Anna Brockway's Pied-à-Terre Is Pure Chairish

Summary

The Chairish Podcast: Anna Brockway's Pied-à-Terre Is Pure Chairish Hosted by Chairish Inc. | Release Date: February 4, 2025

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Introduction

In this special episode of The Chairish Podcast, co-founder and President of Chairish, Ana Brockway, takes the reins as a guest host alongside Steele Mark, Editor-in-Chief of Veranda. Together, they delve into the captivating design journey of Ana and her husband, Greg Brockway, as they transform their New York City pied-à-terre into a stunning personal sanctuary.

Anna Brockway’s Lifelong Love Affair with New York City

Ana opens with a heartfelt recount of her first memorable experience in New York City:

Ana Brockway [02:08]: “I was left unattended for almost two days in New York City to kind of explore the city on my own... It was such a great experience for me and confidence building... I kind of vowed at that moment that someday I would come back and live there.”

This pivotal moment in her childhood ignited a lasting passion for NYC, leading her to attend Columbia University and eventually purchase her dream apartment in a Rosario Candela building overlooking Central Park.

Purchasing the New York Pied-à-Terre During the Pandemic

The journey to acquiring the apartment was influenced heavily by the COVID-19 pandemic:

Ana Brockway [03:13]: “We started snooping around and were able to afford things that before we wouldn't have been able to afford, honestly.”

Ana and Greg seized the opportunity as real estate values dipped during the pandemic, allowing them to purchase the apartment out of probate—a process that took considerable time but ultimately secured their ideal space.

Collaboration with Interior Designer Elizabeth Cooper

Once the apartment was secured, Ana sought out the expertise of Elizabeth Cooper, a renowned interior designer based in both New York and San Francisco:

Ana Brockway [09:46]: “I really wanted to work with somebody who I could talk to and share ideas with locally, but also who I knew had resources and connections in New York.”

Their longstanding professional admiration and shared vision led to a harmonious and productive collaboration, culminating in the apartment's breathtaking redesign.

Design Process and Inspiration

Researching the Apartment’s History

Ana and Elizabeth conducted extensive research into the apartment’s past designs, examining listing photos from previous owners to inform their renovation choices:

Ana Brockway [13:42]: “The apartment hadn't changed hands a lot, but it had nine lives... We spent a lot of time going through that and getting ideas.”

This deep dive allowed them to honor the space’s history while infusing it with modern elements.

Choosing the Perfect Color Palette

A standout feature of the redesign is the vibrant chartreuse walls:

Elizabeth Cooper [17:11]: “Anna stayed loyal to her vision of the chartreuse green... we went with it because it has a high gloss finish. It’s beautiful and reflective and light during the days.”

Ana’s dedication to the chartreuse hue, combined with Elizabeth’s expertise, created a lively and welcoming atmosphere that complements the natural light from Central Park.

Architectural Features and Design Elements

De Gournay Panels and Staircase Design

The apartment boasts exquisite De Gournay patterned wallpaper, particularly in the foyer and staircase area:

Ana Brockway [22:02]: “We decided to use the Hippolyta's Forest pattern... It was a great idea to splurge because it is so special.”

The spiral staircase, enhanced with a crisp white underside and a stunning Art Deco railing, serves as a dramatic focal point, seamlessly blending vintage charm with contemporary elegance.

Lighting Solutions in a Historic Building

Working within the constraints of a historic building, Ana and Elizabeth opted for wall sconces and existing lighting fixtures to maintain authenticity while ensuring ample illumination:

Elizabeth Cooper [26:08]: “We focused on existing lighting... The Galerie Delampe sconces with straw-colored silk shades create a beautiful warm glow against the chartreuse walls.”

This strategic approach preserved the building's historic integrity while enhancing the apartment's aesthetic appeal.

Embracing Vintage: Sourcing Through Chairish

A significant portion of the apartment's décor is comprised of vintage pieces sourced from Chairish, adding unique character and personal touches:

Ana Brockway [32:05]: “The whole apartment is mostly vintage from Cherish with a few exceptions... It's a great way of using vintage and adding character to spaces.”

From antique mirrors to mid-century chairs, each piece tells a story and contributes to the apartment’s cohesive and curated look.

Creative Space Utilization in a Compact Apartment

Despite the apartment's modest size, Ana and Elizabeth masterfully maximized the space through thoughtful design:

Ana Brockway [37:18]: “We carved out little niches... I use the dining table as a desk, and Greg works upstairs while I’m downstairs. It allows us flexibility without feeling cramped.”

The dual-level layout and multifunctional furniture ensure that the space accommodates a busy family of five, providing both functionality and comfort.

Personal Touches and Artistic Elements

Art and personal collections play a pivotal role in the apartment’s design, showcasing Ana’s relationships and artistic inclinations:

Elizabeth Cooper [31:28]: “The biggest statement moment of the mirrors is the custom mirrored wall in the dining room... It reflects the park view and the beautiful fireplace.”

Additionally, bespoke art pieces and unique vintage finds from Chairish infuse the space with personality and charm.

Shopping the Look: Bringing the Design Home

For listeners inspired by Ana and Elizabeth’s design, Chairish offers a curated collection mirroring the apartment’s aesthetic:

Ana Brockway [39:16]: “You can shop the look of your beautiful apartment on Cherish. We have a collection that goes with it and restock similar pieces regularly.”

This feature allows interior design enthusiasts to recreate aspects of the pied-à-terre in their own homes.

Conclusion

Ana Brockway’s New York pied-à-terre exemplifies the perfect blend of vintage charm, modern design, and personal storytelling. Through meticulous research, collaborative design efforts, and strategic sourcing from Chairish, Ana and Elizabeth transformed a historic duplex into a vibrant and functional family home. This episode not only highlights the beauty of thoughtful interior design but also underscores the importance of personal connections and historical appreciation in creating a truly unique living space.

Steele Mark [39:30]: “Thank you so much for sharing it with us.”

Ana’s journey serves as an inspiring blueprint for interior design professionals and enthusiasts alike, showcasing how passion and expertise can turn a cherished space into a breathtaking home.

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For more insights and to explore the pieces featured in this episode, visit Chairish.

Transcript

[Michael Boudreau]

This is the Cherish podcast and I'm your host, Michael Boudreau. I'll be taking you for an inside look behind the glamorous facade of the interior design industry at a time when every aspect of the business, from sourcing to trends to marketing to dealing with clients, is undergoing rapid change.

[Ana Brockway]

Hi everyone, I'm Ana Brockway, co founder and President, Cherish. While Michael Boudreau is taking a brief break from our podcast, we are thrilled to have Steele Mark, who the editor in chief of Veranda, as our special guest host. Today in Veranda's December January issue, Steel and her team were generous enough to do a many page feature on my husband's and my New York pied a terre, which we designed in conjunction with interior designer Elizabeth Cooper. Unsurprisingly, the project is mostly comprised of vintage items sourced from Cherished and that started a long conversation between Steel, Elizabeth and myself about using vintage and ultimately seemed worthy of a podcast. So welcome Steel, and thank you for joining us as our co host today and thank you again for the absolutely lovely feature in the always chic Veranda.

[Steele Mark]

Thanks, Ana. I'm so honored to be here. In the world of design, some love stories unfold in unexpected ways. Take Ana Brockway's passionate affair with her New York City pied a terre. From childhood dreams sparked by a transformative day in Manhattan to co founding Cherish, Ana's journey culminates in a breathtaking apartment overlooking Central Park. Today we'll dive into her collaboration with New York and San Francisco based interior designer Elizabeth Cooper, exploring how a post war Rosario Candela building became a vibrant personal sanctuary that connects her lifelong romance with New York City. Welcome, Elizabeth.

[Elizabeth Cooper]

Thanks so much for having me, Steel.

[Steele Mark]

And hello again, Ana.

[Ana Brockway]

Hi, thanks for having me.

[Steele Mark]

Okay, so Ana, to kick us off, can you tell us a little bit about when and why you bought the New York apartment? I really want to hear specifically too how you found it.

[Ana Brockway]

So I have, as you sort of said in the intro, had a lifelong love affair with New York City. I had a crazy experience when I was a young gal. I think I was in sixth or seventh grade, my dad took me to New York and kind of left me unattended. He probably should have been reported to Child Protective Services, honestly. But I was left unattended for almost two days in New York City to kind of explore the city on my own and had never been to New York before and was absolutely blown away by how much fun I had and it was such a great experience for me and confidence Building and scary and fun and so exciting. And I kind of vowed at that moment that someday I would come back and live there. And I did. So I went to college in New York City. I went to Columbia and had the opportunity to spend four years there and loved it. And then I went back to San Francisco and worked. Anyways, business has always brought me back to New York a lot. And as anybody who's had to do it a lot. And you play hotel roulette all the time where you're trying to find a hotel room and sometimes it's $400 and sometimes it's $1,200 and it's like the same weird hotel room.

[Steele Mark]

And this is a monthly challenge for me.

[Ana Brockway]

I mean, truly in my job, it's hell on earth. And you're like, why is it like this? Because there's like a convention in town or there's some weird thing. And it added a level of stress. And so finally I said to Greg, my husband and co founder at Cherish, we should really look at getting an apartment there. And so after kind of snooping around, we got excited about it. And then the pandemic happened. And one of the things that happened is everybody left New York during the pandemic. And so real estate was actually an incredible value. And so we started snooping around and were able to afford things that before we wouldn't have been able to afford, honestly. And this apartment was one of them. And we uncovered it. And then in the meantime, my son actually was accepted to Columbia. And so that kind of was the final kicker. It's like, oh, you know, you're going to college. Well, we're coming with you.

[Steele Mark]

What was his response to that?

[Ana Brockway]

He was kind of like, wait, what? So anyways, we bought the apartment in the middle of the pandemic, really. And it took forever. And it's a long, crazy story, but we bought it out of probate and it took a long time, but we finally got it and we're able to get this great place.

[Steele Mark]

Can we go back to that day as a 10 year old? Can you tell us a little bit about where you went when you were left unattended?

[Ana Brockway]

So I grew up in kind of small towns both outside of San Francisco and outside of Chicago. At the time we were living outside of Chicago on the North Shore, and my dad traveled a lot and used to spend a lot of time in New York. And this is when Carlisle used to have apartments that you could keep your suitcase and your stuff at the Carlisle and you would just fly in and they'd put it in your room. And so as a business person, you could kind of have like a part time rental there, sort of like anyways.

[Steele Mark]

A little bit of a home away from home.

[Ana Brockway]

Yeah, it was like a home away from home. So that's where my dad used to stay. So he said to me at one point, because, do you want to come with me on one of these trips? And so I was really excited because I thought I was going to have like two days with my dad. And of course my dad was working. So we showed up, we check into the Carlisle, and we go down for breakfast in the morning. And you know, they have that beautiful breakfast room that long Ardino did. And we're like sitting there and he's like, okay, so I'm gonna go to work. And here's like, I think he gave me like 40 or $60, which felt like a ton of money at the time. And I remember I was wearing a kilt and a matching sweater with an owl applique on it. And as the kilt. So I mean. And I'm in New York in the 80s, like, no clue what I'm doing. And he said, you should ask the concierge what to do. And I was like, oh, who is the concierge? I had never heard that term before. So he goes to the front desk and you ask for her. And then he took off and said, I'll meet you back here at 6. And so I took my little $60 or whatever in my little handbag and kilt and went to the front desk. And I asked for the concierge who I thought was a lady from France whose name was concierge. And she said to me, you should go to these places and check stuff out. And so I ended up walking from the Carlisle over to the Met. And so I went to the Met and then I watched as people hailed cabs. Like, you just stand in the front. And so I was like, okay. And she had told me to do that. And so then I walked over to the Empire State Building. And then I went to Fiorucci, which some people remember.

[Steele Mark]

That is so amazing to me.

[Ana Brockway]

I bought a Betsy Johnson sweater with really big shoulder pads. And then I went to Rumpel Myers, where she told me to buy an ice cream. So I had an ice cream sundae. And I came back on time. So it was like I had a full New York day. Hail a cab and get around. And it was kind of crazy. And it was really like one of those things that as a Parent, you're like, I would never let my kid do that. But it was kind of confidence building, and he just acted like I could handle it. So I kind of did.

[Steele Mark]

And you knew you could because he acted like you could.

[Ana Brockway]

I thought I could. I mean, thank God nothing went wrong. I mean, this is, like, not the best time in New York history in terms of public safety and all of that. But there I was, you know, hailing cabs and zooming around and going up to the top of the Empire State Building. So anyways, it was a really fun day, but it did instill in me, I don't know, it was like, I mean, obviously New York is so super fun, and there's so much to see and so much to do. But it also, I think, for me, was really about independence and sense of confidence that comes from that. And it's something that really never left me. And so, you know, it's part of my love of the city.

[Steele Mark]

So character building. I love it. Okay, let's bring it back to the apartment. And again, you had this lifelong kind of love affair with New York, and now you finally sort of are getting close to having a place of your own in the city. So can you talk a little bit about, were you remote when you bought it? And then did you go through the design process remotely? Or how did that work? Because, of course, you're based in California.

[Ana Brockway]

Yeah. So we live in San Francisco. And this is the pandemic. So it's not like you're hopping on airplanes all the time and going to New York. So of course, I'm stocking everything on street. Easy. And so when I found this apartment, it was one of the first ones I found. I favorited it. I loved it. And it was on the market for a while, as everything was at that moment. And what I loved about it is when I was in school, one of the really fun things about going to school in New York is your access to such amazing people who come to teach. And that's particularly the case at Columbia. And so I was able to take a lot of classes in architecture and particularly architectural history from really important New York architects, and particularly Robert Stern. And Paul Goldberger at the time was writing for the New York Times. And anyways, I learned a lot about being around New York architecture. I was fascinated by it. And so, of course, I learned about Rosario Candela. And so what I loved about this building is that it was a Candela building, and it's on Fifth Avenue, so it actually looks right into the park which is amazing. And as a Californian, I always like being near the outdoors. I mean, here in San Francisco, we live right next to the Presidio, so it's really nice to have that access to the outdoors, which obviously you don't get in a lot of places. In New York, there's a handful of locations that can do that, and this was one of them. So that was the first thing I loved about it. I also loved that it was two stories. So it's what they call a duplex. It's tiny, but it has the living space on one floor and the bedroom's upstairs. And as Elizabeth and I have talked about, somehow it makes it just feel much bigger, like I'm downstairs. And for some reason, it feels like we're far away from each other, although we're really not, because it's a very small apartment.

[Steele Mark]

And so once the purchase was sort of finally complete, which I do understand took a bit of time, how did you decide to work with Elizabeth? Because of course, you guys collaborated on this fabulous renovation redecoration of the apartment. But how did the two of you come together?

[Ana Brockway]

So our friend Jenny Olson introduced us years ago, and I've always been a huge admirer of Elizabeth's work. And I knew that she had done a lot of work both in San Francisco and on the East Coast. And knowing that we were doing this during the pandemic, I really wanted to work with somebody who I could talk to and see and we could share ideas with locally, but also who I knew had resources and connections and knew how to get stuff done in New York. So if her bi. Coastal. I mean, Elizabeth kind of works all across the country. I shouldn't just say that bicoastal, but you know that she could get projects done in New York. So that was the first thing. And then I really wanted in New York. And we've sort of talked about how kind of I have this romantic attachment to New York, and it's this can being kind of more of a traditional candela building. I wanted to do something that felt like traditional with a twist and sort of updated. And I knew Elizabeth from knowing her work was instinctively going to get that. And we've had an absolute ball working on this project together. It's just really been a dream come true and a wonderful collaboration.

[Steele Mark]

Yeah. Elizabeth, tell me a little bit about sort of your first look at the apartment and kind of what you were thinking from the get go.

[Elizabeth Cooper]

Well, I. I was so excited and honored when Ana reached out to me about it. I remember I think I mentioned this to you, Steel, that she texted me and it was Boxing Day, which I bizarrely celebrate, even though I'm not British.

[Steele Mark]

That's one of my favorite days of the year. I think it's actually the most relaxing day of the entire year.

[Elizabeth Cooper]

Same. I love Boxing Day. And I think we had our first chat on December 27th and joked that we were probably the only two people working on a design project between Christmas and New Year's. And she sent me photos of the apartment, which I absolutely love. The fact that it was a duplex with two stories and rarely all of the windows of the apartment overlook the park, which just. I fell in love with it instantly because so many New York apartments, you have windows looking onto light shafts and you don't get natural light or the connection to nature. So I just thought it was an absolutely beautiful dream apartment. I'm also a huge admirer of Rosario Candela, so that architectural history was amazing to me. And even though, as Ana mentioned, it was in probate and took quite a while, we really started brainstorming and collaborating pretty immediately just to get some ideas into place and to give ourselves time to really figure out color palettes and patterns and direction. And I think when we were finally able and ready to make decisions and purchases, we'd had the luxury of some time to discuss and think about things together because of that probate process.

[Ana Brockway]

Yeah, well, that actually worked really well. I mean, it's a little stressful because you don't know if it's going to actually through. But the family we were buying it from was absolutely lovely and really committed and terrific people. And so we were pretty confident about it. And so it gave us all this time to like, dream about it, screw around with floor plans. So essentially, once the close happened, you could like pull the trigger and go.

[Steele Mark]

Oh, that makes a huge difference.

[Ana Brockway]

And that allowed the process to move so quickly.

[Steele Mark]

So I want to ask a little bit of a follow up about that because you all have talked about this a little bit on cherish.com, same with us through Veranda. But, Ana, you really did your homework on this apartment, and I imagine it was because you had that time, but you did a lot of research into how it was decorated under prior owners, going back into the kind of the history of the apartment, not just the history of the architecture, but even the history of how it had been furnished, how it had been decorated. And that, it turns out, ended up being a great influence to you and Elizabeth on some things that you knew were really important that you did want to do similarly but but other choices that you really wanted to do a little bit differently. So can you both kind of talk about that process a little bit?

[Ana Brockway]

So I'm a psycho stalker with insomnia. So.

[Steele Mark]

By the way I also have insomnia and it's amazing what that can do for productivity.

[Ana Brockway]

Yes. A downside is the wrinkles around my eyes. The upside is I get a lot done between 2:40 and 4:24:30ish in the morning. A lot gets done, including this. So what is so fascinating is the apartment hadn't changed hands a lot, but it had. And one of the fun things about it is when you looked it up online, you could see listing pictures of the property from past owners. So I see like somebody lived there in the 80s that did like full Mario bottom moment. Like it's all like yellow and super floral and bananas and very formal looming everywhere. Totally. And then it went like early 90s kind of like men's club burgundy and dark green hunt prints kind of moment trad. The owners that we bought it from had painted it all white. So anyways it had like nine lives, you know. And so we were able to kind of go back and so Elizabeth and I, you know, Elizabeth hopping because you were so fun with this. But we spent a lot of time going through that and being like, I mean there's a ton of it that you're like ah, like we'll never do that. But like when you're thinking about things like window treatments because the windows are kind of not exactly uniform without getting boring. But you know, there's a little tricky in a couple of the rooms you could kind of see what people had tried and been like well let's not do that or wow, that wouldn't actually kind of work. You know what I mean? You get ideas.

[Elizabeth Cooper]

I was just going to say that the images that Anna found I thought were absolutely helpful. And I think we both realized that even though we might not want a Mario Borda yellow esque color scheme, I think we both realized that we thought the apartment looked much more beautiful in color and pattern than in the much more under decorated was much more white at the time, a lot of white walls and not a lot of pattern in the furniture in its current iteration when Ana bought it. And I think we both thought that the color and pattern looked really beautiful. And then Anna is a genius with floor plans and furniture plans and it was her realization that no one had maximized the living room space and she created two entirely different seating areas in the room, rather than just centering a pair of sofas in front of the living room, which totally limited the amount of seating in the space. So I think being able to see how underutilized that room was in terms of seating furniture was really helpful. And that was Ana's brainstorm.

[Steele Mark]

Yeah, of course, for those listening, you come into the foyer and there's this beautiful de Gournay patterned wallpaper. It's not yellow, it's not bowata in the slightest, but you did know that you could embrace pattern. And then you go into the living space, which is this fabulous chartreuse. So, again, those images kind of helped you understand that the apartment could take color with the natural light and such, but specific to the chartreuse color. I mean, I have to confess, that's what struck me when I just looked at photos. Ana emailed me one night in August, and I saw the photos and almost fell out of my chair over that color. It is the most fabulous color. And it's. If you think about it too long, you go, oh, that's bold and daring. But at first, it's just lovely and welcoming. And so I want to hear a little bit about how you arrived at that color from the two of you.

[Elizabeth Cooper]

Well, really, the sunny chartreuse, the beautiful color is all Anna. It's one of her favorite colors. She led at one of our very first meetings that chartreuse was one of her favorite colors. And I was kind of more of, maybe we try moss green or olive or even a bottle green. We probably looked at close to 30 different shades of green. And throughout, Anna stayed loyal to her vision of the chartreuse green. And I'm so happy that she did. And we went with it because it has a high gloss finish. So it's beautiful and reflective and light during the days. Even on winter days, it still looks like a really happy, pretty room.

[Steele Mark]

It's so happy. That's what I love about it.

[Elizabeth Cooper]

It's so happy. And just the relation to the tree line of Central park outside, it pulls those greens in, which Ana and I both like as California residents. And then she was always concerned that a darker green would look like a cave at night. And I think she was absolutely right. So a shout out to Anna on sticking to her chartreuse green.

[Ana Brockway]

I mean, we tried a million colors, and you have no idea how many chartreuses there are.

[Steele Mark]

Oh, wow. No, I don't.

[Ana Brockway]

I had no idea. So we kind of went with more of a. I would say, yellowy chartreuse. Again, Maybe influenced a little bit by its past life as a Mario Bora moment. But I think what's really great about it is what Elizabeth said is, you know, the light in New York is so different than what I'm used to living with in San Francisco. And so it's darker. The apartment is, I guess it's a west facing apartment. So while every window's on the park, those are the only windows. So you kind of get light from one direction. And so the thing was, is, like, how do we keep this cheery and fun and also keep it feeling like I'm from California, like bright. So anyways, it really worked. And the thing that Elizabeth had the genius idea for was about the finish. So you brought in the most magnificent painter. And the color is great, but the way it's applied in astriae and a high gloss, it just reflects everything and makes the space just feel so much bigger and so much sunnier. And that is really beautiful at night as well. I mean, we should talk about lighting. But one of the crazy things is being from where I'm from, like, if you want to put in recess lighting, you put in recessed lighting. You can do whatever you want. And in these old New York buildings, you just can't do that. They're made out of cement. You have to channel through the walls. You have to get all these approvals. It's like, well, we're not doing that. So, like, figuring out all the lighting was really important. And the color and the finish of the walls was so immensely helpful. And I would never have known to do that. And Elizabeth found this just magnificent painter.

[Elizabeth Cooper]

So, yeah, no, he did an amazing job working in a co op building in New York City. We weren't allowed to use any paint with an oil based finish. So he really just had to create that high gloss effect through the layering and layering of the paint and as Anna mentioned, with the striae finish. So he did a beautiful job. And I just think it's transformational. Open the front door and you have all the tall trees of the De Gournay panels, and then you look out to the park in this happy, chartreuse color. It's just, to me, it's an ongoing, breathtaking moment when you open the front door to Ana's apartment.

[Steele Mark]

Well, and that's something that designers understand so well because the De Gournay panels are like a rich, almost marine blue. But you take a dark color like that and you welcome someone and bring them in. But that almost even more so pushes them towards this bright beacon of, like, yellowish chartreuse. There's a push pull there that I think is really effective that I feel like only super design savvy folks know how to do.

[Ana Brockway]

That was another thing that Elizabeth was great at, was pushing me on the wall color or the wallpaper color because it is dark and, like, I'm a bright light. Like, this tends to be my natural choice. And so that idea of going from the dark space and exploding out into the chartreuse with the park, it's very dramatic, it's very powerful. And that was something Elizabeth really pushed for because I was like, oh, shouldn't we do it, like, you know, in the same color chartreuse background? And, like, I had a million bad ideas that I got corrected on, so thank you for that. And we drove everyone at de Gornay insane trying to have all kinds of different colors, but it ended up great. And, you know, honestly, that's something that we realized looking at the old pictures, was that the staircase was really dramatic and it had, like, total old New York moments, and nobody had really amped that up or, like, played that up.

[Steele Mark]

Yeah. So the staircase has this beautiful, like, spiral, not suspended, but very sculptural kind of spiral staircase. And you guys really played it up. Let's talk about that for a little bit. Because part of that was taking those De Gournay panels all the way up the two story height. But then there was another. What else did you do in the stairwell that kind of gives it that drama.

[Ana Brockway]

A couple things. And Elizabeth, you can speak about it, but one was, I think, the selection of the print that we used, which is called Hippolyta's Forest, which we used. It's kind of an uncommon De Gournay pattern. It has sort of twenties vibes to it.

[Steele Mark]

Totally. A little bit deco.

[Ana Brockway]

It feels kind of art deco and a little bit art nouveau or something. Like, it feels illustrated. And it's basically just floor to ceiling trees. And I was like, this is a great idea. We should do it up the whole staircase. And then I realized that they have to build a platform and they have to. It was a moment, and that was a bill. But I know that that was the place to splurge because it is so special. And the idea of stopping the wallpaper and not using it once you start thinking about it wasn't so great. But we also did some other things. I mean, Elizabeth, do you want to talk a little bit about, like, the carpet selections and art and lighting?

[Elizabeth Cooper]

Absolutely. And just circling back to the panels Again with the connection to the park outside. I love that these panels have these full height trees and then you have the full height trees of the park outside the window. And even coming out of the two bedrooms on the second floor of the apartment, you see the tops of the trees on the de Gournay panels. So again it's just bringing the feeling of the park inside. As you'd mentioned, the underside of the staircase almost appears as if it's cantilevered. Like you see the curve of the stairs. And that was a tough call. Whether we had it paneled, did we paint it to match the background color of the panels? And with Anna's middle of the night insomnia sleuthing, we did find an image where the underside of the stairs were left a crisp white. And and that really inspired us to go with the crisp white on the underside of the stairs. And I think the contrast with the, as you mentioned, the deep marine blue of the panels is just so beautiful. It has the original Rosaria Candela bronze stair railing which is.

[Steele Mark]

That railing is to die for.

[Elizabeth Cooper]

Yes, just a stunning deco style railing. And then we have chic antelope carpeting going up the curved stairs and created a little seating moment under the stairs with a fabric Italian mid century chair that Anna found on Cherish and a bit of lacquer, her fantastic pink telephone which is the talk of the apartment and so added some fun photography with that Nick Millet photo of the woman. Grandhands 2 is the name of it and Anna's fab Cherish Palmir. So even though we have these formal de Gournay panels in the Candela entry, as always, Ana injected fun and interest and we just never wanted it to be taken too seriously.

[Ana Brockway]

Hi everybody and thanks for joining the Cherish podcast. I'm Ana Brockway, co founder and president of Cherish. I want to personally invite you to a very chic new pop up Cherish is hosting on the seventh floor of Bergdorf Goodman. We're calling it the Cherish Emporium and it's best described as a collective of jewel box boutiques from some of our most beloved dealers, including Nate Berkus, Make Braff Designs, Show Pony from Palm Beach, Iridmans, Tom Preston, Tory Jones Studio and Modern Antiquarian. Plus we're featuring new and exclusive works from some of our most sought after cherished artists. We're going to be live at Bergdorf's February 10th through May 5th and I really hope you can drop by but if you're not able to visit in person, please make sure that you take a look at this fresh, original edit, which we'll have live on Cherish as well. That's C-H-A-I R I S H.com and now back to the show.

[Steele Mark]

We talked about this a little bit when we were in the primary living space. But of course there must have been some challenges in working in a historic building as exciting and kind of romantic as that is one of them being lighting, of course. And so, Elizabeth, I know one of your solutions was to pretty much lean into the places that were already wired for sconce lighting. But tell me a little bit about how you worked up a lighting plan and then any other sort of challenges from working in a historic building?

[Elizabeth Cooper]

Yes, I mean, we really did just focus on existing lighting where junction boxes had already been installed in the walls to make it, frankly, as simple and cost effective as possible. And I've been a longtime fan of Galerie Delampe sconces. And we did as many double light sconces as we could. And they have these beautiful, beautiful straw colored silk shades. So against kind of the sunny yellow chartreuse walls. And then the light coming out of the straw colored silk shades is just such a beautiful warm glow. And there were a couple of places where there were existing overhead lights, so we just replaced those with beautiful fixtures. But we really maximized wall lights as much as possible. Would you agree, Anna?

[Ana Brockway]

Yeah, I mean, honestly, it's better.

[Steele Mark]

It's so much better.

[Ana Brockway]

Like, Greg, definitely better here.

[Steele Mark]

Like, it's so much more romantic and prettier and I think it's better for our eyes too.

[Ana Brockway]

It's better for everything. And so the combination of the sconces and just using table lamps was really great. And what's really fun is, is that we were able to get so much personality into the apartment through that. So, I mean, mentioned the sconce selections, which were fantastic and very, I think, classic New York look. But we were able to layer onto that shopping on Cherish all the fun, crazy vintage stuff that adds character and to the space. So, you know, we have like old Italian rattan pieces and like little weird cantaloupe ones that those are actually from krb. Like, we just layered in all these kind of quirky table lamps on top of it to create a layered look that I think is really fun. But I mean, working on a historic building to get to that question, like, it's a pain. I mean, I had no idea all the rules and blah, blah, blah. So our thing was, is like, if it's not broken. Don't fix it. The one thing that we did decide to replace was the fireplace front, which ended up just being a total bear, but totally worth it. But that was something that, over time, somebody had changed out whatever was there originally into kind of this thing that looked like it could have been in, like, a tract house in the suburbs. Like, it was a very undisputed. It wasn't terrible. It wasn't understandable.

[Steele Mark]

Like, neo colonial kind of.

[Ana Brockway]

It's like it could be anybody's, you know? And so I, of course, was like, well, let's not broken. Don't fix it. And Elizabeth was like, I am laying down the law.

[Steele Mark]

Except for that.

[Ana Brockway]

She's like, that is a lot to go.

[Steele Mark]

Yeah.

[Ana Brockway]

And did a lot of talking to Sellis on this gorgeous fireplace that she picked out in this black and white. Anyways, all of it is to say it was a huge upgrade to the space. And it's just an example of where, if you work with the right people who push you, it just elevates everything. Because I wouldn't have thought to do it. I would have, like, painted it out, or I don't know what I would have done, but I just wouldn't have spent that much time on it. And now it's like.

[Steele Mark]

It'S actually such a focal. Especially in the way that you were able to carve two seating areas out of that room. Like, it became almost in a way, even more of a focal point. And the way you've styled it, the way you've kind of layered it and such with the mirror and lamp and other vintage and antique finds. But it's so beautiful.

[Elizabeth Cooper]

Absolutely. And we ended up doing a custom death mantle working with Jam of London, just because Ana and I both love lamps on a fireplace mantel and then having a mirror and art propped up. And so we.

[Ana Brockway]

We like junk. Yeah.

[Steele Mark]

More is more.

[Ana Brockway]

My ones here in San Francisco, they're not deep enough. Now I need to get new ones because it's like, I have stuff.

[Steele Mark]

Let's talk about mirrors. That was something that I was really struck by, even just pouring over the photos that Ana sent me again back over six months ago. Now, there are a great collection of antique and vintage mirrors in this apartment and such a range of styles. And as I thought about it and looked at it, I realized, yes, it brings a lot of personality in with the vintage nature, but the mirrors are doing more than that. Elizabeth, can you talk a little bit about how you used mirrors in this apartment?

[Elizabeth Cooper]

Absolutely. I mean, I think the Biggest statement moment of mirror is the custom mirrored wall we had installed on the back wall of the dining room. And it just opens up the space. It reflects the park view, it reflects the beautiful fireplace we've just been discussing. It reflects all of the sconce light. And to me, that was just a game changer in the space and kind of this little Parisian moment to have an antiqued mirrored wall. And then, all due credit to Ana. She really found all of the decorative mirrors on cherished throughout the apartment. Full disclosure, the one that pushed the envelope for me and I gave her a little bit of pushback on was now one of my favorites, which is the Italian gilt wood. I think it's Italian honor. Or is it French? Please correct me. The palm mirror in the front entry. And I thought we have these gorgeous de gourmet panels, and I just was worried that maybe it wouldn't be cohesive or it would be too much. And now, of course, it's this incredible, beautiful, fun statement piece in the front entry. And you see it coming down the stairs, and I love it. But we have a black chinoiserie mirror in her powder room and a very deco style mirror above the beautiful marble fireplace. A convex mirror in the living room reflecting the view.

[Steele Mark]

I love the convex mirror. That one's really cool.

[Elizabeth Cooper]

I do, too. So all due credit to Ana. She really sourced almost all of the decorative mirrors on Cherish. So she made some beautiful finds.

[Ana Brockway]

Yeah, they were great. I mean, we also used. One of them might be from Benny Williams at me Cox. That's in there as well. And it's mostly vintage. I mean, the whole apartment is mostly vintage from Cherish with, you know, a few exceptions. But that's a great way, I think, of using vintage and just kind of adding character to spaces. Mirrors are so fun. And Maison Janssen, one we found that's in the entryway, super great. And it lights up. It has the palms on it that light up. It's like so weird.

[Steele Mark]

The fact that it lights up is so cool and kooky to me. It's just so fun. I love it. So it's pretty incredible to decorate an apartment almost entirely in vintage. And I mean, of course, if anyone can do it, Ana can do it. There are a lot of pluses to doing so, especially when you're working remotely, especially when you're working in a pandemic. And I'd love to hear your thoughts on that.

[Ana Brockway]

The way we did the process is we started with the floor plan and then it was like, from the floor plan, you have a shopping list. Like, I need a 86 inch sofa, and I need two armchairs. And we kind of knew what we needed.

[Steele Mark]

That floor plan was essential.

[Ana Brockway]

Yeah, that was number one. And we had a sense of the dimensions, and then it was like, okay, let's go shopping. And so I think by focusing on vintage, what it let us do is just move fast, which is to say that, of course, lead times were extremely long during the pandemic, but honestly, they're never good, even when it's not the pandemic. And so the idea that you could just go and buy something and it already exists. Now, in most cases, we still had to reupholster it, so there was some lead time there, but it was pretty modest. And so from when we bought the place to when most of the furniture arrived, I don't know, Elizabeth, what would you say? I mean, it was about three months. Pretty fast.

[Elizabeth Cooper]

It really was. And oftentimes we would purchase a piece, and within three or four weeks, sometimes even less, it would be at our upholsterers in New York. So I would regularly go up to his workroom. We talk through details in person, but he would get the pieces really quickly. And so it's such an important step in creating a space that feels like home, that her kids have beds in their bedrooms and those key factors. And so we were really able to pull together the great majority of it in a really quick time frame, I would say.

[Ana Brockway]

The other thing that was fun for me is just having worked on building chairs for the past 11 years, being able to work with all the dealers and all the people who we've developed relationships over this period of time. And to become a customer myself was really meaningful. And, you know, one of the fun things about Cherish is all the crazy creative people you get to meet along the way, both the dealers, but also designers and people. As we were going through this project to incorporate, like, you know, I've got celery Campbell's side tables and things from KRB in New York, because we love those people and, you know, fabrics and Leah o', Connell, who we adore. And it's what makes this space feel really personal for me, which vintage always does, but also is just so much of it comes from kind of the brains and the hearts of people who I love and respect. And so that's been a really nice thing. We have a great Mary McDonald oversized armchair we found. Like, it's just that part makes it even more personal.

[Steele Mark]

And speaking of the kind of personal ties you bought artwork from artists that you also have gotten to know.

[Ana Brockway]

It's all from Cherish. Yes, all the artworks. Cherish. And it was all from dealers I know and. Or original artists who we actively work with. So that was really fun. And, you know, I found a lot of people, too, in the process of outfitting the apartment and working with Elizabeth that we, you know, were artists that I'd always admired but hadn't necessarily gotten onto Cherish yet. So it's like you buy something and then you're like, why aren't you selling on the site?

[Steele Mark]

Why aren't you selling on Cherish?

[Ana Brockway]

So either they were on Cherish or they are now. So the art came from that. And we also worked a lot with Amy Meyer, who's based out of Southern California. But I think as somebody whose eye we both just absolutely adore, she has.

[Steele Mark]

Such a great eye.

[Ana Brockway]

She really does. It's so refined and discerning. Like, my life goal is to be that. Discerning, right?

[Elizabeth Cooper]

No, that beautiful dining room table, which I just think is one of an exceptionally beautiful piece in the apartment, is from her with, like, the carved bronze base, which, again, relates to the beautiful stairs and the marble top. It's just an exceptional piece. And Ana, I'd love to tell this story because I feel that the dealers and vendors she works with on Cherish just adore Ana personally. And I think I had mentioned this to you, Steel, but we were doing the first install so that Ana and her family could celebrate Thanksgiving there. That was going to be the first time the whole family was there and really trying to pull it all together for them. And one of the dealers in D.C. found out that his mover had a family emergency and couldn't deliver the fantastic oversized plaster lamps in her primary bedroom on the bedside tables. So he personally drove them up from D.C. just so that Ana could have her bedside lamps for her Thanksgiving. And I was just so touched and was blown away that he did that. So shout out to Thomas.

[Steele Mark]

No, but I mean, at the end of the day, for your home to feel like a collection of things of design that reflect your relationships, I mean, is there anything more meaningful?

[Ana Brockway]

I mean, that's why I absolutely love being in the space is because of that just feels really comfortable for me. But, yeah, no, it's a super fun project.

[Steele Mark]

Speaking of space, you've mentioned that it's quite small. You're a family of five, and you will often be there all together. So I wonder if there are any, like, I feel like when we talked about this earlier, Ana, you Mentioned several kind of smart space ideas that have really stuck with me. Including the settee in the dining room, for example. You're able to kind of pile in a crowd around that table because of that beautiful settee. But how else did you guys get creative with the space?

[Ana Brockway]

Well, I think one was going back to the floor plan, was figuring out a way to get two seating areas out of the living room. So instead of centering everything off the fireplace, we actually kind of did two seating arrangements on either side and used the fireplace kind of as I'm floating in the middle.

[Steele Mark]

That way, some people can be doing one thing and maybe somebody else can get a little space, as it were.

[Ana Brockway]

Yes. So that's good. And then, you know, the upstairs downstairs really helps. And I think your point around the dining table, it's like I use that as a desk a ton because I love it. I sit there and work. And then, you know, Greg can be working upstairs and I'm working on downstairs. We're both on calls and you just don't even hear each other. So that was really good. And one of the side tables in the bedroom we used, it's kind of like a dressing table for me, but that can also double as a desk. See, we can have three people. You know, I've had my son doing an interview in one room and I call in another, and Greg's downstairs. I mean, you just figure it out. But I think kind of carving out those little niches. I don't know, like, Elizabeth, if there were other things that you thought of.

[Elizabeth Cooper]

I mean, one that I'm thinking of is in many New York living rooms, there's actually also like a TV watching area. Like, this is a family who likes to watch movies or sports. And so with the corner sofa, that's like a TV that's above a beautiful antique chest. But it is a family who is like living in and actually enjoying this space as a family. And sometimes they're there working, sometimes they're entertaining. But it's family hangout. And Ana's husband very much wanted that to be a sleeper sofa so that in case they had all three kids there or someone had a friend with them. So that's additional sleeping. And I think a lot of lighter parts pull up pieces of furniture, like little Baldwin style benches that could easily be moved from seating area to seating area. I think we're just mindful of flexibility with the seating are the things that come to mind for me.

[Steele Mark]

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Ana, one note that I wanna make sure that we share is that you can shop the look of your beautiful apartment on Cherish.

[Ana Brockway]

You can, yeah. And we do have that available. Thank you for bringing it up. So there's a collection that goes with it that we restock all the time that are like minded pieces to what you see in the space, which is really fun.

[Steele Mark]

And you can read more about how the design process came together both on Cherish and Veranda, of course. But yeah, it's such a beautiful space and thank you so much for sharing it with us. So I want to thank my wonderful guest Anna Brockway and Elizabeth Cooper. And thank you so much for listening to the Cherish Podcast.

[Michael Boudreau]

You've been listening to the Cherish Podcast, brought to you, of course, by Cherish, which was voted by the readers of USA Today as the best place to shop online for furniture and home decor. If you enjoyed this episode, please tell a friend or colleague. Or better yet, go to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review. We appreciate your help in spreading the word and we would love your ideas for future episodes. Please email us at Podcaster the Cherish Podcast is produced by Muggs Buckley and engineered by Hanger Studios in New York. Until next.