- Interior
Designstudio Workstead transformed a small apartment in New York into a clean, stylish home with lots of light where spaces are used optimally. Natural colours and materials and some elegant vintage pieces complete the interior.
The New York award winning design studio Workstead was founded in 2009 by Stefanie Brechbuehler, Ryan Mahoney and Rober Highsmith. The agency always creates unique projects and products in which beauty and need are combined into a beautiful harmony. Workstead has already received international recognition for their beautiful creations in interiors, lighting and furniture. 
Workstead transforms a small apartment into a stylish second home
One of their projects is located on the Upper West Side in New York: Riverside BLVD Residence was a ten-year-old apartment with water damage. Workstead transformed it into a renewed, fresh home where style and efficiency are central. The apartment was furnished for a couple from London who would use it as a pied-à-terre to live, entertain and also work. The challenge was to make the small apartment look bigger and make the most of the spaces without overcrowding them. ‘There's not much room to manoeuvre,’ said architect Ryan Mahoney in a previous interview. ‘We didn't want to drastically change the layout, but we reworked the relationships between the rooms.’ Walls were rebuilt, oak floors were added and heating systems were camouflaged to make the rooms look larger. Modern and contemporary multifunctional pieces were chosen for the furniture. 
One of the biggest challenges, according to Mahoney, was to design the living space so that it could also be used as a workspace and dining room. The designers allowed the kitchen worktop to extend into the seating area so that it could also be used as a desk. In the living room we also find some perfectly chosen pieces of furniture that really complete the space: a vintage 'Elevator' table by Kai Kristiansen that can be transformed from a coffee table to a dining table, 'Penguin' chairs, a marble 'Third Eye Vessel' magazine holder by Chen Chen and Kai Williams, a 1960s lamp by Temde Leuchten and BDDW's 'Abel' chair.
All rooms are used to their full potential
One of the most eye-catching elements in this house are perhaps the custom-made cabinetry with a stepped pattern that can be found throughout the apartment, from the kitchen to the living room and bedroom. The whole house was dressed in a sober and natural palette of colours and materials. Just think of the light wooden finishes, the marble in the kitchen and the wooden, beige and green furniture. Although this is a small residence, Workstead managed to turn it into a light, functional and stylish second home with craftsmanship, fine finishes and details and well-considered pieces of furniture. 
Photography by Matthew Williams
Courtesy of WORKSTEAD