{"id":539215,"date":"2026-03-22T20:49:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T20:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/539215\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T20:49:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T20:49:13","slug":"a-little-celestial-a-lot-striking-this-designers-550-square-foot-studio-is-a-true-jewel-box","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/539215\/","title":{"rendered":"A Little Celestial, A Lot Striking\u2014This Designer’s 550-Square-Foot Studio Is a True Jewel Box"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Your daily dose of home tours, design news, and style inspiration.<\/p>\n

Interior designer Ernesto Gloria knows how to nail high-low. A prolific antique shopper, Gloria can telepathically sense if an expensive vintage lamp, heirloom chair, or thrifted artwork will pair well with an IKEA sofa<\/a> or CB2 table. He\u2019ll source shelving from warehouse supply stores and fabric from textile studios like Schumacher<\/a> and Zak + Fox<\/a>. Those unexpected combinations are what make his projects feel immediately lived-in, like each piece has been collected over time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That intuition is on display in his own home, too. Gloria, who had worked in Tom Scheerer<\/a>\u2019s practice before branching out on his own during the pandemic, had just established Studio Tre<\/a> when he spotted a 550-square-foot studio for rent in London Terrace Gardens, a famed, circa-1930s courtyard building he\u2019d longed to live in. He jumped at the chance for multiple reasons, chief among them his built-in community there. But there was also the sitcom of it all: \u201cI go to the barber downstairs. I\u2019ve had acupuncture downstairs, a facial,\u201d Gloria ticks off. \u201cIt\u2019s the New York dream of having everything in the building.\u201d <\/p>\n

He name checks early-2000s shows like Will & Grace and Friends as design inspiration\u2014his first impressions of what a New York City apartment could look like. \u201cThere are little Easter eggs in my apartment that remind me of those two shows,\u201d he says, nodding to a frame over the peephole like in Monica\u2019s apartment and a similar eclecticism to Will\u2019s place. \u201c[They] gave me the permission to be more playful and unconventional with my decorating, not to mention the urge to create little mise-en-sc\u00e8nes throughout the apartment since every shot or\u00a0angle needs to be considered.\u201d <\/p>\n

Plus, the unit isn\u2019t your typical open-plan layout. This one has a separate foyer, kitchen, and dressing room nook that he could tuck his bed into. \u201cI love the separation of spaces, because you have more walls to put art up and play around with,\u201d Gloria notes. Ahead, he gives us a tour around his petite, personality-packed Chelsea apartment.<\/p>\n

\"Ernesto-Gloria-of-Studio-Tre-Home-Tour-Domino-02\"The apartment was the \u201clandlord special\u201d except for the oak floors, which were great. Everything else was white. I painted the ceiling, the trim, and the smaller rooms except the kitchen. I kept the walls there and in the living room white, because they had a great foundation. The kitchen had black tiles which I also loved, and the window trim was black, which I had been looking for. It\u2019s just sharper, and makes the view a bit clearer. | Kivik Sofa, IKEA<\/a>; Sofa Cover, Bemz<\/a>; Uma Hand-Knotted Wool Rug, Lulu and Georgia<\/a>; Table Lamps, Illume NYC<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"Ernesto-Gloria-of-Studio-Tre-Home-Tour-Domino-03\"I love the parameters and limitations of this apartment. This is the only layout that works in my head. It wasn\u2019t that hard to decorate and furnish, because there were very specific places where everything had to go, including the TV. For me, it\u2019s a lot about symmetry. <\/p>\n

\"Ernesto-Gloria-of-Studio-Tre-Home-Tour-Domino-04\"My apartment is kind of a laboratory. I normally do walls a more colorful hue and the ceiling lighter. I wanted to try something different here before we tried it with clients. Plus, I\u2019d already started putting things on the wall, so it was easier to paint the ceiling. The trim motif came from our research in pre-Colombian patterns from textiles and pottery; we were looking at murals for a project in Panama on this series of islands.\u00a0| Pillows, Nickey Kehoe<\/a> and CB2<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"Ernesto-Gloria-of-Studio-Tre-Home-Tour-Domino-05\"I was stuck at home during the pandemic trying to figure out how to dress up a Noguchi lantern. Those are just fake plants from Jamali Garden<\/a> stuffed inside. When you turn it on, the color really comes through. The biggest splurge in the apartment was the Schumacher fabric for the custom curtains. We were doing some guesthouses in the Hamptons that were more Americana. We were using it as pillows and I just like the graphic. I thought: I\u2019m gonna make some curtains out of this. | Akari Ceiling Lamp, Noguchi<\/a>; Saarinen Dining Table by Knoll, DWR<\/a>; Brimfield Curtain Fabric, Schumacher<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"Ernesto-Gloria-of-Studio-Tre-Home-Tour-Domino-06\"The horse panel was a gift from Tom; he had a couple of extras as he was cleaning house. I picked a wall color from it\u2014I just put up all the reds from Farrow & Ball and Picture Gallery Red was the one I liked. I\u2019ve always wanted a red room, but it was an experiment\u2014let\u2019s see how this feels, and would we ever do this for a client? I think the answer is yes. I\u2019m just waiting for the moment. The bed is full size; people do fit queens, but it gets too tight for me. With the proportions of the room, it fits a full better and it creates this little niche that I use for a mirror. I decided to do the headboard in this ziggurat pyramid shape after I got the bedroom lampshade. Picture Gallery Red Paint by Farrow & Ball<\/a>; Bedding, Yves Delorme<\/a>; Bedskirt and Headboard Fabric, Zak + Fox<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"Ernesto-Gloria-of-Studio-Tre-Home-Tour-Domino-10\"My corner cabinet is one of my prize possessions, and it fit perfectly in this little corner. I added LED lights and mirror panels in the back. I make a good martini and cocktails for friends; that\u2019s how I host. I love pairs of things, like brackets where I can put candlesticks to get that flicker of light on the walls in the corners. I think it\u2019s what people remember; there\u2019s something about the moving candle light that gives the room a bit more energy. <\/p>\n

\"Ernesto-Gloria-of-Studio-Tre-Home-Tour-Domino-07\"I learned a lot from my previous boss, Tom. I use a mix of high and low, new and old, thrifting and antique shopping. The thread is casual and colorful, just having fun. I\u2019m okay with not everything coordinating because that doesn\u2019t feel collected over time. I think one has to be okay with a little mismatch. I\u2019m always striving for that comfortable, lived-in feeling. | Bathroom storage, Kartell<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"Ernesto-Gloria-of-Studio-Tre-Home-Tour-Domino-11\"I can put coats on the door and there\u2019s a little place to put my keys. Then I hung art on the door that led to the bedroom. | Paint color, Cola by Farrow & Ball<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"Ernesto-Gloria-of-Studio-Tre-Home-Tour-Domino-08\"The bathroom mural, done by a decorative painter, was inspired by Nocturne in Black and Gold, The Falling Rocket<\/a> by James McNeil Whistler. As a child, I loved the night sky in a bedroom; I wanted something where you couldn\u2019t tell if it was that or water. | Mural, Sopiko Barnovi<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"Ernesto-Gloria-of-Studio-Tre-Home-Tour-Domino-09\"A lot of the art is from my friends, and my nephew. My nephew loves to paint, and he\u2019ll give me things, and I\u2019ll put them in really nice frames. The picture in the bathroom is from a friend, Grant Legan. It\u2019s a man swimming, and I just love the water aspect of it. I\u2019d rather have something that is from an artist that I know versus an artist that I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s way more personal. <\/p>\n

Samantha Weiss-Hills is the managing editor for Domino. She edits and writes home tours, shopping guides, and features, and she\u2019s the friend who everyone texts for glassware, sofa, and sheet recommendations. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Alex, and their beagle-corgi, Elsa.<\/p>\n

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