As a NYC lobby interior designer, I’m very sensitive to the architectural characteristics of the buildings we work on. It’s a pleasure and a challenge for me and my staff to help our clients select the perfect flooring, wall treatments, and furnishings that celebrate their buildings’ style and holds up to heavy wear.The selection of lobby seating is a crucial element of each lobby interior design project and happens to be one of the many things we do very well.

Here’s a selection of 10 fabulous lobby seating ideas from recent projects in our office.

I hope you enjoy them!

We chose B + B Italia’s Tulip Sixty chair designed by Jeffrey Bernett for this lobby on East 74th because of its iconic modern profile. These distinctive and comfortable chairs are upholstered in leather and give the room a “pop” of color – deep enough to be practical and warm enough to exude “welcome”! They are made so well that I imagine that the owners will get tired of them before they wear out – maybe in the year 2050!

This built-in retro sleek upholstered sofa-bench is a perfect choice for the lobby of this iconic 1964 period building in Manhattan. It’s truly a fresh take on mid-century modern and fills the space perfectly. The ideal perch while you wait to head up to your friend’s apartment – or to meet your real estate broker!

The wing chairs we selected for this classic lobby on the Upper East Side impart a sense of privacy in this busy lobby. Their “architectural” profile keeps them from looking like wing chairs in stuffy men’s clubs.

The lap of luxury is what this seating reads. Strategically situated directly in front of the concierge station, visitors to this Sutton Place building feel as if they’re entering a sumptuous living room. The owners wanted opulence — and opulence is precisely what they got!

Seating that evokes a hip nightclub atmosphere is what we aimed for in this Upper East Side high rise condominium lobby. It’s actually a bench with lighting below, which makes it look like it’s floating. It’s very, very tall back accentuates the lobby’s incredibly high ceilings and creates more drama. The tufting makes it even more dramatic.

This moderne-style sofa fits perfectly into the 1930’s architecture of this Manhattan apartment building. Note the slightly flaring back, clean lines, and minimal detail drawing the eye to the shape of the sofa and its scrumptious wool mohair upholstery.

Two graceful and elegant chairs greet you as you glide through the glamorous main entrance of this 1929 apartment building lobby. Although they flank a gorgeous moderne-style highboy cabinet, the distinctive sculpted wood backs of these chairs keep them from being overwhelmed. They are elegant stand-alone seating for a quick perch.

We upholstered this petite boudoir chair in “elephant skin” fabric. The shape of the chair is perfect for the show-stopping fabric and was a perfect solution to fill an empty corner. This illustrates how one strategically-placed piece brings drama to an otherwise forgotten area.

A bench is always a practical choice for lobby seating, but for this spectacular 1929 lobby, we didn’t choose just any bench. Notice the splayed arms, roll cushions, and adeptly-matched striped fabric. It’s drop dead gorg!

To break-up the linear characteristics of this elevator waiting area, we presented our clients with this unusual oval-shaped bench, and they loved it! There’s more than just shape that makes this bench a great choice. It’s upholstered a way that keeps the base from being damaged by heavy lobby use.

The next time you enter a lobby and it feels “just right” – stop for a minute to observe the little details, especially lobby seating ideas that were implemented. A professional lobby designer was probably in on it!

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6 Current Trends in Apartment Building Lobby Renovation

Every January, many of the most popular interior design websites predict which trends are going be hot during the coming year. (Interestingly, many of them make the same predictions!). Although primarily focused on residential interior design, my firm’s work in lobby and hallway interior design is impacted by the trends, too.

Out of curiosity, we recently checked-out which trends predicted for 2019 found their way into our projects. It’s really interesting to see how we’ve interpreted them.

Here’s what stands out:

An article from January in Forbes stated that 2019 is the year that stone, particularly agate, will be popular in interior design. It’s a trend we love!

The use of natural materials as art is far less controversial than any artwork selection we have made in the past 35 years! Because finding art that everyone agrees on is a significant challenge in lobby interior design work. And, it’s a timeless solution that will always look distinctive even if the lobby décor is updated years later.

We love using agate and onyx, which are two types of layered chalcedony. They differ only in the bands that traverse the surface. Agate’s bands are curved while onyx has parallel bands.

To select the ideal piece of stone, we first peruse patterns and colorations on the websites of the top local stone suppliers. Once we have narrowed down our options, we make a field trip to see it in real life. Because we plan to backlight the stone, we use the flashlights on our phones to see exactly each slab will look when installed.

With agate and onyx, Mother Nature outdid herself. These stones can be staggeringly gorgeous and our job, as interior designers, is to create an environment that presents the most powerful visual version of it. In the case of the project in this photo, we hand-selected an extraordinary slab of onyx and backlit it when installed. Because the onyx is translucent, each seductive vein becomes magnified and creates a fascinating visual effect and focal point for the lobby.

The residents (our clients) are ecstatic by their one-of-a-kind lobby installation (photo above), and, they all agree – it’s a forever artwork solution.

Navy is hot in interior design, according to TheSpruce.com’s 2019 Interior Design Predictions, calling it “not your grandma’s navy.”

For this Upper East Side lobby, our challenge was to add a sense of modernity to the lobby area yet to re-use the existing paneling and hard-surface flooring.  We anchored the space, we selected this dark navy blue, black, and gray carpet. The navy element gives the entire pace a fresh look, partly because navy is so new in interior design. Yet, when combined with grey and black, provides a timeless flooring solution.

The residents adore it!

“Everything old is new again,” or so they say. The trend towards curves is a perfect example of how to translate interior design thinking from a previous decade into today’s aesthetic.

According to Apartment Therapy’s 2019 Interior Design Trends, “1970s-inspired rounded furniture will continue to take over. Rounded back chairs are a chic way to bring the curvy trend into your home.”

In this project for a mid-century modern coop building in New York City, we were so excited to present this magnificent curved sofa. It gives the classic lobby an inviting yet modern kick. We customized the sofa with contrasting welt, so it says, “look at me!”.

And, in terms of the actual tushy space? There’s plenty.

The use of bold, un-bashful patterns and textures is another 2019 prediction that fits perfectly into lobby and hallway interior design. Recently, we had two projects in our office where we used quality materials such as iron and plaster to create interest and depth.

For this project, we selected bold plaster texture for interior walking paths. So, when you walk through this lobby, you’re aware of it, despite not being your primary line of sight.

Here, we created an iron construction for a backdrop behind the doorman desk and seating area where people linger, so everyone can enjoy it.

If your building is contemplating a lobby or hallway renovation, don’t hesitate to check out the latest design trends. When you find one you love, ask your lobby interior designer (or hallway interior designer) to interpret it for your project. You’ll be astonished by what their experienced eyes and in-depth knowledge of materials will accomplish!

“A large-scale piece of art can be costly, but wall murals provide the same solution at a friendlier price point,” according to Yahoo Lifestyle’s 2019 interior design forecast.

Placing a mural at the end of a hallway, especially if it’s a super long hallway, can be very effective. For this Central Park West coop building in Manhattan, we played off the organic theme we used in the lobby. It beautifully reflects the wonderful flora of Central Park – which is right across the street.

After careful selection and buy-in from the residents, we had a mural converted into a practical, washable, durable 54″-wide vinyl wall covering. The hallway in this building is very long and was very claustrophobic when we took on the job. The mural at the end creates a shortening effect – and is lovely, too.

So, if you’re contemplating a lobby or hallway renovation, don’t hesitate to check out the latest interior design trends. When you find one you love, ask your designer if it could be worked-into the plan for your space. You’ll be astonished what an experienced eye and in-depth knowledge of materials can accomplish!

We choose to live in the greatest city in the world, but we do everything we can to avoid leaving our apartments. To the outside world, this doesn’t make sense. Why live here if you don’t want to go out and enjoy it?

Our apartments are our sanctuaries. They provide a safe space that protects us from the cacophony and endless parade of humanity down on the street. Don’t get me wrong. We love the Big Apple – but it’s intense. So, when we’re at home, we just want to stay there.
(Besides, we can’t run down to the store looking the way we do when we’re cuddled up on the sofa eating Ben & Jerry’s. Someone might see us!)

Our friends who live in other cities used to be envious of our ability to order Chinese food, bottles of wine, and even groceries and have them delivered right to our door. All they had was Domino Pizza (and we know how true New Yorkers feel about that kind of pizza).

Traditionally, however, we had to leave home to purchase items such as clothing and shoes.
Until eCommerce came along.

Nirvana! New Yorkers can now buy anything, have it delivered and never leave their apartment. Do a search on Google for “the most unusual things you can buy online” you’ll find everything from a zombie survival kit to a full-sized tank!

A quote from an article in the New York Times back in 2015 shows that this problem was already brewing three years ago:

“Residents accustomed to having packages delivered to their apartments may have to pick them up in the lobby, and buildings where every outside delivery person was once accompanied by a staff member might, under certain circumstances, allow some to go unchaperoned.”

Your doorman probably won’t sign for a tank-sized cardboard box, but he is expected to deal with the avalanche of packages that arrive in the lobby every day. This is making his job a lot harder.
And while online shopping fits very nicely into the New York state of mind, it’s probably wreaking havoc in your lobbies.

For your doorman, package management has become a huge and frustrating part of the job. As soon as one package is claimed by a resident, three more take its place. I wouldn’t be surprised to if the number of packages delivered daily in NYC has at least tripled in the past three to four years.
(It reminds me of that famous scene in Walt Disney’s Fantasia (the original). In an attempt to destroy a magic broom, fledgling sorcerer Mickey Mouse becomes completely overtaken by thousands and thousands and thousands of them.) Broom-Ageddon meet Box-Ageddon!

The scene below is typical of what many residents encounter when they arrive home every evening. Is anyone even at the doorman desk? It’s hard to tell!

The unwieldy stacks of packages and boxes in your building lobby are not only unsightly, but they pose a safety concern, as well. A box could fall on an unsuspecting child or (heavens, no!) your dog! Untended packages are a lure for thieves. And, those piles of packages can block your doorman’s view of the front door.

It’s not surprising, then, that my interior design firm is busier than ever. In previous eras, coops and condos could put-off a lobby renovation. But because of box-ageddon, we now get several calls every month from frantic building management companies or homeowners associations whose number one reason they want to renovate their lobby is to have a place for the enormous number of packages delivered every day. Package rooms and closets are at the top of their lists of lobby must-haves.

The majority of New York apartment buildings were erected during the era when teeny-weeny mailboxes were perfectly fine for daily deposits of mail. And, many of them have relatively small lobbies.
So, one of the first things they say is, “We can’t imagine where a package closet could be located in our lobby. There’s no space for it!”

Lucky for them, we have in-depth knowledge of architecture and many decades of lobby interior design experience. I’m proud to say that we have been accomplishing miraculous feats of interior design magic to solve these kinds of problems. We’ve tucked closets underneath stairways, hidden storage behind partitions, and we have even discovered how to more efficiently use space in existing mail rooms. (Much to the delight of our clients.)

If your lobby has seen better days and a re-do has been discussed, now’s the time. Don’t let box-ageddon lower your property value…

Let’s fight the good fight against box-ageddon!