Comfortable Classic: Designer Apartment in New York

At first glance, we see a perfectly decorated interior and, as often happens in such cases, not very suitable for living. However, this impression is misleading, because the interior designer and apartment owner—Bennett Leifer—put in maximum effort to make the living space convenient and functional.

This spacious two-bedroom apartment was bought spontaneously by the designer (though it is said that most New York residents purchase real estate this way). First and foremost, the building itself attracted Leifer, while the apartment in its original state, according to him, looked terrible: everything, including the fireplace, was covered with inappropriate glossy white paint and decorated with outdated light fixtures. Nevertheless, Leifer recognized the potential of the apartment in time and set to work.

The main task for the designer was to restore the original appearance of the living space and make the interior a modern continuation of the home's aesthetics. First, Leifer focused on the fireplace and windows. The latter were replaced with ones as close to the originals as possible, and the neo-Gothic fireplace was stripped of glossy paint and clad with a material visually resembling limestone—matching the fireplace in the entrance hall.

In general, the apartment did not require a major overhaul, so updating the kitchen, bathroom, finishings, and floor coverings took just under two months.

Leifer filled the renovated apartment with marble accents, decorated the bedroom windows with Roman draperies made of Hermes fabric, and adorned the fireplace area with a pair of Louis XVI-style French chairs. “But all this is not the main thing,” says Leifer. In the designer's opinion, what matters most in a home is comfort and atmosphere. If the furniture is comfortable and there's enough space for friends to sit down comfortably—only then can one say that the interior has come together as it should.

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