April 6, 2017

Lori Weitzner Shifts Into Neutrals for Her NYC Renovation

“I was suffocating out there,” textile designer Lori Weitzner says of her “perfect house, perfect garden, perfect everything” in Madison, New Jersey. “I was commuting and tired and it just wasn’t the life for me.” Her husband, Mike, loved the house and garden, but eventually (and somewhat reluctantly) agreed to reverse-migrate back to New York. And so, shortly after 9/11, the couple moved into a 2,200-square-foot two-bedroom a few blocks away from Weitzner’s Chelsea design studio.

Fifteen years and two kids later, the apartment was due for a refresh. Ike Kligerman Barkley handled the overhaul—including new floors and cabinetry and a revamped kids room—with Weitzner collaborating on decor. An eclectic mix of antiques and modern pieces plays against a complex layering of fabric textures and colors, mostly neutrals. “I really believe that textiles are the soul of the space,” she says. “You need the furniture, you need the lighting, but the textiles bring a sense of intimacy.” The living areas demonstrate that point, interweaving linens, silks, and embroidered velvets from her own line, Weitzner, with trims she designed for Samuel & Sons.

The palette reflects principals set forth in Weitzner’s recently published book, Ode to Color. “The hues are intentionally very soft and quiet, so we can feel at rest here,” she says. The master bedroom, with pale shades of iced pink, off-white, and alabaster, nods to her “whisper” palette. Daughters Sophie and Emma—who have their own bunk-style lofts in a high-ceilinged shared bedroom—chose “out loud” accent colors (see the bright orange headboards, for instance).

Throughout, a sense of dimension derives from the abundance of polarities: there’s shine and matte, dressed-up and rustic, handmade and high-tech. With so much contrast, Weitzner admits, “the design could have gone the other way. But we made it work!” And then some. 

> See more from the Spring 2017 issue of Interior Design Homes

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