NEW YORK CITY LIVING Convention was cast aside to create a gorgeous apartment with character and personality
One intrepid owner cast aside rules and convention to create a beautiful apartment with character and personality
‘I realised that taking a chance and trying something new was probably more valuable than just staying within the borders’
‘I love a sense of history in something. I love a patina, I love seeing someone else’s touch, or seeing a stain, a nick or a chip’
work for design inspiration and incorporate its spirit into our homes. Donald Judd’s minimalist, monolithic style was a starting point for Jenna, who commissioned her floating brass bedside tables as an homage to the artist
‘Ilove a sense of history in something. I love a patina, I love seeing someone else’s touch, or seeing a stain, or seeing a nick or a chip,’ says Jenna Lyons, who embraces imperfection passionately.
Not only does she have a great sense of style, but she’s also business savvy and a brazen risk-taker. So it’s no surprise that her homes past and present embody her personality, and have been inspiration for countless fans who swoon over her unconventional colourful, personal style.
After a long stint living in Brooklyn, Jenna knew what she wanted when looking for a new home – a living space to be all on one floor and large enough to accommodate the ‘main parts of life’, such as cooking, eating and hanging out. She found a SoHo loft that fitted her size requirement but little else. So, unfazed, she set about transforming the space, and now rooms that feature oversized mouldings and fabulous unfinished herringbone floors are decorated in a stunning yet playful layering of styles, materials and finishes. A mix of French influences, designer classics and quirky pieces brings a unique look: a sconce peeks out from behind a jungle-motif screen; a leopard-print pouffe sidles up to a pink sofa…
Jenna deliberately disrupts the symmetry of the architecture by hanging her artwork off-centre, or even leaning it on the floor. It feels unexpected, and the eccentric placement highlights the work. After finding the sofa in the living space, which is the main anchor of the room, she altered its original design by removing the tufting and upholstering it in a pink cotton velvet. ‘In my job as a designer, I got used to having to say, “Taking a chance and trying something is probably more valuable than just playing safe.”’ But her decisions are not made quickly. She spent hours poring over pink swatches to choose exactly the right one.
A mint green and pink colour combination in the living room, where a pale malachite-hued goatskin cube cosies up to the pink sofa, looks fresh and cool. Avocado-green lacquer covers some of the bathroom walls and French 18th-century threadbare mohair chairs are dotted around. She takes her influence from a variety of sources
– a bathroom at the Gritti Palace hotel in Venice, for instance, inspired her to source veined marble for her own.
With a profound love for the details and patina of French architecture, Jenna worked with the contractors to create mouldings, extra-tall doors, and high doorknobs (she is five foot eleven) to reflect that appreciation. In all of the finishes Jenna chose throughout the home – the unlacquered brass backsplashes, the honed-marble countertops, the unfinished oak floors – she wants life to be visible. ‘I had lengthy conversations with my contractor about making sure the floors weren’t too perfect,’ she says. ‘I wanted them to wear enough to show spills and reveal the markings of people’s footsteps walking down the hall.’ It’s symbolic of the honesty of life she craves. ‘I’ve never felt comfortable looking perfect or being perfect. My taste is unconventional, and I couldn’t make a perfect room if I tried,’ Jenna says.