New York Magazine
4 of 5
After trudging through ten for-rent apartments last fall, interior designer Kevin Dumais (dumaisid.com) came across a split studio on the Upper East Side. At the time it had a margarine-yellow-and-baby-blue paint job and frilly window treatments, but all Kevin saw was potential.
“The biggest design challenge was moving out of an 800-square-foot one-bedroom in Brooklyn to a 350-square-foot Manhattan studio.” Dumais says. “Since I work from home, I made every effort to create a professional and social living environment.” This entrance hall plays the role of kitchen, allowing the black kitchen bar to serve as a coffee station and storage space and (delightfully) enabling Kevin to serve a cocktail the minute a guest steps through the door.
Photo: Kevin Dumais; Hector Sanchez
My hair would have started curling to see this sad little scene, but Kevin’s mind immediately transformed it into a perfect office space and dressing area.
“Since it is a rental, the work I did is pretty much all cosmetic: painted walls, trim, and doors, plus new light fixtures and a ceiling fan,” says Kevin. He discovered that the window had been partially hidden by the previous tenant, so he had his contractor open it up. Although it faces a shaftway, he found exposing the top half of the window made the room seem larger and let in wonderful reflected light in the morning.
Photo: Kevin Dumais; Hector Sanchez
The room at the rear of the apartment functioned solely as a bedroom.
Kevin maintains it as a bedroom but also as his living space, using the corner table to serve cocktails or dinner.
Photo: Kevin Dumais; Hector Sanchez
Kevin uses his bed as a couch. “All the furnishings I have collected over the years while living in New York through flea market finds and eBay purchases,” says Kevin, who designed the ottoman and bedside table himself.
Photo: Kevin Dumais
With Kevin’s story, I learned once again that good design, through creative but also practical thinking, can transform. Even it you start off with a case of the blues (and yellows).
Photo: Kevin Dumais
The Beefcake in the Backcourt- Big, fake, and fully able to outshine its surroundings.Big, fake, and fully able to outshine its surroundings.
Fall Fashion Features
- The Beefcake in the Backcourt
- Big, fake, and fully able to outshine its surroundings.Big, fake, and fully able to outshine its surroundings.