Name: Carl and Laurent
Location: Chinatown
Size: 1000 sqft
Years lived in: 6 years
This week's beautiful house tour photos come by way of Anastassios Mentis, a professional photographer who has a penchant for documenting interiors and loves Apartment Therapy. Not only do we love reaping the benefits of his obvious talents, but we love his friends' homes as well! Carl and Laurent, for example, have managed to create a home that incorporates both a comfortable and beautiful living space as well as a functional work studio....
What's amazing is that when you look at the living space, you have no idea that the same apartment includes a work studio. Carl, a painter, contains his creative work to one part of the home and is able to indulge in pure living and entertaining in the rest of his and Laurent's home.
By painting the floors and walls white and keeping the windows bare, Carl and Laurent created the lightest, brightest space possible! To counteract the sparseness of white, he adds a number of great color moments--in the form of rugs, purple kitchen walls, one shocking red cabinet and his artwork.
Carl and Laurent achieves an incredible balance in terms of a clean slate to invite creativity with enough visual stimulation to inspire.
AT Survey:
Style: Loft
Inspiration: I love the building for it's original New York features like the tin celling and the heating pipes,
Favorite Element: The original window in the living area
Biggest Challenge: It's an old building that never really got looked after so it took time to make the space water proof (we had leaks coming trough the walls!) we also had lots of mouse friends! Even after spending 3 weekends sealing every crack, they were really hard to get rid of!
What Friends Say: They always want to know how it is to live in Chinatown and how I managed to keep the place so clean in the dirtiest neighborhood of Manhattan
Biggest Embarrassment: Carl had a bathroom celling falling on his head while peeing. we had a leak from upstairs that day...!
Proudest DIY: The curved wall but done by us...
Biggest Indulgence: The big sur dining table from Crate and Barrel
Dream Source: I am a Prop Stylist so home shopping is part of my job (www.laurentlaborie.com). If you're on a tight budget, I recommend the white furniture company. They have great prices and good solid knock-offs.
Small Cool Lessons: Discovering Small Space Design Ideas That Really Work
Beatriz's Fun & Functional Workspace
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Sheex Bedding
How to Cook Rice on the Stove
How to Make Fresh Pasta Dough in the Food Processor
gorgeous!
Beautiful! I'm swooning over this loft! This is an automatic bookmark.
Me like.
He's living in my dream world. I love this place! Great work.
drooling...drooling...drooling
..the floor - SIGH!
the floor, the wall, the white dishes, the plain glass, the ladder with books
and the paintings... OH ...MY GOD ..
and the ceilings..All so White and yet so colorful.. the rugs.. OH MY and the ART work... OH MY MY...
tomorrow i'll be in chinatown and will be looking out
This apartment is so inviting and calm. I love it. I like the mix of Ikea/high end items to create such a soothing environment. Cool.
I am jealous about everything in this tour. I am going to go buy more white paint today!
-Eleazar
http://www.blogazar.com
beautiful! you've inspired me to reorganize my house/studio.
Wow. I love the kitchen and the open shelving in the dining room.
i love how light and airy it is. lately ive been going through a white phase. i love this home... its so light and clean and modern but its not too minimalistic- its just perfectly edited. i love all the art and accessories! the dining area is my favorite!
i am so bent outta shape now that i've seen this pad! i mean, this is what i've always wanted...down to the smallest detail it's just so right on. it looks clean and well edited, and still feels like home at the same time...just, yeah, i'm all about it.
Karl - (or anyone else) Where are those white floating shelves from? I want some like that for my kitchen. I need something strong enough to hold heavy loads of plates, glasses, etc. at 8' long. (so not ikea). Any recommendations? thanks
That's a really great space, btw.
wow! so beautiful!
I love this! What paint color was used in the kitchen?
Loveliness.
Oh, this is wonderful. Thank you for sharing, Karl! Your place is lovely and SO inspirational.
I absolutely love this place!
This is what interior designers called white done right and for good reason. Kudos.
Beautifully edited, warm mixed perfectly with cool, rugs just right, color just right--wow
love, love this place. i am on a white kick myself after visiting greece (Mykonos and Santorini). Where are those great dining room chairs from and if they are expensive does anyone know a lower end version?
they look similar to the long LACK shelf from ikea.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60103750
This loft is gorgeous. I especially love the dining room area.
This place is so gorgeous. I do love everything about it, the kitchen is great, it's so simple. Bibak...Those are Eames chairs, you can get them at DWR for around $250 Each... Whiteonwhite.com has the knock-offs for $150.
beautiful! your home is so calming, and yet energizing because of its simplicity. Is that a converted lack shelf you're using as a low table/console in the living room?
oh, and do you mind sourcing the cream throw in your bedroom?
Lovely. Great balance.
This place is totally gorgeous!
You win. I know this block and building:) Lucky lucky..You have been there a while too..
Karl - I love your apartment - so warm and streamllined at the same time. Any chance you can let us know where you got the dining table?
Wow, what a beautiful space!
Could Karl or anyone else tell me where to find this ladder, or a similar one?
I've been looking for something just like it with not much luck...
What a perfect apartment. I've been looking forever for a rug like the one you have in your bedroom. would you mind sharing where is it from?
thanks!
Tasteful as can be
Wow. Just wow.
Fantastic.
Lots of inspiration here!
One of my favourite apartments ever - it is perfect! The purple in the kitchen is amazing.
To cc3tx
it is mentioned above that the dining room table is from Crate and Barrel.
I LOVE IT!Great taste!
From where is this desk?
The place is amazing -- white done right!
This is gorgeous! Can you tell me more about the white paint you used? Namely, is it a true, pure white, or is it a particular white (with traces of other colors in it) from a particular brand?
I painted my walls white 2 years ago - a great improvement - but now wish I had gone "whiter"; the white I used has umber (warm) tones mixed in. I am looking for a bright, fresh look, as in this loft or many examples in Vicente Wolf's books.
Wolf writes reverently about Benjamin Moore's "Super White", but as BM is not sold here (Europe) I cannot see just what kind of white it is.
Help anyone? Thanks!!
Does anyone know where the kitchen counter stools are from? I have been trying to find inexpensive draftsman stools for my kitchen.
Gorgeous loft!
Could you kindly give any tips regarding the installation of those floating shelves? I LOVE yours.
We are in the process of installing floating shelves in our kitchen and have encountered some difficulty devising a way to make them secure enough to reliably hold plates and glasses. Right now, we are trying to install them using threaded rods screwed directly into the studs with 9 inches of rod left outside the wall. We plan to drill holes in the shelves that correspond to the rod; the shelves will slide onto them. But I am not sure that setup will suffice.
Anyway, congratulations on a beautiful home. I love that it is so open, bright, and airy, without being sterile. Lovely!
Heaven.
The Black and White calendar on the bookshelf is from? I thought it was available at the MOMA design store but I can't seem to find it.
This loft made me want to register just so I can comment on it. It is apsolutly gorgeous. I totally love it.
Perfect, perfect, perfect!
Beautiful and warm. Appropriately complex.
(I just registered to comment specifically on your gorgeous home).
That celling is incredible! Can you believe that they used to throw away those tin tiles not too long ago?!
i love the dining and the kitchen :D ....okay, i love everything! :D
Your home is one of my all time AT favorites.
What is the paint color in the kitchen?
I love the flow, the light, how the space is divided and the soft palette. Jealous!