed with hand plaster. The material selection here include European walnut bed, nightstands in lacquer and walnut finish, brass and linen sconces, pure linen sheets and wool throw, all brought together by the honed graphite marble ledge. There is an understated grey in the pallete with warmth and darkness that this room plays to its advantage. The silohuette of every furniture piece in this room is sophisticated and masculine. This room took the longest to furnish due the furniture delays, but it was well worth the wait.
Tighter shot and one of my favourite shots of this room with strong focus on the material selection and all the detail. The sunlight makes the art and the feature wall glow.
This is the flex room where the client works, converts it to a guest room with the sofa bed and there is intentional empty space in the middle for excercise. I kept the color pallete blue and green in here with a suede leather blue wallpaper, it nearly looks like a plaster wall when touched and feels like interactive art. I chose a blue pure wool rug to marry it with the feature wallpaper. All softer furnishings have a slight shade of green. I wallpapered the foyer leading to the room in a woolen paper with a pale green shade of grey and tied that softness in the green in the drapery fabric.
My client here is super tall and so we maximised storage for his books by installing floating shelves high up. His library ladder dictated the choice of cherry wood for the desk and the floating shelves and its uniqueness is admirable. The brackets were matched with the antique bronze throughout the house. The books warm up the space and are my favourtie part of the room.
“The Bar” was always going to be special in this home for this client. Its his way of entertaining and caring for his friends, so the pressure was ON for function, beauty, storage and display… we went through many pieces until we landed on this beauty from Timothy Oulton. It has fluted glass panels that are wrapped in antique bronze metal. There are three shelves inside which have accent LED lighting and the touch latch mechanism to open her up. I would just sit on the bar stools and admire the bar all day if I could.
These wing chairs by the living room windows are everything… they are wrapped in a beautiful cashmere wool and are perfect for that morning cup of caffine. They are close enough for the perfect conversation but not too close. We are not casual here, so again the distance from the coffee table disables one to put their feet up. Plenty to admire and be comfortable in.
The art foyer as I call it. The main moment here is the “We the people” art from the uber cool and brilliant Mark Illuminati. Every one of his pieces is one of a kind. Here he has used a vintage American flag and crowned it with neon. The art is cool and edgy and makes a statement in this home. The other two framed pieces are prints from Bob Dylan himself.
The kitchen in this home is a show stopper. Styling by designbyRUCHI.