Fifth Avenue Apartment, NYC

This fine pre-war apartment demonstrates one of aRTLIFEdesign’s primary anthems: how to live better by living with less. Maureen Jerome’s goal was to clear the living space physically, psychologically and visually. The apartment’s living and dining rooms were combined in a celebration of openness, but the bedrooms were kept private and enclosed. Given the owners’ affinity for the work of Donald Judd, the most architectural of artists, aRTLIFEdesign needed to keep the design uncluttered in order to showcase his taut geometric style. With walls painted a gallery-like soft white and herringbone floors stained a dark shade, the attention moves to the art collection. Washed by recessed ceiling lights and augmented by natural light on two sides, the three-bedroom home glows from within. Jerome’s concentration on purity of color, form, space and materials exemplifies Judd’s thesis: the simple expression of complex thought.

Photography by Michael Moran.