Designer Augusta Hoffman, a member of the 2023 FREDERIC It List, lives in a bustling neighborhood in downtown Manhattan, but when she and her husband close the door to their apartment, it feels like a serene oasis. “I love that it’s a downtown loft, but it has details that make it feel a little more uptown,” she says, “like the quality of the millwork, the wainscoting, and traditional moldings.” It offers a loft’s sky-high ceilings and openness, but with a more traditional room layout.
The palette is dominated by neutrals—and Hoffman considers the deep mossy green in the kitchen and dining area one of them. “In New York, I’m not overlooking a yard or garden, so bringing in that feeling of nature is important to me,” she says. The color scheme deepens as you progress through the apartment, from the creamy whites of the window-lined living room to the verdant tones of the dining area to the cocooning tobacco browns in the primary bedroom, a space that doesn’t get much natural light. “There was a lot of conversation in design school about bedrooms being the most feminine space in the house, but I actually love the opposite,” explains the designer. “I love when a bedroom is masculine and kind of dark and cozy.”
In the dining area, a hand-painted mural by artist James Mobley brings a touch of the countryside.
“In New York City, every inch counts. Every element needs to have some sort of storage or functionality to it, while of course still being beautiful,” she notes. For example, in the kitchen/dining area, Hoffman designed an armoire that looks like a treasured antique, but inside is cleverly kitted out to hold a TV, bar, and wine cooler. The hallway to the bedrooms is lined on both sides with chic mirrored-door closets packed with storage.
In the primary bedroom, Hoffman leaned into a darker palette with smoky tobacco browns and rich textures like the vintage leather sofa and grasscloth wallcovering.
“There’s a sense of restraint that I really like, but I also want all my spaces to feel super comfortable,” a balancing act Hoffman navigates so successfully in part, she believes, due to her childhood growing up in two very different households. “My mom’s house was very layered and bohemian and had a lot of antiques, and then my dad’s house was Scandinavian, minimal, and modern, and there’s something really great in that juxtaposition between the two.”
The hallway leading from the living area to the bedroom is lined in mirrored-door closets, for a glam way to fit in generous storage.
