Japandi Folk
Upper East Side Flat
This is Japandi Folk, a large-for-New-York one bedroom in a pre-war building. The goal here was to maximize the space for two different goals: hosting and personal comfort. This was the client's first solo apartment, so she wanted it to really reflect her own style and how she lives. There needed to be a dedicated work from home set up and additional storage for the kitchen. At the same time, it was important to prioritize space for hosting - whether it's drinks before going to dinner, hosting Friendsgiving, or having space for a friend to crash on the couch.
We went back and forth several times to find the right layout for all of these purposes, but once we had that squared away, the rest of the design came easily. The client had a great collection of artwork, but wanted help picturing it all up on the walls, as well as a direction for further collecting. The foundation design style lent itself to plenty of pops of color, without having everything be colorful and overwhelming.
service type:
virtual design, room roadmap
Location:
ues, new york city (rental)
dining nook textiles
brutalist wood lounge chairs
restaurant inspired kitchen styling
room divider with wood frame
existing space
The client fell in love with the pre-war building and all the charm that came with it, but this sort of space offers plenty of quirks. The covered up fireplace became a focal point for an already-owned vinyl record cabinet and gave the structure to add a wall of shelving above the radiator. One of the first changes was raising the curtain rod to better emphasize the tall ceilings and gorgeous trimwork.
The lounge area of the living room is the first thing you see coming in to the apartment, so we knew that was a big opportunity. We created a huge gallery wall, leaning in to the asymmetry of the couch covering part of the window with an arched floorlamp. We added track shelving above the TV to make the radiator feel more integrated.
The dining nook came together with some handy DIY skills after we struggled to find the right piece pre-made. The table can expand, letting the nook hold more people as needed. An epic tapestry helped tie the design together.
The kitchen offered opportunity for styling above the cabinets, letting us take advantage of the height. We added wall-mounted storage to mimic a restaurant kitchen, plus a runner to ground the space. Flipping the fridge really opened up the layout options and let us add an island.
With a foldable wall divider hiding the fridge, a little nook was created for an office set up. A rolling printer stand can come out when needed, but otherwise can be tucked away. A large piece of art gives a nice background for virtual meetings.
