View Gallery
Good things can come in the smallest of packages. Take Connor Lucas’s home—a 700-square-foot Chelsea apartment that, until the designer and project manager for Redd Kaihoi moved in, was blissfully unadorned. “I liked that it was sort of a blank canvas,” Lucas recalls of the one-bedroom apartment in a 10-year-old building. “The light is amazing. The windows are sort of floor to ceiling and it’s this tight little box that was very appealing. I could just decorate it, rather than work through the challenges that a prewar apartment would have, especially in a rental where you don’t have so much control.”
Lucas on an armless sofa from Crate & Barrel that sleekly slipped into a tight space with Billy Baldwin vibes. “The sofa was my answer to blending antiques with the modernity of the apartment, so it’s clean-lined and simple,” the designer says.
KEVIN KERR
A low, custom plywood screen hides the AC. Softening the crisp lines are vintage and antique rugs, mostly sourced from Etsy. Simple matchstick blinds “filter the sunlight in a way that really sings with the soft pink walls.”
KEVIN KERR
At 26 years old, Lucas is something of a decorating wunderkind who has transformed the home he shares with Tate—his rescue dog and sidekick—into a de facto gallery. Curated antiques mingle with crisp modern pieces for an interior that’s warm, layered, and chockablock with personality. The modernity of the envelope “was a big difference from what I’m used to,” Lucas says. “It was a fun challenge to try and blend my classic, traditional pieces into this modern space.” Among them: antique Japanese triangular stacking tables, an American Regency giltwood convex mirror, and a bronze sculpture purchased at auction—all softened by whisper-pink walls and silk taffeta pillows and cushions.
“It was a fun challenge to try and blend my classic, traditional pieces into this modern space.”
Connor Lucas
“I think where the apartment stands today is a testament to the mix of periods, which also makes the antiques and sort of fancier, traditional things a lot more livable and easier to be around every day,” Lucas says. “That’s something we do a lot at Redd Kaihoi also, which is certainly where I learned how to execute that. It just makes things more exciting.”
Nickel and ebonized lacquer shelves corral the TV and books. “Sometimes you go to great lengths to hide a TV, to the point where it’s super obvious,” Lucas says. “It's just part of life.” Tate, his greyhound/terrier/chihuahua rescue dog, perches on a faux bois Louis XVI-style armchair.
KEVIN KERR
“It all started with the coromandel screen, which really defines the space, as it is seen from every room,” says Lucas. “It gives the space a sense of architecture that was really lacking, and creates instant depth and a little glamour.”
KEVIN KERROf course, no design journey comes without its challenges. In this case, it was the bedroom’s lack of natural light. “I decided to embrace it by dunking the whole room in navy blue, leaning into it rather than fighting it,” Lucas says. “I think it would’ve been sort of dingy-looking to try and go light and bright in a darker space.” The paint color—Benjamin Moore’s Old Navy—spoke to him. “I’m very much a blue person and I think it’s kind of sexy and adds a little bit of glamour. Everything looks so great against it.” Case in point: the swing arm sconces he topped with shades made from Robert Kime fabrics. “There’s not that much opportunity in the room for decorating, so I tried to really go for it where I could.”
An inlaid 19th-century rosewood Pembroke table from Stair Galleries makes a stellar bedside table; the custom headboard is upholstered in Schumacher’s Piet Performance Linen. Schweitzer Linen bedding with embroidered details is a favorite. “I have it in a bunch of colors. It's a good way to change the feeling of the room,” Lucas says.
KEVIN KERRAnother one of the most defining elements in the space—the antique Chinese coromandel screen behind the sofa—came long before Lucas signed his lease. “I actually bought that at an auction before I moved into this apartment,” he says. “It didn’t really fit in my old place and I just had it in storage the whole time, which is a dangerous game to play! It’s a very slippery slope.” But the advance hoarding was well worth it: “It grounds the whole living room.”
Now fully realized, the designer’s apartment feels less like a starter space and more like a jewel box: personal, polished, and richly layered with baubles galore. For Lucas, every inch is a reminder that thoughtful design can bring grandeur, no matter the square footage.
