Designer Dani Arps’ Harlem Apartment
Photographs by Patrick Cline. Styled by Angela Belt.
Designer Dani Arps remembers her move-in day like it was yesterday. “When I first moved into my space I had very little,” she recalls. “Just the few pieces that I'd permanently 'borrowed' from my parents, a couple of pieces of artwork from my love, Billy Ruiz - an extraordinary artist - and some artwork I'd created myself.” But even without an abundance of furniture, Dani, a former art and music major, looked at the space that would be her home and saw nothing but opportunity. “I like to think of my home, and spaces in general, as artwork we live in,” says Arps. “I can look around the room and tell the story of how each item came to my home. It's important to appreciate each piece and let it tell it's story. I think that the feeling I have about the pieces in my home is what gives my apartment life.”
Dani’s home is an ode to the blend of good design and personal style that turns a space into a home. Featuring a wall-to-wall mix of family heirlooms, original art and travel mementos, the apartment is more than a tribute to the designer’s good taste - it’s a catalog of experiences, tastes and moments that is as comfortable as it is stylish. “I think making a space into a home is something that happens over time and should happen over time - it's styling yes, but styling with items that you've collected and that have a story.”
Located just steps from Central Park, Dani’s apartment building is part of the historic landscape that makes New York one of the world’s truly iconic cities. Getting it was a dream. Finding it however, was a challenge. “I searched for three months,” she remembers, “and looked at about one hundred places before I finally found this apartment from a listing on Craigslist.” In the end, Dani found herself living in Harlem. The site of the famous Black Renaissance of the 1920s, the creative spirit of that time continues to thrive in the neighborhood, not only in the spirit of talented creatives like Arps herself, but in the buildings that artists both then and now call home.
At the front of the building, a mix of brick, limestone and carved details is crafted in a nostalgic jazz-age style. Up the stairs, Dani’s door opens into a one-bedroom apartment with an immaculately crafted style that feels immediately open and airy. Ten-foot ceilings make a dramatic impact while emphasizing the detailed steps this designer has taken to turn a typical New York “box” into something special. The result is a study in how to decorate your first place in a new city.
Undeniably, Dani’s home benefits from her daily work as a designer. The popular designer gets her practice creating one-of-a-kind spaces for large start-up companies, helping each client shape a unique aesthetic for their offices. Designing spaces to convey a brand identity has given Arps a unique perspective on expressing personality at home. Her recipe calls for starting with a blank canvas of neutral colors on the walls and large furniture pieces. “This way adding, changing and restyling smaller accessories like rugs, artwork and pillows can completely update your space.”
The living room was painted in Benjamin Moore’s Antique White, a warm shade offering Dani the neutral backdrop she wanted.The light color also helps to accentuate the tall ceilings and the substantial amount of sunlight that the apartment receives. In the bedroom, Farrow and Ball’s Pavilion Gray envelopes the space, allowing colorful moments like the jewel tone bedding to stand out in contrast.
Layout was especially important for Dani. So to make the space function for work as well as life, she she focused on multi-functional furniture pieces. “Consider your layout carefully and be sure the furniture you choose is proportionate to the size of your space,” advises Arps. “My living room also serves as my dining and work area. Because of the scale and layout, each area has it's own purpose which makes the space feel larger than it is.” It’s also important to remember that a piece of furniture doesn’t have to be “multi-purpose” to do more than one job. As Arps explains, “My dining table often serves as a work surface to layout floor plans and samples, and my sofa is basically oversized, an intentional choice I made for when I have a guest staying over. It's basically the depth of a twin bed.”
To further enhance the apartment’s size, a unique lighting scheme was designed. “Having at least three points of light is important, as a dark corner can make a room feel smaller. Typically the lighting that comes with a first space isn't great and I rarely turn on my overhead lights. Getting a hardwired ceiling fixture is a more permanent fix. And if you plan on staying in your space for a few years, it’s a great investment.”
The importance of art in this interior is marked by its presence on each and every wall. For Dani, an artist herself, deciding the right pieces to use in her home is as easy as leafing through her own collection, but when that isn’t the case, she recommends patience. “I think it's important not to rush into finding artwork since quality pieces can be pricey. My collection started from my parent’s house and with paintings that I'd created myself.” Apart from that she’s found that, “local galleries, flea markets and online stores are great places to start.”
On the walls, works by Dani and her partner Billy can be spotted throughout the space. The two artists collaborate on their site, Femme and Fellow, which features Dani’s figure studies and watercolors alongside Billy’s abstract pieces. “I had art before I had furniture,” she laughs. “I think it's good for everything in a home, whether artwork or furniture, to influence each other. For my bedroom, I started with the wall color, bed and bedding, then later created the watercolor paintings to accent the suzani throw.”
The final touches in this cozy New York apartment are the accessories - a John Robshaw pillow on the sofa, a metallic lamp picked up at a local flea market, and small tchotchkes that make the space feel like a home. “Accessorize with items that are not only beautiful but have a function and purpose. A beautiful tray on a coffee table adds texture and interest when not in use but also has purpose when you entertain friends with tea or drinks.”
It truly is a beautiful place to call home. “I love coming home, taking off my shoes and jumping onto my sofa. It's like a warm hug after a long day. My focus is a living space filled with items that make me happy.”
