Luxe alert. Interior designers Todd Nickey and Amy Kehoe create fully detailed interiors that achieve that rare feat of feeling inspired rather than overly done.
The two began their design partnership in NYC but, fittingly, founded their firm and home furnishings store, Nicky Kehoe, in LA: their work—and the new and vintage goods they sell—have a Tinsel Town glamour while also managing to look of this century and approachable. A prime example is their recent dip back into Manhattan for repeat clients, Hollywood couple Lee Eisenberg (his long list of tv and film creds includes co-head writer of The Office) and Vanity Fair national correspondent Emily Jane Fox, who bought a Noho loft with plans of being bicoastal.
Occupying the entire floor of a grand 1903 commercial building that was long-ago converted into apartments, the setup has a living space that stretches for 43 feet, three bedrooms, three baths, and its original brick walls and barrel-vaulted ceilings. The request from Fox and Eisenberg was to fine-tune the layout and introduce “a soft, Old-World feel”: in other words, for Nickey Kehoe to do what they do.
Photography by Haris Kenjar, courtesy of Nickey Kehoe.
Above: With its ornate paneling and coffered ceiling, the “salon” evokes an old New York club lounge. “It had previously been all black but the moldings were there,” says Kehoe. “To enliven the previously moody, dark space, we decided to go with a monolithic mint [Benjamin Moore’s Feather Green].” It’s used as a game room/bar and place to listen to music. The vintage chaise is upholstered in Claremont’s Tree of Life pattern. The French Club Chairs in mint velvet are from the Nicky Kehoe Collection. The opaline glass hanging light is the Elpos from WOKA Lamps of Vienna.
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Above: For light filtering privacy and a touch of “old New York romance, the designers hung pinch-pleated cafe curtains on the loft’s outsized windows. The curtain fabrics vary from room to room: these are made from a Rose Tarlow fabric in a pale terracotta. The game table and brass and leather sling chairs are vintage. The Italian Rounded Black Metal Sconces were existing and came from Obsolete.
Above: Human-scaled seating areas keep the living room from feeling cavernous: “The loft previously leaned in to the rectangular layout. We subtly infused curvilinear lines to interrupt that rigidity,” says Kehoe. A landscape by Michael Abrams hangs over a sofa from John Derian.,
Above: The round dining table is surrounded by midcentury French rustic-luxe Guillerme et Chambron chairs cushioned in a Zak + Fox fabric. The patterned sideboard is an antique of unknown origin.
Above: Nickey and Kehoe aren’t afraid of fringe. They specialize, in their words, in being “hunter-gatherers of uncommon beauty.”
Above: At the far end of the living space, the designers tweaked the existing all-black kitchen by introducing a painted island, green marble counters, and the custom hood. The back wall has a tiled backsplash. The Counterbalance Brass Pendant Lights are 1970s designs by Florian Schulz.
Above: The kitchen’s modern hutch was “made into a jewel box” with the introduction of reeded glass fronts and Ipswich Sprig, a 1760s English reproduction wallpaper from Adelphi. The Marble Teapot is an Astier de Villatte collaboration with John Derian.,
Above: On the western end of the loft, the main bedroom has eight oversized windows (in addition to the cafe curtains, there are remove-controlled blackout shades). The space is anchored by an Iksel hand-painted wallpaper behind the bed, which has a vintage sari quilt from John Derian. Wrap-around, under-the-window shelves provide useful storage and a place for lamps and potted plants.
Above: A wallpapered screen softens a corner of the room. The key to mixing patterns? “Scale and color—and making sure your eye can still rest even with multiple layers.” says Kehoe. The vanity and Pull Up Chair are Nickey Kehoe designs.
Above: The primary bath was the most significant remodel: the designers introduced parquet floors from Exquisite Surfaces, a custom marble double vanity, and finished the shower in “a stucco with marble accents.” The Red Perforated Lampshade Sconces are by Howe Home of London.
Above: The guest bedroom has a vintage rattan headboard and swivel chair, and cafe curtains in a paneled handkerchief cotton
Above: The powder room feels like stepping into a Chinoiserie screen—set in the UK. Nickey Kehoe’s additions include Chiswick House wallpaper by Marthe Armitage, a Waterworks pedestal sink, and Nickey Kehoe Scallop Sconces in brass.
Nickey Kehoe are members of the Remodelista Architect and Designer Directory. Here’s a look at more of their work:
- Something Old, Something New: The Evolution of a Beverly Hills Home
- Trend Alert: 21st Century Scalloping
- A Newcomer to Beverly Boulevard
