Can choo-choo trains coexist with Louis XVI settees? That’s the dilemma Laura Kofoid and David Ricci brought to the table when they met with Chicago decorator Nate Berkus about refurbishing their apartment.
“We don’t have a family room, so our living room is where our children play and watch TV. But it’s also where we entertain, and that can mean a black-tie party. We wanted the space to be able to work in all those situations,” Kofoid says.
Their first solution had been to consider moving out of their 3,000-square-foot apartment in a gracious old Lake Shore Drive high-rise. “We bought it nine years ago, but needed more space once we started having children,” Kofoid says.
But their search for a new home proved futile. “Nothing was as attractive and economical as what we already had, so we decided to stay put, give it a cosmetic overhaul to make it more functional and upgrade our furnishings. The entire house really had to work, especially the living room, because it’s such a large room,” she notes.
The couple hired Berkus after seeing his work featured in an article in this magazine. “We fell in love with him because he was willing to be collaborative, and the work he showed us wasn’t formulaic. He clearly respected the sensibility of his clients, and had the aesthetic judgment and imagination to make our project work,” Kofoid says.
At their first meeting, Berkus was equally impressed with the couple. “They wanted to break with convention and were open and receptive to all the ideas I brought to the table,” he says. They also gave him a complicated set of directives that he found challenging and intriguing.
“They were very vocal about their highest priorities. Their environment had to be colorful, multi-purpose, and there had to be enough open space in the living room so it could be used as a play area,” he says.
What really brought the significance of this last request home to Berkus was his interaction with the couple’s then-3-year-old son Simon. “Every time I would come over, Simon would be right there in the living room, listening to our meeting. At the same time, he would be re-organizing his train tracks around the furniture.”
Berkus devised inventive solutions that were utilitarian, yet elegant and urbane, thanks to the classic, formal pieces the couple preferred and the way color, textiles and wall coverings were employed.
“Even though they said they wanted to break with convention, as we started making individual selections, the more timeless or classic something was–regardless of whether it was antique or contemporary–the more they were drawn to it. So we went with a blend of period pieces and brought these classics to a new place by the way we combined them in the room and used color,” Berkus says.
In the living room, Berkus floated a luxuriously long, tufted chaise longue covered in a durable, tone-on-tone, blood-orange wool damask almost smack in the center of the space facing the room’s entryway. The wall the chaise faces holds a large, handsome armoire sheathed in creamy vellum that pays homage to the work of French furniture designer Jean Michel Frank, flanked on either side by spare dining chairs. Behind this setting, an area in front of the windows is anchored by a Louis XVI-style settee and complemented with chairs, stools and occasional tables. This leaves one side of the room open as a passageway between the two settings, while the other side–dead space thanks to its distance from the room’s door–holds a baby grand piano.
The layout and furnishings meet all the couple’s requirements for the space. The seating area near the doorway functions as a family room because of the empty space surrounding it, which can be used for play, and because of the careful choice of decorous yet hard-working furnishings, such as the armoire that houses audiovisual equipment, tapes and toys and the chaise that is sturdy, comfortable and big enough to hold a family of four when they watch TV.
The furnishings in the room also are suffused with pattern and color, and come from a wide range of periods. There’s seating covered in lime green and blood orange, or upholstered with animal-print faux fur, and pieces that are authentic period antiques, reproductions or mid-century modern. Finally, the walls are painted a saturated shade of turquoise while the moldings are left pure white to “really make a statement,” Berkus says.
Other rooms in the apartment were also saturated in color, which brought their classic furnishings to life. The dining room is a warm chocolate brown, a study that also functions as a home office is an embracing brick red, their son’s room is a playful tricycle red, their 14-month-old daughter’s room is cheerful sky-blue and the master bedroom suite sports a printed wallpaper that’s predominantly mellow mustard.
Another classic period trapping Berkus suggested—hand-blocked, scenic French wallpaper that has a 200-year-old pedigree–also went a long way toward giving the apartment a dignified yet streamlined demeanor. “The foyers in these grand old apartments are spacious and important because they’re the first thing you see when you walk in. We didn’t want ours cluttered up, but did want it to be dramatic and dignified, and this worked,” Kofoid says.
Today, the mix of color and furnishings makes the house totally livable. “There are many special things, but nothing is too precious to use,” Kofoid says.
WHY IT WORKS
1. Timeless, traditional pieces are updated with playful yet elegant fabrics, like an acid green print on an Empire-style chair or faux fur on antique stools with a French provenance.
2. Pieces based on their size and shape rather than their period or pedigree help make the mix striking.
3. Colors are based on their ability to change the mood of the room and enhance the furnishings rather than on their adherence to a color scheme.
4. The layout is changeable, allowing the family to get the most mileage out of the room. Chairs and stools can migrate from place to place or sofas can be moved to become part of another seating group.
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RESOURCES
Pg. 28: Living room sitting area: Piano–personal collection; Frank #5 slipper chair by Mattaliano, upholstered in Trionfo by Bergamo–Holly Hunt Ltd., Mart, Chicago; Ming coffee table by Michael Smith and Rufino sofa by Michael Smith–Tui Pranich & Associates, covered in polished cowhide through Keleen Leathers, Westchester; Nicole distressed mirror tea table by Editions–Tui Pranich & Associates; 19th Century architectural fragment on mirrored table–Daniels Antiques, Chicago; pair of vintage Charles lamps (one shown on tea table)–Pavilion, Chicago; blue vase–personal collection; Weavecraft rug–Peerless Rug Company, Chicago; paint–Benjamin Moore #706.
Pg. 29: Living room detail: Rift sawn oak and vellum armoire–designed by Nate Berkus, custom made by O’Baran Inc., Michigan City, Ind.; Bill Sofield chairs–Baker, Knapp & Tubbs, Mart, upholstered in Napoli Stripe silk at Scalamandre, Merchandise Mart, Chicago; paintings–personal collection.
Pg. 30: Living room detail: Rolled-arm, tufted chaise–designed and fabricated by Nate Berkus Associates, upholstered in Eleganza wool by Bergamo at Holly Hunt Ltd., Mart, and trimmed in bullion fringe, Houles U.S.A., Mart; small orbit side table–Roman Thomas, New York; Ming coffee table by Michael Smith and Rufino sofa by Michael Smith–Tui Pranich & Associates, Mart; 19th Century French tapestry bolster–Textures, Chicago; Nicole distressed mirror tea table by Editions–Tui Pranich & Associates, Mart; Saarinen table–Knoll, Mart; pair of vintage Charles lamps–Pavilion, Chicago; Weavecraft rug–Peerless Rug Company, Chicago; window treatment–taffeta from Coraggio Textiles, Mart, designed and fabricated through Nate Berkus Associates. chandelier–personal collection.
Pg. 31: Living room detail: 19th Century gilt mirror–Pavilion, Chicago; pair of antique candelabra, chandelier and 19th Century antique clock–personal collection; mantel–original to apartment; 19th Century Louis XVI-style bench–French Antique Shop, New Orleans; armchair–Dapha, Mart, upholstered in Magnolia Stripe Plaid cotton at Lee Jofa, Mart, Chicago; Roman Thomas orbit table–Roman Thomas, New York.
Pg. 32: Hallway: Tulip sidechair–Baker, Knapp & Tubbs, Merchandise Mart, Chicago; mirrored sconce circa 1920s–through Nate Berkus Associates.
Pg. 33: Foyer: Zuber hand-screened wallpaper in “La Course de Chevaux Romains”–Zuber Inc., D & D Building, New York; Christian Liaigre bench–Holly Hunt Ltd., Mart; dining room furniture–personal collection; Chinese Deco Oriental carpet–Douglas Rosin Art & Antiques, Chicago.
