Above, a look into the living room with bookshelves made from auto-part storage units found on 1stdibs that had languished there, as “no one really knew what to do with them,” Povero says. The sofa is from Molteni & C, and the area rug is from Holland & Sherry.
Jeffery Povero, principal and founder of Povero & Company, takes things in stride. To hear him describe the transformation of the already combined three-unit loft in a converted brewery in the Gramercy Park area, it was no big deal — except that it certainly was, when you see the pictures of where he and his team began, along with the work of Highline Construction Group. The given space featured envy-inducing original wood beams and columns, but the layout begged for a better flow, and the open kitchen was dated, as were the bathrooms. There was a lot of work to be done, nine months worth exactly, and the outcome is a spectacular brew of industrial-strength design featuring a palette of rich color and materials. “The clients have two young children, so we were really pushing to make sure it looked like a grown-up, sophisticated apartment. But all the fabrics are contract grade, so they’re not worrying about ‘What if the kids throw up on the sofa?’ We wanted to make everything as durable as possible, while not looking like a romper room,” Povero says.
