“We were playing it safe in the beginning, but then we presented bolder design choices, and they kept saying yes,” says O’Donnell. “It became this much more fun, fantastical apartment.”
O’Donnell’s design skills were put to the test in the living room, where structural issues prevented his team from removing the entire drop ceiling. Turning the constraint on its head, he created a recessed oval “dome” hung with a sculptural plaster chandelier. “It is really interesting how some of the obstacles that appeared as we were doing the renovations, he turned them into pieces of architectural art,” says Hindsgaul.
In a corner of the dining room, a former closet transformed into a wet bar. It’s wallpapered in Fabricut’s Paden Patina, designed to look like patinated copper. “Something that was important to me was having a great bar, and Kyle built a beautiful one,” says Duffer.
Gemma Sconce by Sophie Lou Jacobsen for In Common With
Kosta Boda Limelight Pitcher & Glasses Set
Then there’s the room’s central sofa, which had to be durable enough for the couple’s two young daughters and large enough to seat up to ten for movie nights. O’Donnell came up with a 15-foot-long Brutalist piece consisting of rows of cubes facing three directions, upholstered in rust-colored mohair. “I don’t know many people that would go for that,” says the designer. “With clients like Sarah and Matt, it was an opportunity to try things that I’ve never tried before.” More color and whimsy awaits in the adjacent dining room, a space wrapped in a hand-painted mural depicting botanical scenes in shades of green and amber, made by artist Dean Barger.