Second Nature: A New York City Apartment Makeover, Photo Gallery
A slide show of the interiors of Saveur Editor-in-Chief and Top Chef Masters judge James Oseland's New York City apartment.
To read the full article about this New York City apartment makeover, see "Second Nature: A New York City Apartment Makeover."
We turned a small nook, opposite, into a seating area by adding a cushion and pillows. The window boxes are planted with four types of ivy; the mix of green leaves draws the eye from the interior to the outside world. We chose a soft, neutral paint (Benjamin Moore Historic Color Monterey White), which sets a contemplative mood.
A beat-up tree stump from West Elm serves as a small table. A simple drinking glass holds a handful of hosta leaves and flowers.
Choosing Containers
Garden Design’s style director, Lindsey Taylor, assembled a selection of small containers she thought might work well in the apartment, including: 1. Jamali Garden’s cement urn 2. Campania International’s etched Alessio planter 3. Anthropologie’s glazed Ivory Epoch pot 4. Flora Grubb's palm tree-textured Thai planter 5. Pottery Barn’s galvanized cachepot 6. Terrain’s tin container, part of a set of four that nest in a woven tray 7. Campo de’ Fiori’s Dragonscale planter, covered in living moss that continues to grow over time (available from Jayson Home) 8. Accent Decor’s green Market pot 9. Flora Grubb’s ridged Cypress vase.
Fill any of your new containers with a fine begonia benitochiba, courtesy of Sprout Home.
An old snapshot of a stretch of New Mexico desert, enlarged and framed, became the focal point of the living room.
Our sofa, opposite, is covered in loose-weave linen. We opted for window shades made of similarly textured and hued material, a simple pull-down model in a color called Wheat from Janovic. We bought fabric in New York City’s fashion district and asked a tailor to make pillow covers. All told, each pillow cost about $35.
The urn holding the snake plant is a reproduction from Tara Shaw Antiques in New Orleans. It’s constructed of lightweight fiberglass and looks weirdly real. We placed it on a small silver-colored tray from Jamali Garden to catch any water spills. We chose to hang only a few pieces of art on the walls, including this antique Korean scroll.
Choosing Fabrics
One of the most productive moments in the process came when Shane Powers, a designer who helped us plan our interior, spread swatches of fabric on a table with leaves from our plants and a photograph I took in New Mexico, which we had blown up and now hangs in our living room (see previous slide). Having these items on the table made it easy to choose the fabric we used to cover pillows and cushions.
