2 Stylish Homes Designed by Women

Anyone who’s ever undergone an interior redesign will know that the coordination and ingenuity involved in making a space both livable and stylish is no small feat. The creative minds that bring a homeowner’s vision to life are integral to making living spaces the visual respites they are. 

Today I’m highlighting two homes designed by female-led teams—one vision created by a designer with an established firm and another conceptualized by an inspired homeowner.

A New York Penthouse Designed by Emma Donnersberg Interiors

Established in 2008, Emma Donnersberg’s eponymous design firm has a focus on carefully curated pieces influenced by Donnersberg’s world travels. This penthouse, located in the heart of Tribeca, reflects the firm’s global sensibility. With massive floor-to-ceiling windows and an open concept, the main living space provides the perfect blank canvas for the room’s stand-out pieces, like the rounded sofa that curves itself around the room’s main column and the puzzle-piece coffee tables.

Donnersberg’s design philosophy is to approach spaces as if they were a blank canvas, considering how spatial organization, colors, and textures contribute to an overall feeling of luxury and balance. Her method is clearly at play: chandeliers with organic, branch-like shapes draw the eye upward and oversized ceramics hold pampas grass as a reminder of natural, textural elements. As much sculpture as furniture, the seating throughout the home ranges from molded lucite chairs perched on brass stems to carved walnut armchairs to plush, circular dining seating—design decisions that demonstrate Donnersberg’s affinity for the playful as well as the artful. 

While textures and materials vary throughout the penthouse’s interior, its hues are, for the most part, neutral: slate grey, cream, and onyx mirror the shades of the city’s famous skyline. Vibrant shades are woven in through accent pieces like the turquoise shag lounger or the large-scale abstract painting above the hearth, a skillful touch that keeps the home from feeling too serious. 

Donnersberg’s background working for a fine art auction house is evident in her interior design practice, particularly in the way she deals with the relationship between material and function. In the kitchen, gray marble countertops blend into the backsplash, while in the bathroom dark, veined marble walls are balanced by a carved wood sink and countertop. The result is sculptural and elemental, an interior that is both contemporary and conscious of itself as a space where living happens.

This blog originally appeared on SIR.COM, CLICK HERE to view it.