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
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
