Name: John and Melissa
Location: Manhattan, New York
Size: 2,300 sq/ft
Years lived in: 1 year, owned
Who else lives here: Lia, 8 months
When John and Melissa moved into their apartment twenty-four stories about Central Park, they knew they wanted the sweeping city views to take center stage. But the building, originally constructed as a hotel, had a walled-off kitchen, blocking the light that now floods the apartment. With baby Lia on the way, they set about renovating the kitchen and transforming the apartment into an airy, family-friendly space.
With the help of eco-conscious Nirmada Interior Design, the couple chose a natural, neutral palate, using wholesome materials that would be rugged enough to stand up to life with a small child. The kitchen wall came down, replaced by a long open bar made from GreenGuard-certified Ceasarstone quartz, which doubled the feel of the space. The cabinets are made from urea-formaldehyde free particleboard, and the paint and lacquer finishes are both low VOC. A beautiful backsplash of recycled glass, one of the couple’s favorite elements, finished off the kitchen with a warm touch of color just two days before Lia’s arrival.
The classic chrome furniture is upholstered with plush Crypton Green fabric, made from recycled polyester fibers that do a great job of repelling spills. All the lighting was replaced by CFL or halogen bulbs, with striking geometric fixtures that give the soft sparkle of a candle. The gentle glow illuminates the rooms without distracting from the city skyline, which can be bright enough to read by at night.
AT Survey:
My/Our style: Comfortable modern
Inspiration: View of Central Park, natural neutrals
Favorite Element: Open kitchen, views of the park
Biggest Challenge: Opening up the kitchen/construction of new kitchen
What Friends Say: The opening of the kitchen has made the space feel twice as large and improved the views.
Proudest DIY: Baby nursery
Biggest Indulgence: Cowhide chair – it’s funky piece that mixes it up a bit.
Best Advice: Hire Nirmada!
Dream Source: Fort Street Studio, which specializes in sustainably-harvested wild silk carpets.
Resources:
Overall: Knoll Studio/Knoll Textiles, Pollack, Carnegie, Advanced Home Entertainment (AV), HP Klein Contractor
Appliances: Sub-Zero, Kohler
Furniture: Knoll, Gus Modern, Nicoletti Italia, Room and Board, Suite NY, Juin Ho
Accessories: Humanscale, Room and Board
Lighting: Artemide, Foscarini, Europhase, Flos, Room and Board
Rugs and Carpets: ABC Carpet, Fort Street Studio, The Rug Company
Tiles and Stone: Caesarstone
Window Treatments: A and M Window Fashions
Beds: Suite NY
Artwork: Soicher Marin
Paint: Ann Sacks, Benjamin Moore, Maya Romanoff
Flooring: Stone Source
Interested in sharing your home with Re-Nest? Contact our editors through our Green Tour Submission Form.
(Images: Liz Vidyarthi)
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Beautiful. It's sleek and urban, but doesn't detract from the star -- the views... I'd like to see a little art on the walls, though....
Love it, it's so open. Don't like the all-white though. I don't like when everything falls into one obsessive colour matching scheme. But it's a gorgeous space.
I'm not a huge fan of all white spaces either, despite that I really like this home as it seems to still be comfortable despite the sterile white look.
What I'm really wondering is how much they spent on that cantilevered cowhide chair if it cost more than their subzero or Platner set... although I suppose it's just their biggest "indulgence", not their big ticket item. Anyone recognize the chair?
This is a lovely open and bright space.
Not sure how it is green though. It looks like they bought everything new, nothing reused or restored. Even the recycled glass for the tiles needs to be refired multiple times in huge kilns. The particle board is held together by glues and resins and everything else in their home is also newly manufactured.
I have nothing against buying new, but calling this green because they have CFL lightbulbs and low voc paint is a bit of stretch.
Peachpie, you may think that GreenGuard-certified Ceasarstone quartz and urea-formaldehyde free particleboard don't seem like a big deal, but the owners didn't have to do any of that. Yet they did. Their home is a beautiful example of new construction (yes) where they made conscious eco-friendly choices, including investing in classic furniture pieces that are iconic and meant to last a lifetime (another green quality). Not everything has to be reused or reclaimed to qualify as green. We see green as being much broader than that.
It's also worth noting that all of the original kitchen cabinets were re-used by the contractor for another project.
Really cool place! Feels so crisp. I especially appreciate the reminder that "new" doesn't necessarily equal "bad" when it comes to green design.
Beautiful Space! What color paint did you use for the master bedroom?
I love this apartment. It's so bright and open and soothing.
I totally read that headline as "Joan and Melissa," and thought Joan and Melissa Rivers would never live so minimally and elegantly.
The Rivers' should be so lucky!
I'd love to know the name of the paint on these walls..... a beautiful peaceful pale yellow.
Thanks for all the comments on the design. I agree we could've done a lot more to make this apartment more sustainable...BUT, the client asked for a clean, monochromatic, modern space, where the view would take center stage. They weren't at all focused on green design, so the responsible parts were slipped in under the radar....Timeless pieces upholstered in Crypton green, which resist spills of baby AND partying friends...so should last forever, and allows us the light color scheme.
Wall color is Ben Moore, Philadelphia Cream, "cow" chair is from Jiun Ho. http://tinyurl.com/lkhasv
Clients hire us for sophisticated design - the green part is our mission, without compromise. www.nirmada.com
They did a beautiful job accentuating the natural light and making the space feel open. It does need color and some fabrics to make it feel warmer.