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Clever by Architectural Digest

Architectural Digest •

This 645-Square-Foot Rome Apartment Is a Maximalist’s Dream

Italian interior architect Mirta Ottaviani and her partner, construction entrepreneur Augusto Carchella, hadn’t always expected to rent an apartment, much less one in Rome’s Parioli district. “The plan was always to buy a place, but we needed somewhere to stay while we searched for our dream home,” says Mirta, who worked at several interior design studios in Italy and France before setting up her own firm in Rome in 2021. Plan B was leasing an apartment in Piazza Venezia, Rome’s historical city
Architectural Digest •

This Tropical Hawaii Bathroom Brings the Jungle Indoors

Oahu is known for many things: endless coastlines, lush rainforests, and magical nature trails that seemingly extend to infinity. For one couple from the Bay Area, capturing some of this magic in their new apartment in Waikiki was key to making it feel like home. And yet, the existing shell—a standard ’90s selection with yellow walls and maple floors and cabinets—was far from entrancing. “Everything felt old and dated. It just didn’t match their vibe,” recalls Oahu-based interior designer Shaoli
Architectural Digest •

This Austin Home for a Family of Six Brims With Colorful Curiosities

When they aren’t at work, Erin Patterson and her partner, Trevor, can usually be found in the kitchen, with their blended brood of four roller-skating in circles around them. “With four curious kiddos and two parents who love to cook, it can get wild! We joke about hanging a velvet rope around the island and range to keep them out,” laughs Erin, a licensed master social worker with a specialization in child adoption. The open-door policy isn’t limited to family or the kitchen alone. Most weekend
Architectural Digest •

A Faded Portland Kitchen Gets a Sanctuary-Like Update

For Ana Quiñones and Eric Karl, a pandemic spent cooped up at home meant many unwelcome discoveries: fading walls, creaky cabinets, dysfunctional storage—among other things. It was hardly surprising. After all, they’d lived in their condo for over a decade and, evidently, time had caught up with the place. “The kitchen, in particular, needed some extra attention,” wrote the couple (he’s an engineering manager, she’s a gerontologist and associate professor at Oregon Health and Science University)
Architectural Digest •

A Drab Tulsa Basement Got a Double Role as a Half-Bedroom, Half-Office

Most mornings, Katie Carpenter and her husband, Justin, take turns calling dibs on their basement office. “It’s always a race for who gets there first,” laughs Katie, cofounder of Strat House, a boutique public relations firm catering to interior designers in Oklahoma. As an extension of the primary bedroom, the office is ideal for manifesting some early morning inspiration or some late evening energy. Or for hunkering down for some quiet, away from the background score that presides over the rest of the house (the couple shares two spirited little girls).
Architectural Digest •

This Bright and Bohemian Bronx Apartment Was Born from a Paint Job Gone Wrong

Takeesha White and Alex Marcelo had no intention of hiring an interior designer—not until a bad paint job left their walls looking like the pale inside of a banana peel. Knowing that they needed a do-over—and fast—they turned to the only person whom they knew they could trust to bring the place back to life: Alex’s sister, interior designer Abigail Marcelo Horace.

“I had warned them that the original paint colors wouldn’t do much to change the interior, but they didn’t listen at the time. In th
Architectural Digest •

This Florida Home With a Striking Roofline Got a Palm Springs–Inspired Makeover

When Jonathan Mills was hunting for properties in Gainesville, Florida, a few years ago, there came a point when he was certain he’d found the one. It was a recently restored midcentury-modern lake house with a charm of its own. He contacted the realtor, put a price on it, and waited…only to ultimately be outbid by somebody else. The only silver lining was that somewhere along the way, he found himself a designer: Chelsey Cox, of Chinotto House, who had masterminded said restoration. That meant
Architectural Digest •

This 680-Square-Foot Brooklyn Heights Apartment Has the Best Window Seat

Working in real estate has its perks: flexible workdays, career mobility, high income potential. Or as in the case of Carrie McCue, the opportunity to clinch a hot property before anyone else. “Well, I wouldn’t exactly call it hot,” the Massachusetts native says. “It was on the market for more than a year.” When she stumbled upon the Brooklyn Heights prewar co-op online, the blurry cell phone photos did nothing to deter her. Having seen thousands of homes in the city, she had trained her eye to know when a space has “good bones.” And the bones in this one, she deemed, were particularly good.
Architectural Digest •

Japandi Chic and Midcentury Vibes Meet in This India Apartment

When Sumi Bose and Vivin Pai bought an apartment in Bangalore, they were sure about one thing: the kitchen wall had to go. “Well, two things, if you count the aesthetic we were going for,” says the couple, whose days are currently governed by the uproarious antics of their six-month-old baby and their two-year-old pup. For the young parents, the aesthetic of their future home had been dreamed up long before they had finalized—or found—an interior designer. “So when we landed on Aishwarya, we had
Architectural Digest •

This Warm Parisian Apartment Nods to a Childhood Friendship

From classmates in kindergarten to best friends in high school, Samantha Hauvette and Sophie Gaillet have quite a history. “We have always had a sisterly bond, but over the years, we have also become close with each other’s families. Our kids are now best friends and we do absolutely everything together,” says Samantha, who serves as principal designer and one half of Paris-based architecture and interior design studio Hauvette & Madani.
Architectural Digest •

A Tiny London Bathroom Gets a Forest-Like Makeover

Naomi Smart has always had a thing for matchbox living. After all, having spent a year in New York during her early 20s, she had aced the art of surviving—and thriving—in small spaces. “I was especially intrigued by the impossibly tiny bathrooms,” says the bona fide Londoner and commerce director at British Vogue. “Because somehow, I had an inkling that I might one day put my observations to good use.” The inkling, as it turned out, proved serendipitous for Naomi. Many years later, when she chan
Architectural Digest •

This 867-Square-Foot Parisian Pad Is at Once Zen and Zany

On Paris’s Avenue Mozart, where Haussmannian apartments appear almost frozen in time, there’s one that breathes an impossibly modern air—at least on the inside. “That’s what we were going for—equal parts considered and chic,” says Léa Levy, who purchased the two-bedroom apartment a few years ago with her husband, Alexandre Murciano. “We had been looking for an apartment in Paris for a long time. And when I saw the shape of these windows, I knew we’d struck gold,” says Levy, adding that at the ti
Architectural Digest •

A Designer Turned Her Tumbledown NYC Apartment Into a Minimalist Parisian-Inspired Retreat

For Margaret, the kitchen was a labor of love. “I love to cook and a full-size kitchen with full-size appliances, a floor-to-ceiling pantry, and wine storage were all priorities for me—a rare combination in New York for an apartment this size,” she reflects. And yet, for a kitchen that pulls heavy duty, the aesthetic is surprisingly easy-breezy. The custom cabinets, for example, match the wood floors in style and spirit. And the ceilings are coated in a high gloss paint that nicely reflects the
Architectural Digest •

Step Inside This 470-Square-Foot Cozy Chelsea Studio

As someone who has spent 20-something summer weekends living on a sailboat, urban strategy consultant and entrepreneur James Lima has a thing for small, well-designed spaces. “My brief to Daniel and Noam was simple: Help me showcase my artwork and create a living space that is comfortable, serene, luminous—and queer,” says the urban redevelopment leader, who is currently busy helming the redevelopment of the iconic—and long-abandoned—Buffalo Central Terminal.

The Daniel and Noam in question? Da
Architectural Digest •

This 1930s Spanish Casita in LA Got a Wild and Whimsical Makeover

In an upstairs boudoir of a 1930s Spanish home in Silver Lake sits a chair that once belonged to the set of Big Little Lies. Of course, the theatrical decor isn’t just a coincidence—it’s a subtle hat tip to its actor owners, Barbadian-born Deidrie Henry Dickerman (also a writer and activist) and creative life coach Douglas Dickerman, whose wild and whimsical signature extends well beyond the bedroom seating. “But it wasn’t always this pretty, and finding Faith was the great adventure,” laughs Deidrie.
Architectural Digest •

A 75-Year-Old Japanese House Was Transformed Into a Zen Weekend Hideaway

When Giselle Go and Philippe Terrien—cofounders of Japanese clean beauty brand DamDam—began searching for a quiet pied-à-terre on the fringes of Tokyo, they had a checklist at the ready: access to the city where they primarily reside, great privacy, and a mountainside build.

So, when their list remained largely unchecked even after several potential matches, they knew they had to reconsider their options. “We were introduced to this house by our friend and now neighbor Naoko Kawamura (who overs
Architectural Digest •

This 650-Square-Foot Brooklyn Apartment Was Upsized for a Mother and Daughter Duo

When Brett Masterson first became acquainted with the creative professional next door, he hardly could have imagined that their neighborly friendship would turn into a steadfast creative collaboration. “She was looking for someone to design her new one-bedroom nest, after having traded in her two-bedroom apartment in the same co-op,” says the architect, who helms Brooklyn-based Masterson Architecture & Interiors. As a recently divorced mother of a seven-year-old girl, and as someone who had live
Architectural Digest •

This 768-Square-Foot Austin Bungalow Got a Cool and Classic Refresh

Charlie Rice is the sort of person you’d want for a neighbor. Not only because his bungalow is always brimming with joyful gatherings, freshly cut flowers, and the occasional swing band on the front porch, but also because—if you’re lucky—you might even clinch an invite to one of his famous five-course dinner parties. “A true-blue Renaissance man, he is a consummate host, entertainer, and bon vivant with impeccable personal style... Having a place to celebrate community and host dear friends was