The Insider: Penthouse Atop Greenpoint New Build Gets Kitted Out From Scratch

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The couple who grabbed this penthouse in a brand new condo building — a three-bedroom, three-bath duplex with two balconies, a terrace on the main level, as well as a private rooftop terrace — were the very first people to ever live there. They wanted to start fresh with furnishings, too.

They enlisted the help of Meg Lavalette, who launched her Manhattan-based interior design firm LAVA Interiors in 2015, in sourcing all-new furnishings with a mostly neutral, contemporary bent.

“I always ask clients to show me at least 10 images of stuff they love. Even pictures of stuff they don’t like can speak volumes,” said Lavalette, who also has a seasonal upstate outpost, LAVA Atelier, with a shop in a 19th century storefront, in Franklin, N.Y.

In this case,”the husband gravitated toward Scandinavian pieces and light woods. The wife likes pops of color. Both resonated with blues and greens” to tie in with the unit’s outdoor space, the designer said.

Lavalette ordered a down-filled custom sofa with a subtly colored nubby linen slipcover for starters. “I typically start with the sofa, usually the biggest piece, and play off that,” Lavalette said. Yellow throw pillows and a large framed photo over the sofa, by Lorena Marchetti, bring a dose of cheery color. The red-framed Samsung TV serves a similar purpose.

The coffee table was sourced from Lawson Fenning, the floor lamp from Visual Comfort, the table lamp from Studio Dunn, and the rug from Armadillo.

The building’s high-end kitchens and baths, by Brooklyn architecture firm StudioSC, were good to go, though Lavalette added a pair of pendants from Lostine whose light “pops off the deep-colored cabinets.”

“We needed a table with a very narrow footprint” for the available space in the dining area, the designer said, which she found in bold green metal from BluDot. “I wanted to contrast the lacquered table with texture” — hence the wood benches with cane seats.

Lavalette hunted down the three delicate artworks by American painter René Romero Schuler from two different galleries. “They have the kind of calm energy we wanted to bring into the primary bedroom,” she said. The bed came from Cisco, the French glazed earthenware table lamps from 1stDibs.

Another triptych, commissioned from artist Joseph Conrad-Ferm, brings vibrant color into the guest room. Its acquisition sparked a new interest in collecting art on the part of the the homeowners.

A wood and leather bed, vintage Eames chair, and 1960s table lamps give the room a classic modernist feel.

The outdoor plantings are the work of Kate Turney, owner of NYC-based Twelve Gardens Ltd.

[Photos by William Lavalette Photography]

The Insider is Brownstoner’s weekly in-depth look at a notable interior design/renovation project, by design journalist Cara Greenberg. Find it here every Thursday morning.

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