For the last six years, Muriel Favaro has been quietly obsessing over dot patterns in the Jersey City loft she shares with her husband, Gunars Prande, an artist who teaches at the School of Visual Arts. The pair lived on the Lower East Side for 29 years before moving to the powerhouse art district in 2006. Their 1,200 square-foot converted warehouse is big enough to function as both a home and work space. Here’s a rare glimpse inside Favaro’s studio. She designed the red-dot lamp for mc&co, and the paper bags are part of a gift collection, Padegachi, that she did in collaboration with milliner Lola Ehrlich. Postmodernist painter David Salle gave Favaro the framed etching of a lampshade when she worked as his assistant. Photo: Wendy Goodman
Favaro’s material of choice is heavyweight muslin. These are the prototypes for her bags and sachet pillows. The zippered pouch is one of her classic crocheted patterns. Photo: Wendy Goodman
The view from the living room into Favaro’s studio space is divided by a long passage running the length of the loft. Photo: Wendy Goodman
Favaro is currently working on a collection of watercolor paintings of everyday objects: “I want to celebrate their uniqueness by turning them into art,” she says. Photo: Wendy Goodman
A view of the living area with the kitchen in the background. The couch is covered with a Bolivian blanket, the dining table is by Prouvé, and the milking stools are by Charlotte Perriand. Photo: Wendy Goodman
The living room features standing vintage George Nelson bookshelves alongside a mix of Eames and fifties upholstered armchairs. Photo: Wendy Goodman
The bed is topped with Favaro’s polka-dot-motif pillows. She found the Anatolian carpet at a tiny bazaar in Turkey. Photo: Wendy Goodman
Favaro’s husband, a folk-art collector, snapped up this bottle-cap sculpture at the Pier Antiques show. Photo: Wendy Goodman
Favaro has designed for Kate and Andy Spade, Kenneth Cole, Saks, LeSportSac, and Tocca; sample rolls of her vibrant “bandanna” fabric, created for a pillow line, shows why. Photo: Wendy Goodman
