When a client purchased her Gramercy Park co-op, she knew that a design overhaul was in order. The previous owner had a truly outlandish getup: the original crown molding had been painted a fluorescent gold; a firetruck-red chandelier adorned the living room; the bathroom’s wood paneling was stained a high-gloss black; the kitchen was painted robin’s egg blue.
To tackle this color-clashing monstrosity, our client reached out to Decor Aid, and asked for our assistance in creating a refined, stately home—something appropriate for a pre-war building in the Gramercy neighborhood.
The first step in this redesign was to repaint the entire apartment. Our client wanted to incorporate a few of her own paintings, and so we used these pieces to inspire a palette of muted pastels and traditional neutral colors.
In the living room, we painted the walls a light grey, and replaced the gold trim with a semi-gloss white. The bathroom was significantly brightened with a two-tone paint scheme: white for the original wood details, and a light green for the plaster walls.
Our client wanted to accent the fireplace in her living room, and so we knocked out the built-in bookcases flanking the mantle. We painted the wood a semi-gloss white—to match the molding—and rebuffed the black marble, for a high-contrast scheme.
Once we established a new paint scheme, we began selecting furniture. Our client has an adorable french bulldog named Nora, and so we sourced pieces sturdy enough to handle canine wear and tear. We custom fabricated a pull-out sofa for the home office, which allows the room to double as a guest bedroom. The finishing touches include high-sheen pillows and matte table objects, to complete the historic and stately look of this Gramercy co-op.
