Home Studios uses a diversity of influences to transform this New York apartment

They saw it at Elsa and Goat Town – those softly curved, seductive contours reminiscent of the Art Deco era – and fell in love with the interiors of the New York City cocktail bar and the restaurant. Those designs are what led them to the creators – New York City-based Home Studios – for their own home. The Brooklyn-based design practice had previously undertaken a plethora of hospitality projects and are known for their notable interior work for some of New York City’s most beloved bars and restaurants. This, however, was to be their first private home.

Founder, Oliver Haslegrave, started the studio in 2009. With an architect father, this former book editor grew up around construction sites. His nostalgia for architecture and love for storytelling drove him to start the design firm with an aim to “help tell the stories of inspired outsiders through the art forms of architecture and interior design."

The interior design of this 2000 square-foot apartment was heavily influenced by the curved geometries of Finnish architect Alvar Aalto’s work, especially Maison Louis Carré and Screen 100. Complementing the fluid contours and copper detailing is a melange of natural materials and bespoke creations interspersed with vintage pieces seamlessly blended to create a space that celebrates a clean and cohesive design language.

When copper abounds

Located in a building dating back to 1925, the apartment last saw an upgrade in the 1980s. It was up to Home Studios to completely revamp the space into a contemporary residence – an aesthetic the building's well-preserved heritage exterior belies. They gutted most of the apartment with the aim of maximising an open-plan layout, combining the living, dining and kitchen areas with three bedroom and two bathrooms tucked away. To elevate the airy and open feel, the studio made use of sliding doors.

Home Studios also designed 10 site-specific pieces – including furniture and lighting – and paired these custom pieces with those from both vintage and contemporary designers like Chen Chen & Kai Williams, Sabine Marcelis and Max Lamb. The predominant colour scheme of soft, neutral hues paired with pale wood enhances the daylight dancing off the walls. And while, sometimes this minimal aesthetic can appear a little too staid, the studio infused a subtle richness with copper, reflective in a custom chimney hood in the kitchen, elegant detailing and fixtures in the bathroom and oak and copper trim details lining the hallway.

The call of curves

Ornamented by copper and oak detailing, the design of the light-filled apartment is connected by arched contours in every space. At the entrance, one is greeted by a curved, fluted wood-panelled wall which is also seen in the kitchen. The living room is subtly dominated by the custom Vesper Console adorning the one wall. Designed by Home Studios, this creation showcases the beauty of soft curves; an elegant detail being the curved copper trim on the wall behind enhancing the design.

These details create a unified flow into the open dining and kitchen where a curved custom Swing Pendant by Home Studios illuminates the dining table. In the kitchen, curved walls featuring frosted windows with copper frames along the arc lead to a hallway that ends in a travertine-clad curved alcove. In the master bedroom, the curves continue – from the Landon Metz painting above the walnut bed to the vintage French lamp from the 1940s paired with an Atelier de Troupe Jia chair. The practice continues the subtle curves with a 1950s Vittorio Dassi desk and bookcase in the kids' bedroom.

The dramatic bathrooms

While the design language of the apartment is deliberately neutral and calm, the bathrooms are pleasantly theatrical in comparison. The master bathroom is an elegant medley of handmade mosaic tiles, copper details and a dark custom concrete finished wall treatment and flooring. Sitting under a curved mirror by Home Studios is a custom vanity made from Arabescato Classico marble.

The guest bathroom is a tad more dramatic with copper-hued mosaic tiles covering a large expanse of the otherwise soft white wall. Here too, the curves flourish. We see them in the tiled vanity topped by custom copper mirror. They call out from the mosaic-tiled walls, the copper-lined shower alcove and, most dramatically, the nook. The studio crafted a curved tiled-sitting nook which houses a teak wood storage unit and is topped by a bowed glass window with copper detailing. In the end, the home really is all about the copper and curves.