How Windows Changed the Design of This Small Manhattan Apartment
Windows
"It all started with the windows," says designer Juan Carretero. Prewar metal casements lend his Manhattan one-bedroom a midcentury modern grandeur that belies its modest 700 square feet. In the living room, Carretero echoed a view of evergreen ivy with the mineral green of malachite objects. The curves of Hans Wegner Wishbone chairs, a shop-mannequin torso, and a cowhide rug soften architectural angles.
Bookcase
Wood shelves project just enough to vary the rhythm of a painted bookcase but not block traffic. Leather cabinet handles add a sense of luxury.
Sofa
The Thom Filicia sofa beside the antique scroll-arm chair is long enough to double as a guest bed. Carretero says, "In small spaces, you have to go with some large pieces. A mix of big and small keeps things interesting." Urn lamps from Visual Comfort strike a note of classical symmetry atop Robb & Stucky end tables, while Organic Modernism's claw-foot Flamingo table perches nearby. The Plexi-Craft coffee table almost vanishes in front of a second sofa, by Safavieh, with pillows in a Duralee velvet. Roman blinds from the Shade Store.
Seating Details
Old leather upholstery cradles a pillow in a Mulberry Home linen and silk from Lee Jofa.
Juan Carretero
The designer, in front of a backdrop of ivy.
Dining Area
A photograph by Gina Fuentes Walker provides the dining area's only "window" above an antique pew. Walls are painted Ralph Lauren Suede in Howard. Leather Buckle chair from Restoration Hardware. Bolster fabric, Les Toiles du Soleil.
Table Runner
A Mexican rug serves as a table runner beside a vintage lamp found in Hudson, New York.
Paint Finishes
Contrasting paint finishes divide the chocolate-brown dining area from the adjacent faux-malachite kitchen.
Kitchen
The galley kitchen has two doorways, one of which opens directly into the living room: "It looked like an Embassy Suites," Carretero jokes. He gained counter space, and improved the vista, by spanning this gap with a granite-top insert. Although it looks built-in, the "cabinet" is in fact a movable bar on casters.
Palette
The kitchen's malachite palette harmonizes with pottery.
Bedroom
One of a pair of custom armoires flanks the bed. A niche below the reading light acts as a mini-nightstand.
Desk
Carretero removed shelves from a Restoration Hardware steamer-trunk desk to tuck in the bedroom TV.
Headboard
Another rich green, on the headboard's tufted Edelman leather, sets off an Indian suzani pillow and Calvin Klein linens. The crafts-fair mobile reminds Carretero of one he had as a boy. Horsehair wallcovering by Phillip Jeffries. Cashmere curtains, the Shade Store.
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