Name: Carl and Laurent
Location: Chinatown
Size: 1000 sqft
Years lived in: 6 years
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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....
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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.
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gorgeous!
view janegrace's profile
Beautiful! I'm swooning over this loft! This is an automatic bookmark.
view PhillyLass's profile
Me like.
view Pixie's profile
He's living in my dream world. I love this place! Great work.
view SadieinDC's profile
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
view BlackandWhite's profile
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.
view tara1979's profile
I am jealous about everything in this tour. I am going to go buy more white paint today!
-Eleazar
http://www.blogazar.com
view blogazar's profile
beautiful! you've inspired me to reorganize my house/studio.
view art_brutale's profile
Wow. I love the kitchen and the open shelving in the dining room.
view Cheryl K's profile
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!
view erinpearce's profile
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.
view kdkaboom's profile
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.
view ric's profile
wow! so beautiful!
view witchbaby's profile
I love this! What paint color was used in the kitchen?
view jooly's profile
Loveliness.
view gquaker's profile
Oh, this is wonderful. Thank you for sharing, Karl! Your place is lovely and SO inspirational.
view Anna at D16's profile
I absolutely love this place!
view danze's profile
This is what interior designers called white done right and for good reason. Kudos.
view Seaside's profile
Beautifully edited, warm mixed perfectly with cool, rugs just right, color just right--wow
view jen_g's profile
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?
view bibak's profile
they look similar to the long LACK shelf from ikea.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60103750
view dM's profile
This loft is gorgeous. I especially love the dining room area.
view jennifer in sf's profile
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.
view TCMB's profile
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?
view selena's profile
oh, and do you mind sourcing the cream throw in your bedroom?
view selena's profile
Really great.
view hrhprincessfiona's profile
Lovely. Great balance.
view arza's profile
This place is totally gorgeous!
view suzy8track's profile
You win. I know this block and building:) Lucky lucky..You have been there a while too..
view recon1's profile
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?
view cc3tx's profile
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...
view berlinesque's profile
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!
view annaoh's profile
Tasteful as can be
view truckeekid's profile
Wow. Just wow.
view loftlover's profile
Fantastic.
view gryt's profile
Lots of inspiration here!
view art's profile
One of my favourite apartments ever - it is perfect! The purple in the kitchen is amazing.
view catspajamas's profile
To cc3tx
it is mentioned above that the dining room table is from Crate and Barrel.
view annaoh's profile
I LOVE IT!Great taste!
view megf's profile
From where is this desk?
The place is amazing -- white done right!
view vtmtngrrl's profile
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!!
view BlueAholic's profile
Does anyone know where the kitchen counter stools are from? I have been trying to find inexpensive draftsman stools for my kitchen.
view quality's profile
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!
view YL2008's profile
Heaven.
view anablackburn's profile