Gramercy Park
GRAMERCY PARK – NYC
Gramercy Park Apartment
These engaged and willing clients, a couple moving from California, sought to create an interior in their prewar Gramercy Park two bedroom – with keys to the Park — that would express emotion, even passion. One of the clients was from South Africa and possessed some heirlooms belonging to his grandfather, including a grand piano and artworks, forming an interesting family legacy which introduced color and and a certain exoticism into the apartment.
Instead of using the second bedroom as a guest room, we chose to create a den for work and entertainment; this has turned out to be a delightful and much-used room.
The couple are master chefs, and multi-course dinners with carefully selected wines were a priority. We created a dining area with a banquette; a closet was transformed into a stunning bar. We furnished the terrace with pieces from Restoration Hardware, making of it another place for dining.
By actively engaging these gastronomic connoisseurs in the design design process, their evolving visual sense came to be reflected in the colors, textures and objects of this highly personal apartment.
A lively striped carpet in tones of cinnamon and cream provides a basic palette and ground for custom and antique furniture, including a black-painted Moroccan stool of the Victorian era.
An X-front American chest of drawers, 1950s, sets the stage for a collection of green-glazed pots and an spiraling cylinder fashioned into a table lamp. We extended the custom mirror beyond the chest for an added feeling of space. The carpet, from Stark, is in a Greek key pattern which appears almost stenciled.
Converted from a closet, the bar is a special delight, inspired by Charles James’ bar for the De Menils in Houston. The clients are oenophiles, with an esoteric knowledge of wines and spirits. The granite top is Uba Tuba from Stone Source.
Converted from a closet, the bar is a special delight, inspired by Charles James’ bar for the De Menils in Houston. The clients are oenophiles, with an esoteric knowledge of wines and spirits. The granite top is Uba Tuba from Stone Source.
In the kitchen, Dresser ceramics and an expresso maker have pride of place on the Uba Tuba counter. The couples baby grand piano appears though the doorway.
While the kitchen is diminutive, we managed to incorporate superlative appliances that speak to the clients love of all things culinary.
The den, painted in Benjamin Moore’s “Northwood Brown,” with dark wooden blinds at the window, is well lived in by the clients and their guests, who enjoy the comfort of a sleeper sofa upholstered in Holly Hunt velvet with pillows covered in vintage Kente fabric.
Bone-colored subway tiles create a ruggedly masculine environment, accented by the antique paddle mounted on a custom stand and an industrial sconce in steel and brass
By removing part of a wall of closets, we created a little sitting and work area, with a banquette and midcentury table and lamp, like one would find in a good hotel. The bed skirt is of vintage washed Belgian linen; the bedding, from Aero. Walnut and marble nightstands are by Bert English, 1950s.
