Marrying sophistication with spirit is a delicate balancing act.

​

When the owner of this Manhattan duplex approached Expert Hadley Wiggins, the brief wasn’t to start over—but to embrace the new-build’s refined architectural finishes while molding it into a comfortable family home with character.

​

“This task was so specific, I found it stimulating,” says the AD100 designer, who prides herself on having no discernable style. “I always respond to the environment and the inhabitants. The satisfying moment for me is when somebody says: ‘I don’t know what it is about this space, but there’s a harmony and I love it.’ That means a room feels unique and has longevity.”

​

While this apartment might be located in the well-heeled Upper East Side, the client wanted to evoke a sense of playfulness right from the onset. So, in the entryway, the earnest tone of the marble was humored with a woven floor covering and stair runner custom-made by Patterson Flynn. The inky tones were echoed in the jaunty, printed wallpaper (Pierre Frey’s Momiji), creating a feeling that is “more homey and less harsh.”

​

In the large living room—a formal space where cocktails flow—the moody palette continues with a tight layering of tones for an ambiance that Hadley describes as “quiet and elegant but without being precious and rigid.” The south-facing room is so luminous, it could handle Farrow & Ball’s Card Room Green. But it was calling out for patina, so Hadley handpicked a French antique mirror to bounce the light around: “It’s well-worn but not rustic—it has just the right polish and glam to it,” she explains. “I just knew that had to be vintage, as a new piece would have had a very different effect.”

​

While the centerpiece of the room is arguably the fireplace, it’s the central, double-sided custom sofa that steals the show. Designed as an invitation for a tête-à-tête, it’s a more sociable solution than splitting the room with back-to-back sofas. “It has a very different kind of energetic presence—it doesn't feel rude,” Hadley says of the set-up. Vintage lighting and a re-upholstered, mid-century-modern daybed add a sense of restrained eclecticism.

​

Next door in the handsome family room, the walls were already swathed in studded leather, so Hadley designed a credenza that would blend in tonally to complement the finish. She then dreamed up “the sort of sofa you want to fall into,” to stop the space skewing too traditional. Her favorite detail is the rug, which boasts a chevron pattern that’s just the right side of preppy.

​

A sense of luxury permeates every space: upstairs in the bedroom, look closely and you realize that not only are the walls upholstered (in a luxe, wool-cashmere mix), but that the seams correspond exquisitely with those on the headboard. “I like bedrooms to be serene, cozy spaces which don’t over-stimulate the mind,” says Hadley of her choices. But it all comes back to balance, and the bed frame—which is completely wrapped in Scalamandre’s Marly, a tapestry-inspired fabric—is enhanced by the quiet simplicity of the plain, fabric-wrapped walls.

​

Dispatches from the client reveal that the apartment flows so seamlessly that guests never need to edit where or how they sit. “That’s really the goal,” says Hadley. And while the decor can’t be pigeon-holed, she muses: “It has a fun thing going on. I'm happy that it has that little bit of a New York edge. It's not taking itself too seriously.”

​