My Houzz: Colorful and Conservative Mingle in a Manhattan Apartment

Deby and Vivek Matthews faced a dilemma common to newlyweds: merging their stuff and their styles. Deby loves color and pattern, and Vivek leans more toward a conservative, masculine style. For help with their apartment, in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, they turned to designer Amanda Gorski of Homepolish. Gorski worked closely with the couple to create a space that each of them could love and feel at home in.



Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Deby and Vivek Matthews and their cat, Penny
Location: East Village neighborhood of Manhattan
Size: 1,500 square feet (139 square meters); 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms


In the beginning stages of the design process, Gorskistudied every detail about the couple to get a sense of what kind of space would work for them. “I tune in to every element I can, from the way they dress to the art, books and music they have in their homes.” she says. The Matthewses wanted a home that felt warm and cozy, yet chic and sophisticated. They told the designer they wanted “storage and color without it being overwhelming.”


The challenge in decorating the one large volume was maintaining the feeling of three separate spaces — a kitchen, living room and dining room.



To solve their storage dilemma, the couple installed a built-in wall unit where there was nothing before but a wall-mounted TV and some stools underneath. “This massive wall was screaming for attention,” saysGorski. The unit has closed storage underneath to hold electronics and DVDs, while a sliding library ladder allows easy access to things on the top shelves.



Before the wall unit was installed, Deby and Vivek had a lot of books, photographs and keepsakes but nowhere to display them.


The cabinet doors are accented with chestnut leather drawer pulls fitted with polished-nickel studs from Turnstyle Designs.


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My Houzz: Colorful and Conservative Mingle in a Manhattan Apartment

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