You’d Never Know This Layered Manhattan Apartment Is a Rental

Morgan Goldberg
·5 min read

Matt McKay has a thing for London Terrace, the iconic Manhattan building complex that occupies an entire block of Ninth Avenue. The interior designer, who was named an AD New American Voice in 2023, has lived in four different apartments in the development. Each time he grows out of a unit, he upgrades to a bigger one. “What I love about it is the prewar details with the Chelsea location,” he explains. “I look at the apartments as test kitchens. You can change things up and move things around—it’s just really a fun canvas to play with.”

The management company doesn’t seem to mind that Matt customizes his rentals, perhaps because he’s so good at it. “They showed my previous apartment and the new tenant was like, ‘Don’t touch anything. I want the wallpaper, I want the painted doors,’” Matt remembers. “He was really excited about the condition that the apartment was going to be delivered in, so I was lucky. I got my security deposit back and got to move into this place.”

“The photograph to the left of the fireplace is very special to me,” reveals Matt. “It’s by Canadian artist Ed Burtynsky. I used a photo from the same series as the color inspiration for my application to Parsons to study interior design. It’s special to now have his work on my wall, 14 years after having graduated and working in interior design as I had dreamed!”
Matt leans against his doorframe, which he painted Midnight Blue by Benjamin Moore.

Matt’s current one-bedroom abode features a rich, moody palette inspired by the boutique hotel suites he checks into during his travels. He painted all the doors a deep teal hue, the baseboards and trim a midnight blue. A muted peach tone appears on the ceiling, maintaining an element of brightness, and rusty red accents pop up throughout. “I keep the color scheme tight,” he says.

While Matt’s paint job is impactful, it’s the layers of texture that make his home unrecognizable as a rental. A Phillip Jeffries grasscloth wall covering wraps around the living room, where the floor is stacked with two rugs, a lustrous vintage number and a Sacco black sisal carpet. Ethereal sheers filter soft light through the south-facing window; cream and dark turquoise wool curtains block off the kitchen. “It’s a very tactile space,” he confirms.

Another 1950s treasure, a mahogany woven-front credenza by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, provides storage in Matt’s living room.
Matt’s sculptural Brig chair offers an inviting seat.
Matt’s sculptural Brig chair offers an inviting seat.

The upholstered furniture, all of which Matt designed himself, further elevates the texture conversation. His rounded Ahoo lounge chair is swathed in a light gray Loro Piana cashmere, while his sculptural Brig chair combines camel-toned suede and shearling. He contrasted charcoal Holland & Sherry wool with tomato-colored Pierre Frey mohair for his long, low-slung sofa, then paired it with woven African throw pillows.

Matt’s most treasured pieces include a deformed disco ball by Nik Gelormino, a vintage Roger Capron coffee table, and a set of tile-topped side tables that became prototypes for his upcoming collaboration with ceramicist Peter Lane. He snagged the materials to create them from his former employer Sawyer Berson. “When I was design director there, I stole the tiles from our sample library and had metal bases fabricated for them,” he says of the collection’s origin.

The Phillip Jeffries grasscloth wall covering brings an alluring texture.
Matt’s dining area combines a prototype table from his own furniture collection with two George Nakashima chairs.

The artwork in the living room is notable, too, from the grounding oxidized brass sculpture by Steven Somple to the image of a giant taxidermy polar bear in a small airport that nods to Matt’s Canadian roots. The oversized black-and-white dirt photograph by Jan Henle evokes a famous Walter De Maria installation. “It very much reminded me of the Earth Room in SoHo and I thought that that was just an interesting piece of New York to include in this space,” he considers. “I love the scale of it, how esoteric and irreverent it is.”

Matt’s original furniture designs and eclectic art collection also mingle in the bedroom, which is enveloped in a chocolate-toned wood wall covering from Élitis. His white linen slipcovered sofa juxtaposes a vibrant purple Ellen Carey photogram and a psychedelic orange midcentury lamp with a trio of shades. Navy silk Zak+Fox curtains depict the constellations of the night sky.

In the bedroom, Agnes Martin prints hang above the brown alpaca bed that Matt designed himself.
“The sofa has had many lives,” Matt shares. “For this iteration, it received a white linen slipcover. I kept it really simple and cozy. It’s really comfortable. I originally designed it with the intention of being able to have my best friends come and crash for a night. I often have visitors from Toronto and it still gets used for sleepovers from time to time.”

In the center of the room, linear Agnes Martin prints hang above the warm brown alpaca bed that Matt crafted to suit his needs. “I love the curved wings on the sides of the headboard—when you’re laying in bed, it feels really cozy. It frames the pillows beautifully,” he describes. “And then I sunk the mattress into the frame so that when you make the bed it looks really sharp and tailored. I like when the bed looks like a perfectly wrapped present.”

Matt’s arch-adorned “Colosseum” dresser is a rare 1950s gem by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb.

To punch up the retro black-and-white-tile bathroom, Matt added pale peach paint on the walls, a playful Joe Colombo cart that provides extra storage, and a midcentury lantern that dangles over the tub. A dramatic Ansel Adams photograph and a geometric 1970s print complete the look, effortlessly bringing personality to this rental, as is Matt’s specialty.

“One of the fun things about London Terrace is that the bones of the apartments are amazing, so you get these really cool vintage black-and-white-tile bathrooms,” raves Matt.
“One of the fun things about London Terrace is that the bones of the apartments are amazing, so you get these really cool vintage black-and-white-tile bathrooms,” raves Matt.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

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