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DOMINO

How to Work with an

 ArchitectEven major design talents like DwellStudio founder Christine

Lemieux can learn a log from an architect's expert advice.

TEXT: MONICA KHEMSUROV | 

PHOTOS: WILLIAM ABRANOWICZ | 

PROP STYLING: KIM FICARO

 When Christiane Lemieux bought this 3,200-square-foot

loft in Soho, she envisioned turning it into a London-style town house, employing the muted hues of her bedding and fabrics for DwellStudio. "I thought we could

put in a bunch of moldings and cut it up into a classicsix," she says.

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But after she and her husband, Joshua Young, moved in,everything changed. "I realized that a loft is a very specialthing, and I wanted to maintain its character," she says.

Lemieux hired local architects Will Meyer and Gray Davis, of Meyer Davis Studio Inc., to return the

apartment to its bones, using the pared-down, rustic-modern style of Belgian interiors guru Axel Vervoordt as

a guide. Occasionally the architects' penchant for boldstatements clashed with the clients' restraint, but it

didn't take long to come up with a solution both parties

are proud of. "People think we did very little to it,"Lemieux says. "It feels like the soul is still intact."

The '60s painting by Robert Swain, a gift from Lemieux'sin-laws, inspired the colors for the whole apartment.

 SOFAS "Big Ben" from $3,800 each, Montauk Sofa (212)274-1552 SOFA FABRIC Rogers & Goffigon Ltd. linen

"Country Cloth Plain" in Morel about $180/yard, e-mail designpro@ddbuilding.com CHAIRS (similar to shown)"Beecroft" $3,185 each, shabbychic.com FLOOR LAMP 

 Naturally shed antler "Forest and Shade" $2,530 Room(212) 226-1045 BLUE PILLOWS Kirsten Hecktermann

velvet $130 to $150 each, and WHITE PILLOW Transylvanian Images $250 Ochre (212) 414-4332

 ARTWORK Robert Swain acrylic polymer emulsion oncanvas "Untitled," robertswainnyc.com for similar

works by artist VASE (on coffee table) Tse & Tse porcelain $110 Clio (212) 966-8991 ROUND BOTTLE (on console) $290 Judy Jackson Stoneware (212) 431-

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7631 SHADE 54" × 96" flat roman $810theshadestore.com WALL PAINT #SK8,

 finepaintsofeurope.com for stores 

THE PROBLEM: ugly floors & walls The previous owner had left behind dark and uninviting

exposed brick walls and heavily polyurethaned pinefloors (read: orange!). Lemieux, eight months pregnant when the renovation began, favored a flooring material

that would be durable and child-friendly yet stillattractive.

THE SOLUTION: antique wood & skim-coatplaster 

On a trip to Amsterdam, Lemieux visited a vintage-wooddealer and fell for some 300-year-old oak flooring

salvaged from a factory. "People think it's original, whichI love," she says. For the walls, Meyer and Davis

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suggested a thin coating of plaster that would cover thered but preserve the texture of the brick underneath.

 Left: An existing brick fireplace was refaced with plaster

for a clean, modern finish. FLOORING (similar to shown) Reclaimed oak $14 to

$15/square foot, antiqueandvintagewoods.com forinformation WOOD MORTAR Antique rice pounder$690 Andrianna Shamaris (212) 388-9898 STOOL

(similar to shown) Moroccan from $36 shopleekan.com 

THE PROBLEM: obtrusive steel columns Pipes used to be hidden behind the undulating walls and

podlike rooms. Once those had been removed, Meyerand Davis had to figure out what to do with the loft'sprominent steel columns.

THE SOLUTION: an organic, open layout The architects stripped the painted pillars, exposing their

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natural charcoal tint, then used them to separate theshared area into three distinct zones: dining room,lounge, living room. "Instead of trying to radically 

reinterpret the layout, we let those divisions inform us,"Meyer says.

The kitchen, however, proved a sticking point. Meyer andDavis wanted to paint the custom cabinetry high-gloss

 black to complement the columns and help give the rooma stronger voice. Lemieux, a fierce minimalist, was

adamant that the kitchen blend seamlessly with the rest

of the loft. Standing her ground, she insisted on off-whitepaint but happily went with the architects' idea of embellishing the cabinets with raised framing and

mounting herringbone panels on the walls of the island.

Built-in bookshelves divide public and private areas and buffer sound.

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 SOFA "Weekend" $13,405 delaespada.com CHAIR"Snooze" $4,065 (excluding fabric), Ochre (212) 414-

4332 COFFEE TABLES (similar to shown) #6053-40-SK 

$2,370 each, Henredon Furniture (800) 444-3682 forstores SIDE TABLE Kempuak wood $590 Andrianna Shamaris (212) 388-9898 LOW STOOL Jasper

 Morrison cork $385 dwr.com CHANDELIER (similar toshown) Crystal "French Empire" $147 gallery84.com 

 A light palette (paint, marble and chrome) unites theopen kitchen with the neutral furniture.

CABINETS Custom, JV Woodworking Inc. (718) 628-6309 CABINET PAINT #SK-11, finepaintsofeurope.com

 for stores BACKSPLASH AND COUNTERS Vermont  Danby marble $100/square foot,

abcworldwidestone.com for information WALL HOOD48" stainless steel $1,500 and OVEN 30" $4,100

vikingrange.com for stores FAUCET Sieger Design

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"Tara Classic" $2,113 and POT FILLER "Meta.02" $1,264 dornbracht.com for stores STOOLS Harry

 Bertoia $855 each, dwr.com PENDANT LAMP 47" × 22" 

"Avico" $2,024 FontanaArte (212) 334-3295 CEILING  PAINT White Dove #OC-17, benjaminmoore.com forstores 

The industrial beam and column rough up the marbledmaster bathroom.

OTTOMAN Nubuck "Dream Boat" $4,070 Ochre (212)414-4332 CABINETS Custom, JV Woodworking Inc.(718) 628-6309 MARBLE (on walls) Vermont Danby

$100/square foot, abcworldwidestone.com for

information 

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In the bedroom, wood windowsills cut from leftoverflooring soften the brick walls.

For information on the architects at Meyer Davis StudioInc., go to meyerdavis.com. 

 DUVET DwellStudio "Talon" $275/king set (includingshams), and SHEETS "Draper Stripe Ash" $286/kingset, designpublic.com SHADES 50" × 96" flat roman

$668 each, theshadestore.com 

This story originally appeared as Working with an Architect in Domino magazine.