Last week on the new season of The Nate Show, Nate revealed a first look at his new apartment in Manhattan. I am always so intrigued by what a designer chooses to create in his/her own living space. It's so true and inherent to the core of their style. As a long time admirer of his design work, I was really excited to see how he transformed his new apartment. Of course the overall space is gorgeous and signature Nate - masculine and texture filled with a restrained and warm color palette.
You can see the full tour here but as usual, it's the things that he didn't mention that interest me. So today I've decided to dissect the space a bit and zero in on some of aspects of the design that I think make it so successful.
1. Restrained Color Palette:
Generally Nate's designs favor a warm, neutral and tight color palette and that's certainly something you can see in his new home. This vintage, French 1950s tapestry really embodies all the colors used throughout his space - variations of creams, black, tans and grays.
Here it is in his library/dining room.
2. Use of metallics and texture
He uses woods, leathers and metallics to keep the overall design from looking too "flat". You can see this in the accessories and accent pieces he chooses.
2. Repeating architectural elements
This wasn't mentioned at all in the video but throughout the apartment, the repetition of the black grid-like patten created by the window casings is one of the most successful elements. But they didn't start out black. See the before and after of his bedroom.
They were painted black as were the rest of the window casings in the apartment.
But that's not all - check out this little corner of the dining room where 2 windows are balanced out with a mirror created in the same black grid pattern (on the right).
Or in these doors he had created to separate two rooms.
Or in this faux window separation he created between the kitchen and the family room (on the left).
They remind me of this image which I've always loved - a shower enclosure made using an old factory window.
And I can't do a post about his apartment without a look at the before & after of his kitchen. Same counter tops, same cabinets (painted), new subway tile backspace and a marble topped island with an industrial feel all come together to create a truly different feeling.
What do you think of Nate's new apartment? Was there a favorite room or design element that your inspired by?
