Nick Olsen, a 30-something designer who infuses traditional “old school” design with fresh perspective, jokes that he is 78 at heart. “I’ve always loved old, grand things,” he says. Nick got his start fresh out of Columbia University working with Miles Redd, where he embraced an irreverent slant on high style. He has since been named a Top 10 “New Traditionalist” by the editors of Traditional Home. Pretty impressive! Today let’s tour this Manhattan apartment he designed, as featured in the October 2013 issue of Veranda. Photography by Melanie Acevedo.
In the library, Nick created an Empire valance and curtains from vintage silk. The table is 19th century and the Chinese vase is vintage.
Sinuously curved lambrequins transform standard windows. The walls are covered in hand-painted de Gournay silk.
The homeowners are a professional couple with a young daughter. They did not have much furniture, but they did have a fine Coromandel screen and an art collection with elegant old family portraits.
Nick added antiques from auction houses to provide a sense of history and context.
He mixed ikats, animal prints, chintzes, florals, and geometrics throughout the apartment. The walls above are painted Viking Yellow by Benjamin Moore and the eggplant Verel de Belval taffeta curtains are trimmed in a Samuel & Sons Greek Key.
This elegant bedroom features hand-painted wallpaper by de Gournay and a canopy bed by Oscar de la Renta Home for Century. Note the ceiling, which is painted Ballerina Pink by Benjamin Moore.
Nick demonstrates his wit by pairing unlikely objects… always a touch of whimsy to balance the serious.
What do you think of Nick’s mix of traditional and contemporary? To see more of this beautiful home, please visit Veranda, and for more on Nick Olsen, please visit his website at Nick Olsen Inc.
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I like his work, it's got a kick to it.
So much of what passes for design today in residential work is BORING! Especially in coastal Florida, where it's being beiged to death, and the builders and FEMA are dictating the look.
Thanks for showcasing a young up and coming designer's work!
Dean
Love it. Stylish and traditional, but doesn't take itself seriously. Wonderful use of colour.
Loved his punches of red. Liked his style, very easy to live with. Not boring