Robert Passal: Style Infusion

Robert Passal’s mission in this 2,200 square-foot apartment located on Manhattan’s upper east side was to diffuse the banality of new construction by administering a healthy dose of visual intrigue to heartily lived-in white-box rooms devoid of interior architecture.

Designed for a couple with two infants, his furnishings plan shuns the sort of precious, hands-off quality that some elegant schemes engender and, instead, welcomes the thrills and spills of everyday life with wear-resistant surfaces and a few colors that politely refuse to show the (sometimes grubby) touch of human hands. Passal’s design concept focused on the creation of dimension and interest through geometry and texture.

LIVING ROOM:

Entrants to the living room are struck by a strong sense of interior architecture forged by the grid work frame of a Holly Hunt armchair, the x-shaped bottoms of two leather stools, the circular form of a brushed steel B & B Italia side table, and the rectangular shapes of a glass-topped copper Martha Sturdy coffee table and custom designed cantilevered media cabinet. Counterbalancing the emphatically geometric pieces are a free-form wood side table and curvaceous 1960’s Swedish armchair. On the right side of the sofa, Passal added a column and built-in lacquered cabinet that stays clear of the ceiling to afford light passage in the windowless space and a sense of separation between the sitting area and the adjacent dining room. Slightly protruding mahogany shelves echo the brown tones of the furniture and the sofa’s center pillow, which the designer covered in a Gucci scarf he found in Rome. A slim art lamp—a signature Passal element—shines down on the bookcase.

DINING ROOM:

The geometric motifs extend to the dining room where a pair of Oly leather chairs and a custom banquette sidle up to an oak table supported by two trios of x-shaped legs. Passal painted the baseboards a deep chocolate tone and carried the color across the bottoms of the Belgian linen drapes, into the cotton velvet upholstery on the banquette and onto its stained base. He hired an artist to plaster the custom designed steel light fixture to lend it the rough texture of a Giacometti sculpture. “It provides a great contrast to the slick surfaces beneath it,” he says.

DINING ROOM TOWARD WINDOW:

In the dining area, the built-in cabinet Passal added serves as both a china and bar cabinet. He faced the upper door in bronze mirrors.

A pullout shelf below the two bronze mirror-faced doors functions as a bar surface.

ENTRY/POWDER ROOM:

To provide a gripping ‘landing place” for the eye in the entrance to the apartment, Passal added a gridwork pattern and central circular inset with a chandelier to the flat ceiling. He then painted these sheetrock elements and the walls a rich green-gray color that was custom mixed on site.

The hallway culminates in a powder room whose sink wall is lined in Maya Romanoff’s oxblood-toned “Lacquered Wall” paper. The captivating wall is further highlighted by BDDW’s round mirror that hangs from a braided leather strap off a bronze mount. The pistachio onyx-jade floor sends up greens that play off the nearby hall walls.

STUDY:

The study is chock full of space and light maximizing features.

The desk and bottom drawers offer up reflective sheen at a lower level via their mar-resistant glass tops. To boost the light in this work area, Passal designed an oversized vellum-and-copper-strip, flush-mount ceiling fixture. “It takes up about 50% of the ceiling space,” Passal notes. Because there was not enough room here for both a cocktail table and an ottoman, he designed a combination piece that rests in front of the sofa—one side of the rolling unit is upholstered; the other is crafted of stained mahogany and sized to hold a glass.

MASTER BEDROOM:

In the master bedroom, Passal turned an entire wall into an extended headboard for a custom bed by framing it out with limed oak planks and filling the spaces between them with a faux leather that also appears on the footboard. Dispensing with nightstands in favor of pieces serving more vital needs while broadcasting loud-and-clear messages about masculine and feminine identity, Passal placed a custom dressing table with an Oly stool and a pair of Visual Comfort’s brass lamps alongside the woman’s side of the bed. One “his side”, he situated an overscaled chest covered in shagreen and a massive lamp. A painted ceiling echoes the faux leather, and detailed but simple bed linens add a touch of coolness to the setting.

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Robert’s Decorati Favorites
2022-86 by O. Henry House	Worth Side Table by Duane Modern Furniture	Tosca by David Goldberg Design	Antique Chinese Carpet by Doris Leslie Blau
Starburst Chandelier by Center44	Klostra Pillow by Holland & Sherry	Hermitage Composition H10 by Nella Vetrina	Installation 1 by Wendell Castle
Dolina Chair by Jasper by Michael S Smith	Jardinieres & Citrus Trees by de Gournay	Sorenson 18 Lantern by Remains Lighting	Skukusa - Blue by Sister Parish Design

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Resource List

OFFICE: Chair- Freedom from Humanscale. Ceiling fixture- Translux New York, Vellum & Bronze. Art- Original plates by Ronaldo Sanguino through Dean Projects Long Island City. Cabinetry- Custom through RPI. Ottoman- Custom through RPI.

ENTRY/POWDER BATH: Fixture- Jiun Ho Designs. Painting- Original Cheryl Hazan. Orbs- Gift show find by RPI. Marble floor- Pistachio Onyx through Artistic Tile. Mirror- VDDW. Wallcovering- Maya Romanoff through Bergamo. Sconces- Modulightor. Stool- Original by Ronaldo Sanguino through Dean Projects Long Island City.

BEDROOM: Wall Upholstery- Pollack, Faux Leather. Bed- Custom through RPI. Vanity- Custom through RPI. Lighting- Circa Lighting. Stool- Sabre Stool from Oly.

All room photographs taken by Lauren Rubenstein.

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