Modern Nostalgia Apartment

I connected with Matt after he posted on the Dwell forum in 2017. He posted a question asking about lighting possibilities in a NYC apartment with a slab ceiling. I gave him some pointed advice and options. He liked what I had to say, liked my design work, and asked me to design his apartment. While he was closing on the purchase of the apartment, I was educating him on how to save money while still maintaining the biggest design impact. Cooking and baking were high priorities and we decided to focus our energy on creating his dream kitchen.

The kitchen is open to the living room and diagonally wrapped in a three-dimensional walnut veneer. An angled sheath of wood faces the entryway; along the ceiling 2x4 wood slats widen till they reach the far end and pour down the stainless steel wall. Between the slats we solved the concrete ceiling concern with linear LED’s. We reconfigured the arrangement of appliances to make the most open yet functional layout. The range is tucked away in the corner. We moved the fridge next to a structural column so both could be clad harmoniously in the same wood veneer. We cleared the apartment of the visual barnacles of moulding and replaced the floors with wide plank white oak for a clean, clear backdrop for the kitchen.

In the Client’s Words: “My parents, both from New York City, chose to raise me in the dense woods of New Hampshire. It was a place people went to forget about and escape the city. My hands frequently smelled of pine. All mornings started around a never-in-style, heavy oak dining table.

Our always-getaway was to see my grandmother in Manhattan. Without traffic, this was a four and a half hour drive from New York City. There was always traffic.

My grandmother’s apartment had been one of entertaining, some 1350 square feet of mid century modern with a touch of old world flair. As a child, I took the beautiful walnut sideboard as a place to put my toy ambulance, and the walnut paneled dining area was not even a footnote to the matzoh-ball soup.

As I grew up, moved out, moved around, and fell in love, I remember one particular visit to grandma’s. I had always looked in dusty corners, but this time was different. I no longer saw a wood coaster, or a coffee table; I saw Dansk, I saw Adrian Pearsall. This was an eyes open visit to a place I had been visiting routinely since before I could speak or stand. Yes, things were a bit worn, but in the new light, the slim lines and natural palette shown through.

As a child, the city was a loud and crazy place. Why would so many people live on top of one another? Perhaps it was because they could see the whale with great ease at the Museum of Natural History. I never expected to live here.

Work has taken me to the bay area, and to the Midwest. I have moved nearly two dozen times since college. I grew up with all things having a place, but with all the moves, I didn’t yet have one for myself.

The New York apartment was to serve as an anchor. Concrete motivation to stay in a place I had found foreign as a child, then fallen for in my late 20’s. Like many, I find beauty where others see chaos. New York is as bold as it is polarizing. There are a million ways to go with safe and common design; to take the expected path, but that wasn’t the path that had led me two times west and then back east.

I hoped to redefine home. Where there had been clutter and clash, I sought relative minimalism and harmony. I envisioned a versatile space, acceptable for coffee and work, learning and friends. I started where I always do, by looking to extremes and then eliminating as much as I could. I have long enjoyed a simple natural palate with good contrast. Walls are necessary, and white is a flexible choice. I love nearly untreated white oak and needed a color that would compliment it.

Walnut was an obvious choice and is more than a small hat tip to my grandmother’s apartment. Any concerns of too much wood are put to rest as I am easily lost in the vertical grains, the warm swirling patterns of morning mocha and cream. The back painted glass is simple — a perfect frame for personal objects and small appliances. The matte black counters, while they show fingerprints and grease are grounding and complex.

Opening the kitchen from a galley flipped the living and dining areas while providing ample seating, and moved me, the cook and baker, into earshot of my guests.