When native New Yorker Madeline Brine first purchased her classic-six in a 1929 Park Avenue building, she had the place gutted and entirely redone. But 16 years later, she looked around and realized that “it wanted freshening up, and the kitchen and bathrooms needed serious updating.” She called Jim Joseph of Hottenroth & Joseph Architects, who had worked on the original transformation, and asked if he could suggest an interior designer.
Joseph recommended a frequent collaborator of his, Katie Lydon, a British-born talent who established her own Manhattan firm a little more than 20 years ago. Lydon is known for calm, comfortable, modern rooms that quietly acknowledge traditional decorating and subtly mix newer pieces with antiques and vintage finds. She is also happy to work in any palette, from mostly white and soft neutrals to saturated earth and jewel tones. Brine and Lydon met, shook hands, and brought Joseph onto the project as architect.
This time around, the apartment would be getting a less comprehensive upgrade. “I wasn’t going to alter the footprint,” says Brine. Or the ceiling beams, fireplace surrounds, and crown moldings that Joseph installed 16 years ago. Brine and Lydon settled on a color scheme of soft grays and creams throughout, from the paint and the wallpaper to the Venetian plaster, and although most of the furnishings are new to the home, Brine’s prized possessions remained.
In the foyer, a demilune table from Mr. Brown London sits beneath one of the client’s own mirrors.
The living room features a custom Flynn sofa from Ferrell Mittman covered in a navy Rogers & Goffigon linen and an ottoman upholstered in a mohair/cotton blend by Larsen from Cowtan & Tout. Decorator Katie Lydon designed the pair of 1970s-style armchairs. The mirror above the mantel is from RT Facts and the Alexander Lamont console is from Angela Brown.
A Lydon-designed Gustavian-style cabinet in the dining room complements a pair of Rococo side chairs and Swedish brass sconces from Dienst + Dotter Antikviteter. The antique dining table, rug, and chandelier are the client’s own.
Farrow & Ball’s Hague Blue makes a statement in the kitchen, playing foil to white quartz countertops from Fanuka and a backsplash of mosaic tile from Studium.
A Phillip Jeffries wallpaper anchors the office, where windows feature roman shades in an embroidered fabric from Zimmer + Rohde.
The powder room features a custom-colored Spatter Dash wall covering from Peter Fasano.
In the guest room, a deep blue cotton voile blanket from RH covers a Lydon-designed bed, which is upholstered in a pale blue Holland & Sherry fabric. Other furnishings include a roman shade in a subtle print designed by Thom Filicia for Kravet and a chair and ottoman reupholstered in a Bennison floral.
For the primary bedroom, Lydon designed both the Rug Company carpet and the Dune headboard, which is upholstered in a Jane Churchill fabric. The 1970s bench is from BK Antiques.
The primary bath was updated with a custom vanity, as well as stone mosaic floor tiles, sconces, and fixtures from Waterworks.
Over the years, Brine had accumulated a cache of elaborate mirrors and contemporary art, so Lydon decided to make reflection a unifying theme, adding a new mirror above the living room fireplace. Venetian plaster adds sheen to the foyer, where one of Brine’s preexisting mirrors shimmers above a gold-toned demilune table with a marble top. The wallpaper in the powder room has spatters of gold, silver, and copper, and many of the fabrics Lydon chose are imbued with a subtle luster.
Rather than replace everything, Lydon gave new life to perfectly decent chairs by reupholstering them and retained several of Brine’s beautiful old rugs. “Matti actually said we could get rid of them,” recounts Lydon, “but I said, ‘Oh, definitely not.’” All collaborations require some give and take, but Lydon never suggested anything that might compromise the finished product.
The women decided up front that the dining room would center on Brine’s antique table and chairs. To accompany them, Brine had pined for an antique cabinet she saw online, but “it was in Europe and would have been annoying to ship,” she says. Instead, Lydon designed an amply proportioned, timeless piece to fit the space, its Gustavian vibe wholly intentional. To finish the look of the room, she added a pair of antique 18th-century Dutch side chairs and hung 17th-century Swedish sconces.
“The dining room is my favorite space,” Lydon allows, although Brine’s is the primary bedroom, where everything is new except the Carolyn Brady watercolor hanging above the bed. (“It’s my sanctuary,” Brine says.) Lydon comments that “the space seems really white when you walk into it, but then you become aware of other colors, such as the light blue of the lampshades, bits of blush pink, a soft gray carpet. There’s quite a lot of texture.”
Typical of a Lydon project, windows are not elaborately dressed. “I’m very drawn to windows themselves,” the designer says, “but not so much when they’re all about the curtains. On the other hand, I adore fabric, so the challenge is, How do I get the fabric there while maximizing the light?” In Lydon’s case, roman shades and simple drapery panels typically do the trick throughout.
In the kitchen, the collaborators decided to retain the existing cabinets but add glass panels to some of the doors. Then they painted both uppers and lowers in Farrow & Ball’s Hague Blue, a glossy deep teal. Lydon wanted something with a bit of sheen for the stove hood, and no sharp corners, so she had one built with a softly curved edge and finished it in polished nickel.
“Matti wanted the re-do to include unusual jazzy touches,” Lydon says of her client, “but she also wanted her home to feel restrained, calm, and elegant, so she needed a little convincing here and there. Sometimes a design collaboration is about knowing how to persuade people without pushing them, making sure they’re comfortable while not letting them sell themselves short.”