TURQUOISE TEXTURES
The upholstered dining chairs are covered in sculpted mohair the color of the sea. An Artemide fixture hangs above the white glass pedestal table from DDC Furniture.
MATERIAL THINGS
The living-room carpet, crafted by Tai Ping, takes a classic paisley and blows up the scale. "Materials make things interesting," Coleman adds, citing the coffee table's wenge wood base, the chrome swivel on the orange sling chair, and the Lucite "Tumbler" table, here banded in the home's signature turquoise.
CATCH THE EYE
In the den, teak paneling contrasts with a lacquered turquoise ceiling and USONA swivel chairs. Coleman chose the sofa for its unexpected Lucite base. SeaVision an aquarium maintenance company, services the double-sided fish tank at left. Carpet from Patterson Flynn & Martin.
SQUEEZE RIGHT IN
Coleman created a dining nook in a former pantry to answer his client's desire for an informal dining space, selecting blazing shades of orange to counterbalance "the beige countertops, a mosaic stone backsplash, and marble floors."
ROOM FOR EVERYONE
The clients' daughters consulted with Coleman on their rooms' color schemes. Bold stripes invigorate pink.
ROOM FOR EVERYONE
One closet and half of another became an office in the master suite.
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color form

Christopher Coleman balances neutrals with brights on the Upper East Side
Type: 
Interior Design
Author name: 
Christopher Coleman
Type: 
Text
Author name: 
Marc Kristal
Type: 
Photography
Author name: 
Peter Murdock

“You can't judge people by how they dress,” observes designer Christopher Coleman, citing the owner of this five-bedroom East Side apartment.“Every time we met,he was in a suit—I thought he was really buttoned up.” But when Coleman set three design schemes before his client,“he went for the edgy one.” For this divorced businessman with pre-teen daughters, “edgy” meant “cool and sexy but masculine,” the designer explains. “And with two kids,he wanted a place he could use.”

Though known as a colorist,Coleman, who studied graphic design, began with shape and pattern, selecting curvilinear furnishings that “look better,suit the body, and save space.” With lines drawn, Coleman took up his palette. “My client’s a beach person and he responded to turquoise, so we used it as a repeating element, heavily in the dining room and den,somewhat in the living room,a touch in the bedroom.”

Otherwise, the designer established a neutral ground—a muted paisley rug in the living room, the den’s teak paneling, white patent leather on the entry walls—“and accented it with doses of color” (the Radioactive Orange breakfast nook is a notable exception). If there’s an element that sums up the apartment’s vividness, wit, and client-centric approach, it’s the double-sided elliptical fish tank between the living room and den. “This man knows his fish, so it’s not just for show,” Coleman says—before admitting that the tank’s sublimely-colored occupants were selected by how they dressed.

Resources:

Christopher Coleman Interior Design, 55 Washington St., Suite 707, Brooklyn, NY 11201; 718.222.8983; ccinteriordesign.com. (pages 70–71) Artemide, 46 Greene St., NYC 10013; 212.925.1588; artemide.us. DDC or
Domus Design Collection, 181 Madison Ave., NYC 10016; 212.685.0800; ddcnyc.com. Edward Burtynsky,
edwardburtynsky.com. Custom dining chairs were by Artistic Frame, 985 Third Ave., NYC 10022; 212.289.2100;
artisticframe.com. Chair fabric is from Donghia, 979 Third Ave., Suite 613, NYC 10022; 212.935.3713; donghia.com. Hologram light fixture is from Artemide, 46 Greene St., NYC 10013; 212.925.1588; artemide.us. Custom etched mirror servers are from Lorin Marsh, 979 Third Ave., 7th Fl., NYC 10022; 212.759.8700; lorinmarsh.com. Window treatment fabric is from S. Harris, 979 Third Ave., Suite 611, NYC 10022; 212.838.5253; sharris.com. Pearlized Iridescent wallcovering is from Elizabeth Dow, 979 Third Ave., 14th Fl., NYC 10022; 212.355.6241; elizabethdow.com. (pages 72–73) Tai Ping Carpets, 860 Broadway, NYC 10003; 212.979.2233; taipingcarpets.com. Wenge wood club chair is from Lindsay Dakota, lindsaydakota.com. Glass mosaic tile sofa table is from Dennis Miller Associates, 200 Lexington Ave., Suite 1510, NYC 10016; 212.684.0070; dennismiller.com. Sofa fabric is from Beacon Hill, 979 Third Ave., NYC 10022; 212.421.1200; beaconhilldesign.com. Green velvet silk pillow fabric is from Christopher Hyland, 979 Third Ave., Suite 1710, NYC 10022; 212.688.6121; christopherhyland.com. Pattern silk velvet pillow is from S. Harris, 979 Third Ave., Suite 611., NYC 10022; 212.838.5253; sharris.com. Glass table lamps with green shades are from Lee Jofa, 979 Third Ave., Suite 234, NYC 10022; 212.688.0444; leejofa.com. Corner curved sofa in Electric Blue Velvet was made by Classic Sofa, 5 W. 22nd St., NYC 10010; 212.620.0485; classicsofa.com. Classic Sofa, 79 E. Putnam Ave., Greenwich, CT 06830; 203.863.0005; classicsofa.com. Classic Sofaat New Jersey Decorating Exchange, 3 New Bridge Road, River Edge, NJ 07661; classicsofa.com. Window treatment fabric is from Rogers & Goffigon, 979 Third Ave., Suite 1718, NYC 10022; 212.888.3242. Turqoise grosgrain ribbon border tape is from M&J Trimming, 1008 Sixth Ave., NYC 10018; 800.9.MJTRIM; mjtrim.com. Wallcovering in Patent Vinyl is from Donghia, 979 Third Ave., Suite 613, NYC 10022; 212.935.3713; donghia.com. Square cut-out club chair in turquoise is from Lost City Arts, 18 Cooper Square, NYC 10003; 212.375.0500; lostcityarts.com. Scoop-out
swivel club chair is from Visiona, visionamidcenturymodern.1stdibs.com.(pages 74–75) SeaVision, 2519 Astoria Blvd., Astoria, NY 11102; 718.777.1007; seathevision.com. Usona, 215.496.0440; usonahome.com. Patterson, Flynn & Martin, 979 Third Ave., Suite 632, NYC 10022; 212.688.7700; pattersonflynnmartin.com. Wenge wood and Lucite neesting tables are from Ted Boerner, 200 Lexington Ave., Suite 515, NYC 10016; 212.675.5665; tedboerner.com. Lucite coffe table is by Christopher Coleman Interior Design, 55 Washington St., Suite 707, Brooklyn, NY 11201; 718.222.8983; ccinteriordesign.com. Custom teak panel library was by BBI, Beton Builders Incorporated, 246 Fifth Ave., Suite 400, NYC 10001; 212.689.1523; betonbuilders.com. (pages 76–77) Kitchen banquette and white canvas and orange leather appliqué pillows are by Christopher Coleman Interior Design, 55 Washington St., Suite 707, Brooklyn, NY 11201; 718.222.8983; ccinteriordesign.com. Orange leather is from Holly Hunt, 979 Third Ave., Suite 503/605, NYC 10022; 212.755.6555; hollyhunt.com. Light fixture is by Artemide, 46 Greene St., NYC 10013; 212.925.1588; artemide.us. Orange acrylic chair is by Jensen-Lewis, 89 Seventh Ave., NYC10011; 212.929.4880; jensen-lewis.com. Custom white lacquer bunk bed is by Christopher Coleman Interior Design, 55 Washington St., Suite 707, Brooklyn, NY 11201; 718.222.8983; ccinteriordesign.com. Striped bed pillows are from Dransfield & Ross, dransfieldandross.biz.