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In 2004, when Maxwell Ryan, pictured here, and his brother, Oliver, launched Apartment Therapy, little did they know what a game-changer it would be. You might say it was the design blog that launched a thousand other design blogs. In addition to the flagship site, Maxwell also runs The Kitchn, which covers kitchen design and home cooking. When I went to visit Maxwell in the new Soho apartment that he shares with his daughter, Ursula, he was taking a rare break from work, traveling for two upcoming books. Photo: Wendy Goodman
Maxwell added a hood for the stove and brought order to the open shelving with a uniform palette of white, gray, and brown wood accents. The butcher-block table is from John Boos, and a similar one can be found here. Photo: Wendy Goodman
Islands of bright-pink carpet from the Rug Company anchor the living room of the open dining/living area. The matching sofas from Mariette Himes Gomez for Hickory are covered in different fabrics. The armchair is by Thomas O’Brien for Hickory, and the small coffee table is a family heirloom that belongs to Maxwell’s mother. The curtains are from Restoration Hardware. Photo: Wendy Goodman
An electric orange Windsor-style chair from Hay of Finland sits off to the side of the living room next to a painting by artist Amy Gulden, with family photographs below. Photo: Wendy Goodman
The knitted saw-shaped pillow designed by David Stark is from Haus Interior. It accompanies a Seed Pillow by Judy Ross. Photo: Wendy Goodman
“I wanted to find the perfect dining table in the perfect size,” Maxwell says. Inspired by a table he saw at London’s 100% Design by Carl Hansen, he and his contractor made a prototype in plywood. “I rubbed it down with brown shoe polish. I might keep this as is.” The chairs are from Finnish design shop Hay. Maxwell saw the sheepskin throws used as accessories in the Superga sneaker store and found the source and ordered his own skins. Photo: Wendy Goodman
Maxwell had this storage wall unit custom-built in his bedroom by George Evageliou of Urban Homecraft, who included the transparent transom window. The seating nook is the perfect size for Ursula. Photo: Wendy Goodman
Maxwell’s bedroom is done in a soothing palette of soft-wheat and mushroom colors. The Arne Jacobsen standing lamps flank the bed and add exactly the right amount of reading light. Photo: Wendy Goodman
Maxwell used every nook and cranny to maximize space. Here, outside Ursula’s bedroom, he installed a desk made from an Ikea tabletop (which he painted orange) and three Ikea legs. He installed a mirror from BoBo above. Photo: Wendy Goodman
Ursula’s bedroom is anchored by a sleigh bed with storage beneath”also designed and built by George Evageliou of Urban Homecraft. Photo: Wendy Goodman
Ursula has custom shelving and closet space on the opposite side of her bedroom. Photo: Wendy Goodman
As a cuckoo-clock aficionado, Maxwell says that he spent a lot of time searching for the right one. He ended up with this “Black Forest” cuckoo clock by Carl Grüttert Uhrmacher. “A Google search of “Black Forest cuckoo’ will get you a sea of companies selling these.” It brings a hint of the past into Maxwell’s modern oasis. Photo: Wendy Goodman
