Contemporary duplex: Chelsea, New York City

The clean contemporary white box design of this Chelsea duplex was a perfect place to start. The client's request to keep things sleek, uncluttered and unabashedly simple was easily granted by using simple shapes, pieces that had an open quality such as the kitchen stools and living room coffee table. Benches instead of chairs flank the dining table to minimize lateral cuts in an otherwise linear, horizontal space.

Living Room w. view of Kitchen.
Textures are the star of this room- not color.
The high pile rug, tufted sofa, charcoal mohair and woven rattan side chair, sumptuous throw pillows- all bring interest to the space without any color domination.
Sofa: Room & Board
Chair: Crate & Barrel (re-upholstered in C.O.M.)
Rug: ABC Carpet
Coffee table: DWR
art work: original photo by the client- blown up and mounted by Baboo

Alt view of Living Room with entrance to patio
All artwork is original photography by the client

Dining area & Kitchen.
The table was a console in the client's previous apartment. Purchased at DWR, it opens up making it a very smart investment.
Benches: Room & Board. Re-covered in the same charcoal mohair as the side chair.
Chairs: Room & Board.

Kitchen
Picture rails added to the wall now hold graphic serving trays that double as art- complimented by silver candle holders by Aram.
Stools: DWR

Master Bedroom- Lower Level.
Below the stairs is utilized as a home office. Keeping it bright, monochrome and neat helps to open the space up.
Main wall is painted a dark charcoal bringing interest to the room and helping to make the space sexier and more cavernous.
Floating side tables help to keep the space uncluttered.

Master Bath- Lower Level.
Took a bit to convince the client to paint his bath in my company's signature color but once it was done it was a big hit! Still organic, earthy, deep, rich, yet unexpected.
Masculinity at its best.
Wall art was ripped out of a discount art book and framed DIY. Doesn't get easier or cheaper than that- and makes a brilliant impact.

Country Estate: Westport, CT

10,500 square ft country estate in Westport, CT

Mixing an antique farm house table with a contemporary fabric on the chairs elevated this space to match the loftiness of the breakfast nook.
Chandelier: Baker
Chairs: Room & Board
Table: Henredon
Curtains custom made my Johnstoncraft

The oversized sectional and leather top coffee table helped to warm this oversized family room. Mixing in the vintage rug settled this room in to its existing cozy feel.
Console table: Holly Hunt
Sectional sofa: Room & Board
Coffee table: Saladino
Rug: homeowners collection
Artwork: original pencil by homeowner

Rustic country kitchen was bumped up a few notches with the addition of sleek steel and mesh sconces. Wood countertops were replaced by a rich granite with copper and bronze flecks.
Sconces: Holly Hunt
Hardware: Classic Bronze Co.
Granite: custom picked from NJ quarry

Sconces by Holly Hunt

The dining room can handle this oversized custom made wood dining table with bronze inlays from Rocky Mountain Hardware. The table was made by a carpenter in Idaho.
The chandelier was custom designed and then built by Rocky Mountain Hardware.
Rich luminescent leather dining chairs add a contemporary edge to an otherwise traditional seating solution.
Seats 12.
Chairs: Holly Hunt
Original artwork by homeowner

Remington statue overlooks both spaces and welcomes guests to the front entry

Updating existing pieces, replacing chintz and needlepoint with ostrich and cow, respectively

While keeping the client's leather sofas and antique cane back side chairs, the space was made more contemporary by adding a sleek iron and wood coffee table, recovering the chairs in grey ostrich leather, and adding two antique stools that went from needlepoint tops to a silver colored hide.

Original artwork by owner.

Blowing all obvious choices out of the water, this wool and silk rug takes the living room to a whole new place.

In the background, we've set up a small office area for the homeowner.

Rug: "Bishops Cape" by Dian von Furstenberg for The Rug Company
Silver mohair chair by Saladino
Custom made leather desk
bench - original artwork owned by homeowner

Making an unexpected seating area at the top of the steps overlooking the living room.

Setting up one of the 6 bedrooms with existing furniture from the farm in Virginia.

Hallway approaching master suite.
Remington sculptures from client's collection

The man of the house takes refuge in this fully wood paneled office.
wall to wall berber made the space more comfortable and gave a break from the wood floors throughout the rest of the home. All furniture was client's own.
Original artwork by homeowner

The master suite was originally one bath/one dressing room. We blew through the back wall to expand and allow for his and hers master baths each with its own dressing room.
Here I used traditional mosaics and subway tiles to suggest a gentlemen's athletic club. Dark woods, crema marfil counters, rocky mountain hardware throughout and a generous sized shower stall all help to make this a masculine bathroom.

Solid bronze fixtures by Rocky Mountain Hardware

The powder room off the entry was traditional as it gets with a farmhouse sink, rough hewn wood planking and classic brass fittings.
Popping in the electric bluefoil glass basin and using some granite to replace the wood top helps to bring this space into the present day without losing sight of its rustic origins

6x6 cordovan leather tiles and Rocky Mountain sconces are the finishing touches to the powder room that make this space unexpected, rich, but perfectly appropriate in this Westport country estate

Butler's pantry gets a make over and spruce up with some paint. Being sure to put like with like and being thoughtful in color placement helps to keep an easily cluttered space look clean and organized yet still functional

It's rare when I find a situation where there's too much natural wood.
Painting this desk/hutch just off the kitchen and hanging the client's collection of white Picasso plates helps to brighten up an otherwise dark, drab corner. Be sensible: cookbooks should be kept in the kitchen area- and somewhere you can sit and search for that perfect recipe for tonight's dinner party.

The small wine cellar that came with the estate was certainly not large enough to house the couple's extensive wine collection.
We transformed the existing space into the tasting room and the new wine cellar was built from the ground up and is now ready and able to house 2,000+ bottles of the finest.

the lower level was originally a movie theater that seated 24.
The new homeowners had a better use for the space- at least where they were concerned:
The space was split in two, divided by a floor to ceiling glass wall. The back area was carpeted with FLOR tiles to become a bright, efficient, fully equipped home gym.
The front space was finished with basketball flooring and now houses the family's pool table and a ping pong table to serve the client's love of the game. I hear she's unbeatable!

Quirky, remote room over the garage and set off from the rest of the upstairs, this room quickly became the rec-room for grandkids. Game table, Huge flat screen tv and a full wetbar with keg tap.

The ultimate artist's refuge.

Radiant heated floors
Bright tru-light overheads
Garage door opening access for oversized creations
seamless surround sound audio system

Welcome to my first blog ;)

I'm too opinionated to stay quiet.
Not pushy or aggressive or intolerant of other's ideas,  but I have a view of how spaces should be; how they should look - how they should relate to the people who inhabit them.
I have this peculiar ability to walk into a space and in a matter of seconds, envision how it will look after I've impacted it.  Weeks, months, and in some cases, years later.

So here is where I'll expose my opinion.
I'll admit mistakes, savor victories, boast when I'm able and reach out for help when I'm stuck.

I hope you'll join me.
Feel free to poke around or take a peek.
Give an opinion.  Share a thought.  Borrow an idea.

There's really no harm in playing with design.  Nothing's nailed down really except for the walls- and as I've learned, even those can be knocked down  ;)