Welcoming a guest into your home is a vulnerable pursuit: It forces you to let your public persona slip and reveal a space tailor-made for you. But as this residence from Dunnam Zerbini Design proves, perhaps the best way to do so is through art.
The owner, who lives in the Midwest and uses her Upper East Side apartment as a secondary home, is very involved in the contemporary arts scene and wanted to imbue the space with a gallerist’s allure.
“She’s a very confident client,” states Kelly Zerbini, the design firm co-owner. “She was very excited about artisan-made pieces, about one-of-a-kind creations, and she made her selections quickly. She was just a pleasure to work with.”
Though the 3800-square-foot unit is rife with paintings and sculptures, Zerbini and Arthur Dunnam, the other co-owner, treated furnishings like artwork. “It’s a layered and well-thought-out experience,” Zerbini describes of the design process. “You can slowly enjoy things as you spend more time in there.”
Guests often flock to the dining room-cum-library, which Dunnam says felt “pretty claustrophobic” before he and Zerbini added their artful touch. “It had bookcases built all the way around,” he explains. “They just ate into the room.”
The designers traded in the swinging doors that once separated the living and dining areas for a cased opening, removed the built-ins, and refocused the space around two rope-wrapped bookcases from Christian Astuguevieille. Two Papa Bear Chairs from Hans J. Wegner and agate-clad side tables from Philip Nimmo complete the room, bringing a collected appeal to the space.
While most of the apartment features rich burgundies, browns and camels, the mostly white kitchen offers a visual exhale. To bring some intrigue to the airier space, Zerbini and Dunnam treated the light fixtures as sculptures. Here, two ceramic-dipped mesh pendants from Scott Daniel Design create a sun-dappled effect that draws the crowd in. Because even in its quieter moments, the home reflects its occupants.
“It’s for somebody who’s comfortable doing some color and very artful, sculptural elements,” Dunnam says. “It makes a statement.”
Photography by Read McKendree.
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