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Home Archive: Stylist Elly McGaw’s NYC Apartment
The first piece Elly McGaw purchased for her New York City apartment was a 1940s French oak table by designer Charles Dudouyt.
In the years since, Elly and her partner Daniel have carefully curated their interiors to match, creating a gallery-like space filled with bespoke art and beautiful objects.
Here, Elly welcomes us into her home and shares the inspiration behind the interiors, her favourite pieces and the magic that brings it all together.
Tell us a little bit about your home. How long have you lived there and how would you describe it?
We moved in straight after the pandemic in March 2022. It is a very cosy 1930s pre-war building in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. We are renting so have only done some cosmetic work. The original walls of the apartment had an orange peel texture, which required a lot of preparation work in order to achieve the desired finish. We limewashed the walls ourselves which gave it more of an organic and warm feeling. My partner, Daniel, is an interior designer so I really lucked out there—he is the only person in the world I would trust with my interiors as I’m very fussy. The space itself is not huge, but having big windows and high ceilings is a very New York thing.
What was the inspiration behind the interiors?
The main thing for us was to create an inspiring space that could be a sanctuary amidst the hustle and bustle of the city. Daniel is Swedish, so we drew a lot of inspiration from European architecture and collected design.
We didn’t make any changes to the space other than light cosmetic work, all the magic comes from the limewash and the curation of objects.
What do you love most about the space?
The high ceilings certainly make up for the lack of space we have, I also love the big windows. These are my favourite design features.
How would you describe your interior style?
I am definitely drawn to neutral colours in both my wardrobe as well as my interiors. I love the duality of soft and hard, feminine and masculine. We wanted to create a sense of individuality through several design periods and styles to give the home the feeling of being collected and lived in, even though we haven’t lived in the space long.
What are some of your favourite pieces? Is there a story behind them?
A hard one because I love it all. The zebra leather sofa is a big favourite of mine—it was originally an all-leather chair but I wanted to get some zebra in here so we re-covered it.
I also love the artwork—pops of burgundy and metal lamp sconces which my boyfriend made. My friends often say that it is like walking into a gallery coming here—just the way I like it, we definitely favour aesthetics over comfort.
