When a Minneapolis couple tapped Los Angeles–based designer Joe Lucas to decorate their Lenox Hill pied-à-terre, the only mandate was simply that it feel comfortable and welcoming. “The clients gave us carte blanche,” says Lucas. “We of course wanted the space to feel like theirs, but the fact that this isn’t their primary residence allowed us the freedom to play with the design a bit more and really have fun with it. It has some of that old New York dressiness while still remaining comfortable, bright, and cheery.”
The apartment itself—a compact one-bedroom duplex located in a prewar building—didn’t require any major structural work, though the couple did opt to gut-renovate the primary bath and switch out the vanity and flooring in the powder room. The kitchen, however, remains untouched. Opposite the kitchen is the dining room, where Lucas has made the most of a small floor plan to provide the couple with as much storage as possible. He designed two dark green built-ins to flank a cozy eating area, while the cabinet on the opposite wall holds entertaining essentials such as barware. “One walks right into this room upon entering the apartment, so we selected a banana leaf wallpaper from Krane Home to bring more life into the space,” explains Lucas, who ran the wallpaper onto the door of the powder room as well in an effort to distract from its rather inconvenient location off the dining area. (However, when the door is open, a botanical wallpaper from Ferrick Mason makes its own chic statement.) “We landed on a banquette setup with a vintage travertine table, which works well for both entertaining and when the couple needs a place to work.”
Designer Joe Lucas helps a Minneapolis couple create a dreamy perch on the Upper East Side.
The rug is from Jamal’s Rug Collection, the sofa from Harbinger By Hand is covered in a Claremont fabric, and the coffee table is from Julian Chichester.
In the living room, artwork from Lucca Antiques hangs above a custom fireplace surround by Chesneys. The curtain fabric is from Schumacher.
Chairs from Harbinger By Hand surround a table from A La Mod in the dining area. The wall covering is from Krane Home, and the sconces are from Fabio LTD.
A wall covering from Fromental envelops the primary bedroom. A bed from Bunny Williams Home is dressed in Matouk linens.
The lamps are from Visual Comfort, and the nightstands are from Made Goods.
Interior designer Joe Lucas is pictured next to an armchair from Bunny Williams Home covered in a linen from Bob Collins & Sons in the living room of his project.
From the dining room, the ceilings open up to a double-height, light-filled living room awash in Farrow & Ball’s Setting Plaster—a pale pink that, according to the designer, “is a nice, airy shade that doesn’t shout pink.” A marble mantel sourced from Chesneys serves as a focal point, as does the Danish mid-20th-Century Cubist painting hanging above it. “That painting incorporates all the colors found in the home,” notes Lucas. A mix of textures and patterns in the form of an antique rug, an animal-print wing chair, floral curtains, snakeskin pedestals, and knubby wool fabrics keeps the eye engaged. Meanwhile, a variety of furniture styles—including a modern interpretation of 1950s Italian arm-chairs from Lucas’s showroom, Harbinger—impart a sense that the home has “evolved over time,” says the designer. A gallery wall gracing the staircase to the primary suite adds to this collected appeal. The clients selected some of the pieces on their own, and then Lucas’s team helped round out the mix.
Upstairs, Lucas installed a steel casement window in the wall separating the primary bedroom from the living room below. “This space was fairly dark before, so we added this window to bring in some light from the living room,” he says. As the bedroom is rather tight with low ceilings, Lucas chose to envelope the space in a silk cherry blossom wallpaper from Fromental. “This wallpaper gives the room its own identity while adding great texture,” he explains. “We didn’t even need to hang artwork in here because the wallpaper is the art.” The lower ceilings didn’t stop Lucas from installing a dramatic four-poster bed from Bunny Williams Home. “The goal was to give this couple something beautiful, fresh, and comfortable to return to,” says the designer. “Sometimes it can be difficult for clients to feel like they have ownership over a part-time residence, but I really wanted this to be a home away from home for them.”
