A Favorite New York City Hallway Project

A favorite New York City hallway project of mine involved revamping a 1989 building in the Union Square neighborhood. The goal of this project was to update the hallways of this 33-year-old post war building so that they would appear more fresh and traditional. It’s no surprise that “fresh traditional” is a universally appealing aesthetic, and the transformation pleased existing condo residents and attracted plenty of new buyers. What is “fresh traditional”, after all? This style is a combination of classic elements with a brighter, lighter color palette.

For this New York City hallway project, I tackled a number of components, which I’m highlighting below.

We designed a carpet pattern that features hints of traditional elements with a background texture that is very forgiving to dirt and traffic patterns. This is of course essential in a New York City hallway project, given that New Yorkers walk all around the city on a daily basis. The quality of the carpet should always be a top priority, and we opted for the best that our client could afford. In selecting the design, I made sure to opt for borders, which give the hallways a sense of intimacy as well as perform a function in that an “area rug” can be easily changed without visual effect if damaged.

In this New York City hallway project, we led with slightly luminescent classic grasscloth patterned commercially rated vinyl wall covering that is washable and durable. A deeper, richer accent wall covering in a tiny complimentary texture at the elevator walls was used.

In this New York City hallway project, we led with slightly luminescent classic grasscloth patterned commercially rated vinyl wall covering that is washable and durable. A deeper, richer accent wall covering in a tiny complimentary texture at the elevator walls was used.

Though the building had lever hardware, the brass had lost its polish and was pitted, and the door knocker/viewer covers were a little too cutesy and traditional for the new design scheme. We changed the finishes to a brush chrome and did a circular door knocker that maintained a classic look but had cleaner lines.

Any New York City hallway requires map signs, stairwell signs, and apartment identification. In this space, this was done in brushed aluminum with a white fill for the lettering. This is incredibly different and chic compared to the more predictable black lettering and really added sophistication to the space.

This New York City hallway project was carefully completed to meet the needs of the residents in this downtown building, both in terms of aesthetic and practicality, and I am very pleased with the end results.