This residence is set high above Park Avenue, and it had a distinct elegance that reminded you of the 1930s. The prewar apartment was designed to entertain only the most sophisticated.

However, as the 21st century arrived, things changed. The current owners still appreciate a sophisticated environment as much as the previous ones.  But, with the lives we lead in this century, there are better options. It’s great to have a beautiful apartment, but, as the owners said themselves, it also has to be functional.

The couple, parents to two kids needed functionality over luxury. So the finishes included some durable options like wallcoverings and hard wood floors.  Let’s take a look at how this residence was updated from the floor to ceiling.

The owners sought out help from the architectural firm Ferguson & Shamamian to update their residence. Their mandate was to make the area more livable, and as Mark Ferguson says, they modernized an apartment that was 70 years old and made it into something that a young and modern family could comfortably live in.

The architect’s team also included M. Damian Samora and Scott J. Sottile. They transformed some larger areas into something that was more practical and better suited. While some areas were reconfigured as their floor plan was ridiculously old-fashioned.

Ferguson joined forces with interior designer Sandra Nunnrley once again in order to modernize this apartment. They work together in an amazing fashion, and their success can be seen from the very first room.

The architects squared off the entrance hall (Above) as it was rectangular, and the what remained was transformed into a coat closet and a powder room. After that, it was Nunnerleys turn to decorate. She echoed the dramatic swirl of the inscribed circular ceiling in the Swedish alabaster light and finished the walls in a vertical striped wallcovering.

The Biedermeier table was made by Josef Danhauser in Vienna in the 1820s. The pewter-and-brass octagonal mirror is from the ’60s, while the wallcoverings are vertically striped with silvery lines.

 

All of the rooms are relatively sparse, they have art on the walls, which also includes the expanding collection of photographs that the couple owns. They are placed all over the place and there is a lot of space between each piece of artwork or photo.

The wife wanted to keep it clean and simple, without any clutter. We can see this minimalist elegance in all its glory in the living room. The room has a distinct feeling that reminds us of the 1930s. But, even with all of the antiques, the place still looks modern.

The bedroom (Above) is finished in a relaxing Benjamin Moore Wedgewood gray color and accented by off whites in the drapes as well as the rug.  The room is on the smaller side so the lighter colors provide the room with a little depth to make it look larger.