A 300-Square-Foot East Village Studio With a Sexy Hotel Vibe - Curbed

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“My sofa is a rare Kwok Hoi Chan sofa from Paris that I splurged on at an auction for next to nothing. The floor-length gilt mirror was saved from a soon-to-be-demolished house in Philadelphia.” The coffee table is by Willy Rizzo. “He’s one of my favorite designers. He did a lot of party furniture in the ’70s.” The ’40s candle sconce is from Wyeth in Sagaponack. Photo: Seth Caplan

Darren Jett had been living in a ground-floor apartment with a view of a brick wall for five years when the pandemic hit. After a few months of lockdown, he realized he needed light, air, and maybe a view, and he found this sunny, sixth-floor, 300-square-foot south-facing studio, from which he can look out on the towers of the Financial District and the World Trade Center.

In decorating it, “I leaned into the brightness of the apartment by painting everything, including the floors, a light yet moody cream color,” he says.

Because he wasn’t sure when he’d be traveling again, he decided that “I wanted my new home to feel like my favorite hotel lobbies, bars, and escapes — full of personality that become sexy and alluring, yet equally transportive and comfortable,” he says. It was also the perfect place to nurture his sun-loving plants for “the jungle vibe I’d always wanted.”

Jett’s personal style is inspired by fashion, films, and his experience working with designers Will Cooper and Rafael de Cardenas. Art and design have been front and center for Jett since he was young, and during the height of the pandemic, he decided to launch his own design business.

A native of rural Tennessee, Jett grew up in a 1909 farmhouse with a big front porch, until his family moved to a modern home that Jett helped design when he was 15. After attending the University of Tennessee, Jett came to New York in 2013, digging into the art-and-design scene, where he says his education really began. His diminutive oasis is packed with treasures he’s found at auctions and from sleuthing around design stores near and far.

“It has definitely taken me the last year to get here,” Jett says. “It’s my 300-square-foot paradise in Alphabet City.”

Jett got the circular bar stand at an auction in Italy. “No one knows anything about it, except that it is solid marble held up by one-inch-thick glass,” he says. Photo: Seth Caplan

Jett uses a ’70s travertine console as his desk. The chair is another ’70s find attributed to Nanda Vigo, which he covered in Maharam fabric. The mirror “is part of my rococo fantasy world.” Photo: Seth Caplan

The trifold mirror from Love House reminded him of the 1978 film Eyes of Laura Mars, he says. “And Fellini films inspired the Russian religious iconography on my walls.” Photo: Seth Caplan

The marble-top bureau is a family heirloom. “The painting is by Philippine de Richemont,” Jett says, “a lovely French artist who is a friend of mine.” Photo: Seth Caplan/Seth Caplan