This Uptown condo belongs to two people who know exactly who they are:  a brewer and a drag queen with a dog named Tucker. The space already had a point of view before Kyumi arrived: hunter green walls, packed built-in bookshelves, and a fireplace tiled in the same deep green from floor to mantle. It didn't need a new identity. It needed room to exhale.

The decision to repaint came down to one thing. The clients owned an America Martin painting that had been hanging in the dining room against dark walls, slowly getting lost in the bold accents of the home. We moved it above the fireplace and painted the living room White Down. The painting came forward immediately, warm and commanding, and the green tile fireplace beneath it finally read as the architectural centerpiece it had always been. We sourced a curved 1980s velvet sofa in warm beige and  placed it in the bay window, where afternoon light hits the fabric in a way that makes it look like it cost twice what it did. The built-in bookshelves were edited and reorganized so that the clients' own books and objects could breathe. We replaced the rug and brought the television down to eye level. 

The best version of this apartment was always there. Sometimes it just takes another eye to find it.