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Above: The living room of a home in New York’s Kips Bay neighborhood designed by Mike Rupp of Rupp Studio. Circular cocktail table by Max Ingrand for Fontana Arte; daybed by Jacques Adnet; ivory armchair by Eugenio Gerli for Tecno; sofa by Milo Baughman. Photographs by Mike Disfarmer; sculpture by Sakari Kannosto.
The apartment should have come together effortlessly. It was, after all, in a modernist landmark: I.M. Pei’s Kips Bay Towers in New York City. And the homeowner had amassed an impressive collection of art and furniture, including photographs by 20th-century masters such as Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Mapplethorpe, among others, and pieces by Milo Baughman and Charlotte Perriand. But something was off. Before he brought on interior designer Mike Rupp, the Manhattan-based founder of Rupp Studios, the homeowner could tell the apartment’s strong bones and pedigreed contents were out of sync. “It was a series of beautiful objects shouting at one another,” he says.
“A mad collector” is how the homeowner describes himself. Over time his fascination has produced a remarkable trove of photography and design objects. What his apartment lacked, though, was a framework that could help all those treasures coexist harmoniously. “I needed someone who could treat the objects with the reverence of a gallery while still creating a space that felt like a home,” he says.
William Jess Laird
Chairs by Carlo di Carli upholstered in mohair from Cowtan & Tout surround a dining table by Gio Ponti; credenza by Michel Boyer; pendant by Fontana Arte. From left, artworks by William Klein, Y.Z. Kami, Tina Modotti, and Chim (David Seymour).
Rupp understood the challenge immediately. “Art needs to feel alive in the space,” he says. “Not precious—just fully part of living there.” By the time Rupp joined the project, New York–based architect Uli Wagner had already established the apartment’s clean-lined, unfussy backdrop: concrete floors, cantilevered stone counters, boxed windowsills, and a sculptural bathroom. Rather than layering on decoration, Rupp approached his job as a process of refinement. “The real task was giving the apartment a rhythm.”
“I needed a designer who could treat the objects with the reverence of a gallery while creating a narrative that felt like a home.”
For Rupp the project reflects the way he approaches every commission: beginning with the emotional experience of a space rather than with a fixed style. Before discussing materials or furnishings, he asks clients a simple question: How do you want to feel here?
William Jess Laird
A bench by Gio Ponti for Singer & Sons sits at the foot of a bed by Osvaldo Borsani. The curtains are a Rogers & Goffigon wool; the trio of boxes is by Hans Hedberg. The painting (left) is by Y.Z. Kami; the photograph (right) is by Robert Mapplethorpe.
“I think of design as storytelling,” he says. “There’s a narrative to how someone enters a room, spends time there, and remembers it afterward.”
That sensibility has its roots in Rupp’s early training. He studied theater at New York University and spent several years performing in national tours before landing in Los Angeles with the Rockettes’ Christmas show. During that time he discovered Midcentury Modern design and shifted his creative focus to interiors. He returned to New York and honed his instincts while working at firms like Stephens Design Group and Samuel Amoia Associates before joining the studio of Elle Decor A-List designer Shawn Henderson. Henderson’s thoughtful, quietly elegant interiors became an important influence, and the two recently collaborated on a collection of lamps, an exploration of craft that grew out of their mentor-student relationship.
“His eye for design was always spot-on, but what really stood out was how he could understand an idea and then build on it,” Henderson says.
Rupp founded his own studio in 2019. Early on he worked with actor Kieran Culkin on a Brooklyn duplex, which later led to designing a house in Connecticut for the actor’s growing family. Since then the practice has expanded steadily, often through repeat clients. “Mike has such a sense of scale and proportion, and an ability that feels both warm and considered,” Henderson says.
Take a Tour of This Manhattan Apartment
Open Gallery
In the Kips Bay apartment, Rupp used his client’s collection as a jumping-off point. A parchment bed by Osvaldo Borsani anchors the bedroom, softened with textured linens and paired with a modest bench by Gio Ponti at the foot. Among the pieces by Jacques Adnet and the American duo Philip and Kelvin LaVerne are stacks of books, an unfussy reminder that this is where someone lives.
The living room became the organizing center of the home. Rupp imagined it as a modern salon; seating clusters allow the space to shift easily between everyday living and entertaining. The deceptively simple decision to install an expansive silk carpet altered the sense of scale, grounding the furniture and unifying the groupings. Each piece holds its place without competing with the others, a reflection of Rupp’s instinct for editing as much as composing. Now, the homeowner says, the apartment feels calmer and more unified. “Coming home feels like a deep exhale.”
This story originally appeared in the May 2026 issue of Elle Decor. SUBSCRIBE
Special Projects Editor William Li is the founder of art consultancy Armature Projects and the Emmy-nominated co-host of Lucky Chow, a series about Asian food and culture on PBS.