Inside a West Village Apartment That Maximizes Every Square Inch

For one New York couple, finding the perfect apartment in the West Village was easier said than done. “We couldn’t find anything we liked,” says the wife. As she recalls, everything was either too old (hello dysfunctional layouts) or too new (think white here, there, and everywhere), and there was no finding an in-between. So when they chanced upon their current abode, a two-bedroom brownstone apartment in a time-worn building, they committed to look past its awkward laundry room layout, dated bathrooms, and general lack of personality. In short, they decided to cut the place (and themselves) some slack.

AFTER: Louise considers the 1940s Charles Dudouyt console the tour de force of the living room. “Its laid-back beauty sets the tone for the entire apartment,” she says.

Make no mistake, there were certainly some upsides—chief among them two full bathrooms, two original fireplaces, and windows that let in an abundance of natural light. At 1,000 square feet, the apartment was small, yes, but not small enough to deter the couple, who split their time between New York City and the Hudson Valley anyway, and didn’t want to be overwhelmed by anything too large. Convinced, they made an offer, signed the deed, and promptly enlisted long-time friend, interior designer Louise Copeland of L. B. Copeland Interiors, for the refresh.

BEFORE: Husband and wife both love color, so the kitchen, a plain vanilla, wasn’t the sort of place they looked forward to cooking in each day.

AFTER: Louise steeped the kitchen in calm and color by way of deep teal cabinets and a pristine marble backsplash. She added some shine with burnished knobs and pulls by Classic Brass. A Pedro Coronel painting sits on the counter.

“We sent Louise something I’m sure all designers dread—our Pinterest boards!” chuckles the wife. Louise, of course, dreaded no such thing. She knew the couple well enough to anticipate their needs largely unprompted, and as the wife puts it, “she was able to finesse our initial ideas into something we never would have been able to achieve on our own.” The couple didn’t really have a brief, but they did have a few caveats: a comfortable and sophisticated vibe for one, but also something that wasn’t too precious for their “dog-on-the-couch kind of household.” Lucky for Louise, inspiration came easy. “The West Village is known for being eclectic and artsy, so I drew on these characteristics and brought them into the apartment. I wanted to create a space that felt updated and cozy with a collection of textures, styles, and ages, just like the neighborhood,” says the designer.

AFTER: The updated dining alcove stars an upholstered banquette, a vintage chandelier, and characterful artworks including a circa 1957 painting by George Ratkai displayed front and center. True to her signature, Louise left no surface bare, not even the arched entrance or the wall behind it, which she outfitted in a Pierre Frey wallpaper.

She also made an effort to make the space feel layered with nothing too shiny or new. “We made sure every square inch was ‘finished’ to some degree,” says Louise, who saw to it that no wall or surface was left blank. This meant lots of wallpapered ceilings, mirrored-front cabinetry, waxed plaster or velvet walls, and fully tiled or wallpapered bathrooms. She was equally considerate about function. Exhibit A: the transformation of the previously underutilized spare room. It pulls triple duty as a mudroom, laundry room, and guest suite, all thanks to a cleverly concealed washer and dryer, and a sleeping nook complete with a drawer designed to perfectly accommodate a guest’s carry-on bag. “What’s amazing about it is that when the millwork doors are closed, it is a lovely little guest room. And when someone is staying with us, they have no idea that they are basically sleeping in our laundry room,” shares the wife.

BEFORE: The neutrals in the primary bedroom canceled each other out to the point where nothing really stood out.

AFTER: The centerpiece of the primary bedroom is a bespoke canopy bed of Louise’s own design. “Bringing it to life was a laborious process involving five fabric houses and two workrooms,” shares the designer, who emblazoned the walls in a Phillip Jeffries wallpaper. “It’s like sleeping in a cocoon,” says the wife.

AFTER: The primary bathroom is a brooding escape that harks to the briny deep sea. Dark blue tile by Waterworks and polished brass hardware serve as calming antidotes to one another.

One reason why the couple never had a brief to begin with was that they had wildly differing styles—he leaned modern and she traditional. And yet, the end result meets them in the middle and serves as a sanctuary for them both. “As many New Yorkers know, the city can be a little overwhelming at times, so coming home to this relaxing and beautiful environment is such a gift. The apartment is colorful and soothing all at once and is just the perfect place for us,” reflects the wife. The act of redecorating was so fulfilling that the couple enlisted Louise for their home in Hudson Valley too. “I keep joking that we are going to have to keep buying houses for her to decorate because we’ll miss working with her so much,” she signs off with a laugh.

BEFORE: Before Louise stepped in, the laundry room was just that—a laundry room. It was certainly not the kind of space where the couple could imagine sleeping guests.

AFTER: When the couple first moved in, one of the rooms in the apartment was staged as a laundry room–slash-office combination. “It was a very awkward, underutilized space,” recalls the wife. Louise redesigned it, and now it serves as a guest space, laundry room, and mudroom all rolled into one. A sleeping nook occupies what was once a long hallway. Under the bed hides a drawer designed to perfectly accommodate a carry-on bag, “so our guests can tuck it away, and then access it again easily, which is so wonderful because it is a small space.”

AFTER: The guest sleeping nook is flanked by mirrored custom millwork that conceals a stacked washer and dryer, and an enormous coat closet.

AFTER: The guest bathroom cuts a placid figure with moss green tile by Waterworks and a veined marble backsplash.

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