The whole thing is like an ad for Restoration Hardware on a cloudy day. Why so much monotone when there are so many colorways, textures and patterns available to decorate with gray (and deeper, more dramatic shades of it) so that the space doesn’t look like a series of elephant pelts. Perhaps the RH aesthetic is so obvious that’s why the owners were compelled to implore (I’m guessing) NYT to cite each and every expensive brand, configuration and international genesis of each and every bibelot, footstool (really??) and headboard. This piece reads almost as a parody. I’m with other commenters here who long for real creativity and real decorating stories where there are some budgetary considerations.
5
Am I misunderstanding or was everything bought expressly for this apartment? I too aim for clean lines and a neutral palate paired with dramatic modern art pieces. But in practice, in order to really attain that, I’d need to get rid of a lot of personally meaningful pieces. Was my mom’s credenza designed in the school of Mies van de Rohe? Do my family photos look like something out of Vogue? Are all the books in my living room perfectly high-brow? No to all.
I hope they had at least a few unstylish but well-loved pieces that they hid from view just for the photo shoot.
6
All the comments about the gray color amazes me. I just moved to Las Vegas, Nevada where almost every house and roof are the color of Mushroom Bisque. The landscape is bisque color, the painted walls of the houses inside and out are mostly this mushroom color. Kind of bland. However, in the kitchen of the house were solid blue Corian countertops, the ugliest thing I ever saw and the cabinets were of wood. I did a gut renovation in the kitchen and put in a beautiful counter top of quartzite, mixed black greys and whites with spots of little diamond like jewels, tiny ones. The cabinets I chose are 42 inches with a more pale crown molding to match. I drawers that roll themselves in, swinging corners out from the bottom corners and lazy susan shelves in the upper cabinet corners. All the shelves inside all the cabinets slide in and out and there is also spice shelves built in and all of this was done in the color of grey. It really looks grand. The accent lighting is blue and grey. The rolling island has a matching counter top custom made and fits like a beveled glove. The pulls on the cabinet have a bit of color but the grey is really so nice the way it catches the sunlight morning and evening at dusk. The family room nearby has a custom fabric couch and recliners in,grey and it all looks kind of plain. However, the accents are yellow and peach adding vibrancy and color to the color of oyster mushrooms all over town. Curtains colored too. You can do a lot with grey and white.
4
Beautiful, but personally I would like to have seen some color. With respect to these reports, it would be nice to see a report on somebody with a much lower budget who made something nice of an old house/apartment. This will speak to me more.
26
@ELM
I agree. A few years ago, my request to The Times about featuring more affordable apartments and houses in The Hunt section was denied. I think the prices have gotten higher and The Hunt turned into a boring game. Newspapers should interest all its readers. From comments to this article, $3.8 million homes that are elegant but staid are not interesting many. I only clicked on the article because I thought it had insight into maintaining peace when tackling a big project. This was little more than a story of remaking a gray apartment with the addition of different ceiling borders and leathers twice.
2
Well, $2.3MM + $1.5MM = $3.8MM for an apartment. It better be nice!
15
Where I come from, prison cells are painted grey. It is part of the punishment.
8
I feel genuinely sorry for the Yedids whose relationship had to go through a turbulent stretch only because of some wholly unnecessary worries about bricks, mortar, and paint.
"Live simply and keep a minimalist space" is a motto that calms the anxieties of all hyper-demanding homeowners.
3
Well balanced design over all, with a pleasing mix of interesting shapes and textures.
The one problem I see is the ceiling, it still seems to press down on the rooms, especially the dining room. A warmer, darker tone like that of the flooring might visually push it back just enough to give the room a little more breathing space.
Elegant, calm and distinct. Yes, it may be grey like many other featured apartments but it is full of character and has a unique voice. I love it.
7
Where is the color? Why do people keep picking gray? It is SO boring! Honestly the apartment looks like a hotel room found at any mid-grade chain. I don’t know how our society has gotten to a point of such blandness...maybe it always has been and I’ve just started paying attention? This is almost as bad as gray baby rooms (another absolutely terrible trend)....
31
The flower arrangements are pretty - as to the rest, boring and not worth 3.8 million but to each his/her own.
19
Tired of the furry things that pass for furniture. For furry things, I have my pets. Even though I like shades of gray for walls, I'd love to see other options in these pages.
11
I like the furniture and painting in the living room. The rest of the apartment looks like a fancy hotel suite - elegant, certainly, but incredibly generic. So much money, so little imagination!
31
@ED DOC Put more generously, what they imagine as feeling like home differs from your interpretation. To say they lack imagination after all the time they spent on the space is simply narrow-minded.
2
Cool.
And just like every other set of rooms in every other shelter publication.
And every other renovated real-estate listing in every cool city in this country.
Am I the only one getting tired of gray everything?
65