Inside a 950-Square-Foot NYC Bachelor Pad That Writes Its Own Rules

In the living room’s northeast corner sits its low-key star: a daybed, custom-designed by Ruttenberg and upholstered by Red Threads, which also serves as a trunk. “I wanted the client to read or work [somewhere] that wasn’t his bed, that he could recline on. A second use of it was just storage,” he says. “It’s this amazing corner that sits looking out onto three different windows, and it seemed like it needed a custom piece to fit perfectly in that space and to fulfill a variety of uses.” That it is steps from the dining table is very intentional. “I wanted a piece that would allow someone to still engage with those who are sitting around the table, but also to digest,” he says.

The space is punctuated by many of Ruttenberg’s custom pieces. Abutting the sofa is a console table that he had designed at Master Kitchen, a kitchen supply company in the Lower East Side. “The guy took out a napkin and a pen, and we started designing this console table that I had in the back of my head for a while,” he says. “Two weeks later, it was delivered at my doorstep.” The client is a music enthusiast, so while the audio systems live inside the console, their wires invisibly extend to a record player on top. Nearby, a repurposed deep fryer holds his records: Roxy Music’s Flesh and Blood, Townes Van Zandt’s self-titled album, and Talking Heads’ Speaking in Tongues. Visually, these notes bounce back to the console, to the chrome swivel, and then are enveloped in a comely, cushioned daybed, another NJCR piece.

Looking to make the Upper East Side home more approachable, while emphasizing the client’s connection to his work in manufacturing, designer Noah Ruttenberg struck a balance between custom, new, and antique furniture. This included a custom console he built in collaboration with Master Kitchen, where he also located a deep fryer, converted into a holder for the client’s records. The living space is softened by a handmade cotton scalloped rug by Mohini Creations atop the original parquet floors, while its dining area exerts a similar material tension with the 1980s midcentury-modern black glass pedestal table, surrounded by the gentle woods and wicker of the Vico Magistretti Carimate chairs from Modernab Gallery. 

A compact, considered entryway is kept minimal with an industrial Knock Down Gowning Bench from Blickman. “It’s a bench that people use to put on and take off hazmat suits when entering toxic areas,” says Ruttenberg. “I was incorporating as many industrial materials as possible. It’s a style I love, and a style the client loves, and he works in industry.” (Art: Peter Schlesinger, Andy Warhol and Rex Reed in a Taxi, Monaco, from Mariposa Gallery) 

Polished steel-and-chrome accents extend through the home: from an industrial Knock Down Growing Bench from Blickman —a seating system commonly used for donning and removing protective equipment—to the coffee table, which combines a chrome base with a green marble surface. “The client immediately approved [these pieces] because they just agreed with him,” says Ruttenberg. Between them sits a midcentury swivel club chair on polished steel and brass base, which Ruttenberg won at auction and had reupholstered. “I thought it was kind of cool to have these reflective metals lower to the ground, because it reflects the carpet in this really interesting way,” he says.

With the apartment situated on a low floor with northern exposure, natural light was a factor. “It’s atmospheric sunlight, so that was really a consideration when we were picking the color of the kitchen. We wanted it to be this warm and cozy space,” says Ruttenberg. He left the rich wood cabinetry as it was, and focused instead on adding a handsome, enlivening green tone by way of Benjamin Moore Hunter Green paint. “It created this glow, especially with this dark greenish blue that we selected,” he adds.

Creating a breakfast nook, Ruttenberg worked with Red Threads to expand the window box and create a two-sided banquette, with cushions upholstered in antique fabric in green plaid to contrast the walls. Another Vico Magistrettu Carimate chair places into view Peter Schlesinger’s Ossie Clark and an angry waiter in Paris from Ruttenberg’s own gallery, Mariposa—a wink and a nod from the Swinging ’60s to go with the morning eggs and coffee.

The first item Ruttenberg installed was a 1962 sofa from Design Research Inc. “Here is this big, gorgeous leather sofa in the middle of this almost Parisian apartment,” says Ruttenberg. He removed some of its severity with large items, like the scalloped, trimmed rug, as well as jaunty accents, like this cocktail table, inlaid with a backgammon board, which Ruttenberg constructed himself with piping from Home Depot. 

The king-size bed with Yves Delorme bedding is quintessentially inviting. For the curtain on the wall, crafted with material from AndDrape, Ruttenberg consulted his friend, artist, photographer, and designer Ana Kras, who hung it from the ceiling. Ruttenberg loved the papery effect of the curtain, and its creation of a romantic moment as it filters light through the room.

The bathroom has a sleek marble-clad design that echoes the hard and soft lines throughout the apartment.