Crystal Sinclair designed a multicolored and cheerful interior for Broadway actress Betsy Wolfe, matching the character of the hostess.
“We wanted to create a bright, bold space full of contrasting combinations; an interior in which different decorative “layers” will be in place — funny details and expressive patterns” — this is how New York designer Crystal Sinclair describes her new project. Sinclair combined two apartments in a pre-war building in Manhattan into spacious apartments that became home to the young family of Broadway actress Betsy Wolf.
It was the character of the hostess and her love of multi-layered interiors that convinced Sinclair that the project would be special. Working closely with Wolfe, the designer came up with unexpected combinations, bold decorative solutions and a kaleidoscopic palette. The author used black-and-white graphics as a “canvas”: there are snow-white floors, ceilings and walls, the airiness of which is balanced by contrasting black frames, lamps and built-in wardrobes. A variety of color accents are skillfully and humorously scattered against a strict background: bright furniture, vintage gizmos, textiles with active prints and eccentric decor items.
“Betsy loves green, so we have included many shades of it in the interior,” says Sinclair. The walls of the hall are painted in deep emerald, the same color is used for the velvet headboard in the master bedroom, and in the living room the shade is present thanks to the figure of a peacock, on which the hostess wore one of her necklaces. Yellow plays second fiddle in the palette of the project: the polished brass panels in the kitchen echo the bright pillows and vintage plastic chairs in the dining room.
Each room of the apartment looks like a box with many details, which, however, do not overload the interior. A delicate nursery in powdery pink does not seem too “syrupy” due to spectacular visual collisions: a mirror in a gold frame adjoins vintage children’s books mounted on the wall, floral wallpaper — with a leopard carpet. The designer used a calmer color scheme in the bedroom, choosing an unusual combination of dark green and sand. The accent wall behind the bed is decorated in these shades: Sinclair covered its upper part with artisanal tiles, and turned the lower part into a large-scale headboard upholstered in velvet. The unifying element is a fleecy Moroccan carpet.
