Family Ties in New York
After
"Decorating on a budget can be done if one is on the lookout at all times," notes designer Carleton Varney, who outfitted his son Nicholas Varney's apartment in Manhattan.
The living room offers striking views of the Hudson River.
Before
The living room.
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Splashes of citrus color warm the apartment.
The duo, in the study, mixed Nicholas's pieces with family castoffs, "things that parents pass to children, that have been sitting about in an attic, barn or basement looking for a home," explains the designer.
Before
"I feel that color is the key to design. A home has a feeling the minute color is added," says Carleton Varney, who used a geometric pattern of chocolate brown and cream paint on one living room wall.
After
Round slipper chairs were covered with retro fabric left over from a previous project. Vera Lutter's Orient Point is above the sofa.
After
The living room shares a half wall with the kitchen, creating a narrow counter. Nicholas Varney purchased the rug in Turkey, and a prowl through a Sarasota, Florida, antiques shop turned up the Chinese lamp for $548, "probably the most costly piece in the living room," notes the designer. It rests on a Regency-style table from a Christie's House Sale. Ligne Roset barstool.
Before
The living room.
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The kitchen.
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The study was brightened with a coat of citrus-green paint on one wall. Above the sofa is Sally Michel's Landscape.
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Will Cotton's series Four Candies hangs on the one wall in the bedroom painted a chocolate brown; the remaining walls were given a coat of "Nick's favorite color, Jefferson sky blue," says Carleton Varney. "Since the apartment is 20 floors high, the blue walls carried in the blues of the skyline."
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The study doubles as a guest room, but the size of the space posed a challenge: "Nick and I found the only 67-inch-wide sofa bed on the market, to our knowledge," says Carleton Varney.