Name: Christina
Location: Upper East Side
Apartment Size: 800
Favorite: The archway between front hall and living room

Christina recently returned to New York after 12 years of LA living. There she had a 2000 sqft house. Here she has a spacious (but still under 800sqft.) one bedroom rolling distance from Central Park. She is undertaking a major decor overhaul because she seeks cleaner, simpler lines and to be more eclectic...

When referring to her LA home, Christina recalls, "I had a boring style before, English country," which doesn't work in the city." Her plan is to "bump up the stuff I [already] have to make it chicer and more sophisticated." She let me peek into her closet to see remnants of a past life--Laura Ashley patterned linens and more conservative interior design tastes. As a compromise, she is incorporating only the pieces of furniture that she still respects or that are innocuous enough to design around.

To update the pieces that were spared, Christina purchased signature modern pieces--a custom fabricated plexiglass table, Starcke plexiglass side chairs, and a Bertoia metal desk chair. As more of a compromise between these cooler, minimalist items and a more traditional approach, Christina intends to add softer elements--a unique venetian glass lamp, a coral chandelier, floor coverings, window treatments, and upholstered chairs.

Christina has spent the past five months searching for exactly what she wants with significant, but limited, success. Her new job leading AMC's scripted series department takes too much time away from a continued scouring of the earth's furniture sources, however, so she has turned to an interior designer for help. Very clear on her goals, Christina directed the designer to take on specific tasks--to find a dining room table, to find the right color and fabric for curtains, to find a chandelier for the entryway, and to reorganize and upgrade the contents of her wall unit/bookcase. During their consultation sessions, the designer suggested screening the lower half of the living room window and alternative ways to place artwork. He is working for a minimal fee--the difference between the retail and trade price of each item within Christina's total pre-determined limit of $5000.

The slide show reveals the beginning of this process. Imagining all the proposed additions yields visions of a sleek, coordinated space. Check back in a month or so for the finished product--a home that better reflects Christina's maturing tastes and welcomes her back to fine city living.