Name: Philip Leeming & Leong Ong of Falls
Location: East Village
Size: under 600 square feet
Years lived in: 9 years — rented
The apartment that Philip and Leong call home during the week is in the heart of the East Village — just east of Astor Place on Saint Marks. In addition to being their weekday home, the apartment functions as hub of the couple's fashion line Falls — it functions as their design studio but also hosts meetings, photo shoots and model castings. See how they do it…
Philip Leeming & Leong Ong are veterans of Kenneth Cole and Ralph Lauren and now work as a designing duo for their own collection, Falls. Their transitional weekday apartment / office / studio showcases their appreciation of vintage design and their dedication to their craft — nearly every space performs double duty.
The apartment is noticeably dark — but not overwhelmingly so. The chocolate colored walls and ceiling in the living room are broken up by the shocking hot pink furnishings salvaged from their store upstate. The back bedroom is painted black and it's window look out to the black brick of the building next door! It's been decorated to function as a cozy cave for sleeping and little else. Don't miss the pictures of the smallest bathroom we've witnessed in person!
On the weekends, the couple escapes to their 1850’s farm house upstate. They've renovated it to be a welcome retreat from their live / work city space!
Apartment Therapy Survey:
Our style: A mash up of mid century and contemporary, but pretty clean.
Inspiration: We love to use color, print and texture in our Falls collections, and the choice of decor reflects that.
Favorite Element: The living room. The sofa and the drapes were part of the furniture we put together when we had a store up in Hudson, New York — we love the intense pink against the chocolate brown walls. The art was created for FALLS by photographer John Arsenault and artist Georgie Hopton for different collections we have done and the 19th century beaded piece on the wall is a favorite — a total contrast to everything else in the apartment.
Biggest Challenge: Storage! We have to make every inch work, so built in shelves were a must when we moved in 9 years ago. We also need to "close" the office so that we are not swamped by our work 24/7 — the curtain feature in the dining/kitchen was a must. It covers our office storage and the pin wall we use when working — making it all vanish at the end of the day!
What Friends Say: Mostly good things! They're surprised the dark colors work and we often hear how they make the space feel bigger since there's no contrast between the walls and the ceiling. Also that there is a lot of pink…
Biggest Embarrassment: not telling
Proudest DIY: Recovering the sofa. We bought it for $50 at a yard sale, took it apart and re-upholstered it ourselves.
Biggest Indulgence: The dining chairs — they are Haywood Wakefield and purchased for about $80 each. The chairs are upholstered with printed linen/silk from a previous collection. Everything in the apartment cost less than $250 a piece.
Best advice: We love vintage — but not NYC prices! Take the time out to check out upstate New York for cool pieces.
Dream source: Hard to say just one, but we love the Conran store in London, Habitat in London, Moss NYC, and Spruce in Highfalls, New York. If we could take pieces from anywhere it would be to raid the the Met.
Resources of Note:
LIVING ROOM
- • sofa - yard sale, reupholstered ourselves
• wrought iron stools - yard sale, reupholstered ourselves
• beaded wall art - flea market
• desk - Parsons desk from West Elm
• chair - West Elm
• vintage mirror - flea market
• milkglass - flea market
• lamp - part of a pair of onyx/brass faux Victorian lamps that we spray painted white
• storage ottomans - West Elm
• custom linen colorblock floor cushions and throw pillows - Variegated in Catskill, New York
• plastic beaded chandelier - Urban Outfitters
•
DINING ROOM
- • dining set - Haywood Wakefield from Lost and Found in Stoneridge, New York. The linen fabric on the chairs is our own design, leftover from a past collection.
• desk - Parsons desk from West Elm
• chair - West Elm
• mirror - Lost and Found in Stoneridge, New York
• overhead lamp from Habitat in London
• spotlights - vintage
KITCHEN
- • kitchen wall organization - IKEA
BEDROOM
- • headboard - covered in leftover fabric from Falls
• bed frame - West Elm
• nightstands - Urban Outfitters
• vintage milkglass bedside lamps from Lounge in High Falls, New York
• artwork - 1970's watercolor nude that we found on the street
• artwork - assorted 1950's Margaret Keane lithographs from the underground flea market in Chelsea
• artwork - a fake Margaret Keane painting from the underground flea market in Chelsea
• artwork - 1960's Lanvin foulard floral silk scarf
• artwork - floral canvas is leftover fabric from Falls
BATHROOM
- • Artemis cabinet - from a store in Florence
• No room for anything else, it's so tiny!
Thanks, Philip & Leong!
Images: Aaron Able
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Love the warm deep browns. And, that bathroom reminds me why I no longer live in the village. To be able to use the potty and wash your hands at the same time, no thanks.
Wow. You have fantastic taste! I normally dislike pink, but you really put that sofa to good use! It looks lovely with the dark walls. The whole space looks great!
I always think "ick, black bedroom walls" then I see this black bedroom wall and my attitude has changed. I love that with a hint of light you can see the texture of the black bricks through the window. I think any other wall color would just make the "view" look dreary, the choice of black really hits the nail on the head.
That pink couch is to die for!
Ditto what larchgirl said.
beautiful home! what color are your kitchen walls? that's the color i was aiming for in my dining room (and missed). thanks!
I'm in love with that pink sofa! It looks incredible with the dark walls and really makes the pink stand out. Also, thanks for posting a picture of your tiny bathroom....and I thought mine was small, thanks for making me feel better about my own. I mean, wow, that's tiny!
I'm usually not a fan of hot pint at all but it's done so well here!
The black bedroom is fabulous. So sexy!
I was also encouraged to see that I'm not the only person living with a view of a brick wall.
Maybe I was seeing a different house tour. I did not like it at all! I felt like it was trying too hard to be eclectic and stylish. Like it wasn't sure which style it was going for and ended up being a hodge podge of stuff. With that being said some of the artwork was cool, but I could have lived without the picture of the bathroom floors.
I can't believe you did that couch yourselves! Great job!
The dark colors works so well with all your fantastic art. They are a great backdrop and showcase everything well. You are so right the upstate antique/secondhand shops and Ct as well, offer very good pieces for excellent prices. The key is to keep up the hunt and it seems you did that!
I love the combination of dark walls with such vivid accents. Can I come stay? Amazing!
It looks like that kitchen wall organizer from Ikea was also used in Lauren's Solo Flight kitchen. It seems to be a great NYC kitchen organizer! Am out the door to buy one!!
thank you for all of your kind comments.
to: annacorriep - our kitchen color is #8753 from Janovic Paints. I hope that helps.
Your place is divine! I am totally in love with your living room. Love that sofa and the vanity stools. Love the brown paint. Feminine but edgey too.
Please tell me who the artist is of the drawing (painting?) in photo 31 to the bottom right. Also love that lamp in that photo. Great job. Thanks for sharing.
What a fantastic space... I love those french doors and your dining room!
www.mydesigndreams.com
Thanks for the comments all!
peggy-It's a Margaret Keane lithograph,from 1968.Lamp is milk glass,70's,from a store on Heck avenue in Ocean Grove,Astbury park.
A little correction too...the bedroom is a very dark teal/blue color,not quite black.
Excellent use of color and I love the dark walls.
Stunning!
great place, i want it!!
Ooooh, aaahhh, ohhh! Dark doesn't have to be depressing. And that couch. Thanks for sharing!
The living room has a somewhat Boudoir quality but it is not entirely so - would have been interesting to do it truely boudior style. The sofa and the chairs are certainly a great start for it .The kitchen and dinning area as well as the bedroom lack any style at all just dark. Some of the artwork in the living room is very nice, but some is just pretty or even kitsh. The bedside lamps are lovely.
too many dark wall colors. The couch offends my eyes...
Seriously?
very much love the pink couch. some of the artwork was really cute...i think adding some color to all of that brown in the kitchen would help...as would a different colored retro fridge to break up the white appliances running into each other. the lamp on the vanity/desk was whimsical/adorable.
Don't know if you will see this comment - just had to look at your home again. I really adore it. There's a few things I noticed this second time around. I love that you have not used rugs, I think wood floors are so beautiful they are not needed. Also this provides a nice rustic edge to all the feminine touches.
Usually when I look at a home on AT, I want to ruthless edit. There was only a teeny bit of editing I'd like to do to your home. I'd like to replace the paint by numbers with something classier, but with an edge. Also, I'd like to see your kitchen less cluttered and your cupboards painted, perhaps a pale pink? This is not meant to be a criticism, I understand the constraints of renting. I'm just very inspired by your home.
You've really pulled off an interesting style that is not as easy as it looks.
That pink sofa ROCKS!