STANHOPE
On 1/2/12, Felicia
received a phone call from a real estate developer asking her to check out an
old historic building for a possible job opportunity. From the start, Felicia
considered the offer a dream come true in the interior design field. Even
before finding out the exact details about the job, Felicia was sold on the
opportunity to work on a job in such an amazing location. What really sealed
the deal was the fact that the job would allow her to design an entire floor in
the building!
Early on, it
became evident that time was of the essence since the wintertime job was
expected to be completed and ready to be sold that spring. Despite the time
restraint, Felicia felt confident that the end result would be far from typical
and average. Also, like many other big design jobs, Felicia was given a pretty
tight budget to work with. However, Felicia strategically and carefully
selected furniture that would be perfectly fitting for the apartment and the
budget she was given. Among the selected furniture was some of Felicia’s own
from her furniture line, FZ collection.
The main struggle
that Felicia faced was the fact that the old building is from the early 1900s
and it only has one elevator! Given that she had never had to work with such a
limited mode of transportation for furniture, Felicia and her team had to put
their heads together to figure out how to get the large and lavish furniture
into the apartment. Ultimately, the solution was to remodel the large furniture
to have detachable parts so it could all fit in the tiny elevator! Clearly,
Felicia’s ability to really roll with the punches allowed her to come up with a
great solution under pressure.
Since the project
was so big, it required a lot of installers to get the job done. Throughout the
job, there were painters, electricians, upholsterers, and many more installers
across the spectrum to help finish the apartment. Being that the apartment is
right next to the Met, Felicia felt that the apartment should be decorated with
fabulous art. She ultimately chose artwork by Robert Motherwell and Willem De
Kooning, both of whom have art featured at the Met. Felicia also included
photographs of Sean Connery and Bridget Bardot by world famous photographer,
Terry O’Neill.
In the end, the
one-of-a-kind apartment was finished on time and came out as perfect as could
be. The combination of the prime Manhattan location and Felicia’s unique
designs is what sold the apartment after two months for $30 million. Felicia’s
hard work and dedication paid off and her eye for elegance is now showcased in
this beautiful space.
