“I live in Brooklyn Heights, so my goal was to respect the history and architecture of the town-house while making it comfortable for today,” says designer Glenn Gissler, who paired a curvaceous Vladimir Kagan sofa with early-20th-century French furnishings and 20th-century paintings, all from 1stdibs.
by Rachael Tinari-McNamee
Photos by Gross & Daley
Initially, a student of architecture, Glenn combines his in-depth knowledge of structure with other facets of design, including fashion, art, literature, and history, in order to design the spaces he is known for. Based in New York, his firm, Glenn Gissler Design, has designed homes around the US for a wide range of clients and been featured in multiple popular design publications including House Beautiful, Elle Decor, House & Garden among others.
With an undeniable quality of tranquility surrounding Glenn’s designs, he expertly interweaves furnishings from all manners of eras and styles to create a landscape which can be at once appreciated as a whole and for the individual quality of each piece. The resulting effect is one of ultimate composure – which skillfully balances beauty and grace with the practicalities of daily living. Discover more about our LUXList Designer’s inspiration and aesthetic! See his favorite pieces from RubyLUX.com.
Describe your design aesthetic in a few words?
A mix of contemporary and traditional that is comfortable and polished without seeming ‘decorated’
What do you love about using antiques in your designs?
I have spent a good portion of my life learning about art, design, history, cultures both near and far. I prefer to mix objects and furnishings from all eras and origins. I have come to realize that my design work is more about a process of seeking essential elements for comfort and delight that includes objects, artwork, antiques, furniture, and textiles that is both half-full and half-empty; where the individual elements can be seen and understood on their own, but they are also in a dialogue with each other.
What inspires you?
My formal education was more rigorous in architecture and historic education—I didn’t study furniture, textiles, etc. All those things I learned on my own, although my background did bode well for what I wanted to do. It’s in my blood and it remains in my blood—the coalescing of art, architecture, design, lifestyle, and experience.
What is a favorite piece in your home?
I have had the good fortune to live most of my adult life with fine art. Thinking my way through my apartment in Brooklyn Heights room-by-room the one item that stands out is a small abstract gouache painting I made in the 7th grade that hangs in my bedroom.
What are some details of your signature style?
The one word that others use to describe my work is calm – that is, of course, a feeling not a detail. Details would often include fine art, rich but understated textiles that are both new and vintage, typically a soothing palette, tailored upholstery silhouettes and a rich landscape of multi-cultural and historical objects and accessories.
Glenn Gissler Design is an award-winning, and widely published Manhattan-based design firm established in 1987. Gissler brings a multidimensional outlook to interior design. Trained as an architect at the Rhode Island School of Design, he has far-reaching interests in 20th-century art, fashion, literature, sociology, architectural and social history, and a general interest in objects as cultural artifacts. With a focus on residential projects, Glenn joins architectural concepts with thoughtful applications of lighting, fabric and distinctive furnishings and is committed to providing beautiful and extremely livable environments in which his clients are inspired to fully express themselves.
He has worked with young professionals, couples, families, empty-nesters and created exciting pied-a-terre residences in New York City, the Metropolitan area, Long Island, Westchester County, Chicago, Massachusetts and Florida. His work is stylistically diverse and is regularly seen in magazines and books, Elle Décor, House Beautiful, Town & Country, House & Garden, New York Spaces, Hamptons Cottages & Gardens, Interior Design, New York Times Sunday Magazine, Art & Antiques and Interior Design Master Class by Carl Delatorre.
As a member of the Board of Directors – RISD Museum (Rhode Island School of Design)he has donated many designs and decorative art objects to assist the Museum in expanding its current holdings of 95,000 objects. Glenn was the 1017 President of the New York Metro Chapter of ASID (American Society of Interior Designers), and among many other innovative initiatives and programs, he launched the magazine DESIGN to represent the chapters many activities, and just organized twelve events on behalf of the chapter for ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair) at Jacob Javits Convention Center.
by Hadley Keller
It’s about time Brooklyn had its own designer show house. Over the past few years, the borough has proven itself as more of a creative oasis than ever, with everything from furniture to lighting to ceramics making waves throughout the design community; one room at this year’s prestigious Holiday House featured only decor from Brooklyn. And while show houses like Holiday House and Kips Bay are buzzworthy events in Manhattan, its sister borough hasn’t seen the same opportunity for showcasing its best design—until now. With the inaugural Brooklyn Heights Designer Show House, the Brooklyn Heights Association as gathered 17 of the borough’s creatives to outfit a historic townhouse on Livingston Street, with funds benefiting the association’s preservation efforts in the charming neighborhood.
Gissler, a Brooklyn Heights resident, worked with 1stdibs to source a collection of furnishings that would look at home under the room’s original molding and large-scale windows. “Our goal was to create a 19th-century living room for the 21st century,” Gissler quips. “Placing a rich and sophisticated selection of 20th-century furnishings, artwork, and accessories gives the room a more modern feeling reflecting more contemporary lifestyles.”
Photographs by Anastassios Mentis
by Tisha Leung
For big-city dwellers, having a little outdoor space to call your own is a luxury. Which is why the owners of this 1900s New York duplex were thrilled to have a 250-square-feet area for their family of four—except that it was actually a nondescript, open air shaft wedged between building walls. “The kids’ rooms were on one side and a guest room on the other, so it was a private jewel of a space,” says local designer Glenn Gissler. And he knew exactly how to transform it into a place of respite. First, he created a vestibule as a welcoming entry into the garden by installing stairs and raising the height of the seating area. A trellis overhead offers a sense of enclosure, while a mirror on the back wall makes the space feel larger. “A pair of French glass doors open up to the garden from a hallway,” says Gissler. “It’s lovely to view during the warmer months, but the architectural elements are just as compelling covered in snow in the winter.” Read on to see how the designer created a garden oasis in the middle of the city.
Photography by Gross & Daley Photo
To design an understated and symmetrical space that felt organic, Gissler confined his color scheme to dark browns, greens, and blues. Custom benches by Accents of France feature classical circular motifs, while the trellis overhead provides shade. “I included two bright blue Chinese garden stools that are placed off-center so the symmetry doesn’t feel so static,” he says.
The air shaft was filled with white gravel and white-painted brick walls. To give the space a solid foundation on which to build the rest of the garden, Gissler laid down bluestone pavers and covered the walls with stucco.
To design an understated and symmetrical space that felt organic, Gissler confined his color scheme to dark browns, greens, and blues. Custom benches by Accents of France feature classical circular motifs, while the trellis overhead provides shade. “I included two bright blue Chinese garden stools that are placed off-center so the symmetry doesn’t feel so static,” he says.
The garden is filled with evergreens like boxwood, rhododendron, and ivy mixed with colorful annuals and perennials. To sustain the vegetation, a self-watering irrigation system was installed beneath the removable pavers. Simple terra-cotta pots in various sizes help make the terrace feel bountiful.