F - G

Michael Formica Incorporated

95 Christopher Street (212-620-0655)
Formica has a penchant for mid-century design that never veers into camp, given his editorial eye and willingness to go far afield -- or at least to the flea markets of Paris -- to find his clients the best of the postwar masters. "I'm a modernist," he says, "but that doesn't mean I don't understand luxury, comfort, warmth. There isn't necessarily a lot of stuff, but it is luxurious and inviting." Clients: Bette Midler, Robert Eiger

Fox-Nahem Design

82 East 10th Street (212-358-1411)
This pair delivers tailored luxury for powerful professionals who want an apartment that works as hard as they do: polished public rooms with cozy personal areas tucked away. "Nothing is more boring than sameness; we love contrast," say Tom Fox and Joe Nahem, who are known for well-organized layouts, durable, kid-friendly designs, and zero attitude. Their current palette is a mix of warm and cool: white lacquer, hand-plastered walls, bronze versus stainless steel. Clients: David Cone

FTF Design Studio

181 Hudson Street, Suite 2D (212-925-0847)
Favorites of the fashion crowd, up-and-comers West Chin and Roseann Repetti can carve dramatic, sculptural spaces out of the most plain-vanilla apartment. They aim to keep rooms from being "too cold or too cluttered," using white as a base and "a touch of color like red." Clients: Shalom Harlow, Christy Turlington, Amber Valetta, François Nars, Michael Thompson

Gabellini Associates LLP

665 Broadway, Suite 706 (212-388-1700)
Michael Gabellini's pale, refined interiors can just as easily put clothes, objects, or people center stage. Often working within landmarked buildings, Gabellini creates womblike rooms with white walls, recessed lighting, and suspended ceilings -- sort of like a minimalist heaven. Clients: Jil Sander, Linda Dresner, Donna Karan

S.R. Gambrel, Inc.

225 Lafayette Street, Suite 601 (212-925-3380)
Steven Gambrel is known for slick sheets of color: cobalt lacquer, ebonized floors. His taste in furniture matches the surfaces, with strong shapes arranged for minimal fuss. The only thing you need is the square-footage to handle all that muscle. Clients: Liz Lange, Michael and Lisa Schultz

Glenn Gissler Design

36 East 22nd Street, eighth floor (212-228-9880)
Gissler works in a classical-yet-modern idiom, balancing rooms with lighting and woodwork before he starts adding color ("earthy, muted, calm") or furniture ("antiques that have a sculptural presence"). Gissler's clients are often art dealers or collectors, as he's willing to let the art command the room. Clients: Michael Kors, Caroline Hirsch, Seth Abraham

Gluckman Mayner Architects

250 Hudson Street, tenth floor (212-929-0100)
Richard Gluckman practically invented the Chelsea aesthetic: cleaned-up industrial spaces bathed in natural light, which make great showcases for contemporary art. On the domestic front, he adds tactile materials, striking staircases, even a whimsical outdoor shower, but maintains the discipline. Clients: Marianne Boesky, Philippa de Menil and Heiner Friedrich

Gomez Associates

504 East 74th Street (212-288-6856)
Mariette Himes Gomez is a modern classicist who creates fresh and unpretentious spaces. "I try to pare each room down to the basics," she says. And basic does not equal bland: "Even the mildest of rooms deserve a shot of color; when used in moderation, cobalt blue, burnt orange, and red can supply just the right punch." Clients: Harrison Ford, Ivan Reitman

Alexander Gorlin Architects

137 Varick Street (212-229-1199)
"A house is a psychic diagram of the family," Gorlin says. Which means, in this uncertain age, home as sanctuary, built of materials native to the site, and fitted with wide windows to take in the view. Trained as a modernist, he cites Vermeer as one of the inspirations for his serene spaces. Clients: S.I. Newhouse, Ed Hayes

S. Russell Groves

210 Eleventh Avenue, Suite 502 (212-929-5221)
Groves's beautiful, thoughtful style makes for oases of calm in the busy city. Working with ecru paint, ebony-stained wood, and stainless steel, he crafts interiors with a place for everything, and not a rough edge in sight. Clients: Barbara Benenson Warren, James and Jennifer Cacioppo

Gwathmey Siegel & Associates

475 Tenth Avenue (212-947-1240)
Charles Gwathmey's apartments are based around a series of simple shapes -- walls that curve out for a breakfast nook, in for a fireplace; stairs that pop from the wall like a small building. His materials, a list reduced over a long career, include Venetian plaster, stainless steel, maybe a warm rosewood. And he has a willingness to take on the difficult: "Constraints," he says, "are opportunities for invention." Clients: Ron Meyer, Jerry Seinfeld, Michael Dell, David Geffen