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When Adnan Anwar came across a New York City rental listing boasting herringbone floors, high ceilings, and architectural molding reminiscent of a Parisian apartment, he knew that it would be the perfect space to grow his design business while also expressing his distinct sense of style. Located in a former town house in the heart of the Upper East Side, the one-bedroom unit made him fall in “love at first sight,” says the founder of Adnan Anwar Design, who formerly worked for Schumacher.
The 30-year-old sold most of the furniture from his prior apartment and focused on outfitting his new dwelling with meaningful, personality-filled pieces. “My old space always felt a little transient because I never intended to stay there, improving it little by little and staying relatively restrained,” he says. “This time, I really wanted to make a home I could grow into and fully express myself.” As such, Adnan chose to make a number of alterations to the apartment, bringing in a decorative fireplace mantel salvaged from a Rockefeller estate, revamping his kitchen, swapping out light fixtures, and more.
Adnan was particularly unenthused with the birch cabinets in his cooking space, which is the first area visible upon entering the apartment. “I just hated them,” he reflects. “They felt so dated and so gross.” As he further explains, “I thought, What would I do if this were a client’s kitchen?” So Adnan ordered paper from Amazon to wrap all the cabinet doors. “It made them look as though they were painted in a really renter-friendly way,” he notes. Paired with vintage hardware that he sourced from eBay, “suddenly the kitchen was architecturally where I wanted it.”
An avid collector, Adnan greatly enjoys the thrill of the hunt. He isn’t afraid to take a thrifty approach at times, occasionally acquiring free items during his neighborhood strolls. “I think people who don’t live in New York City love to complain about garbage on the streets, and I don’t view it as a negative,” he insists. “To me, it’s actually a massive positive, because you can’t miss it if something’s really good.” Adnan’s wooden Lane coffee table is one such favorite freebie. “In this apartment, one thing I was consistent about was that I wanted a coffee table that could take abuse, and I didn’t know what it was going to look like,” the designer adds. “I found this piece sitting on the curb when I was leaving a client meeting. I ended up taking it home in an Uber, and it was the perfect size.”
It’s no surprise, then, that Adnan doesn’t believe a space should be too fussy or impractical. “Interiors are for living,” he emphasizes. “If you’re stressed about spilling your coffee or a glass of wine or a dog’s muddy paw, it’s not working and you’re never going to be at ease and truly happy.” He notes that slipcovers on a sofa “are a great way to put your mind at ease,” and by no means do they have to be commonplace. “When I do slipcovers for clients, I always try to make them special somehow,” he adds.
Adnan chose to weave various pieces of art all throughout the space. “I love to collect art and brought many pieces out of storage and soon acquired more,” he says. His space features works by Yvette Mayorga, Hiroshi Sugimoto, and Doug Aitken. “I’ve also displayed objects including architectural engravings, Kunisada wood blocks, and a salvaged tortoise shell,” Adnan adds. “One defining thing about my taste in art is that I am drawn to works from a huge range of periods and cultures.”
The designer is also a proponent of thoughtfully juxtaposing different aesthetics and eras within a space. “I always say my goal for clients is to help them find communion with individual objects and then bring those together in a way that feels authentic to them, which is what I did here,” Adnan concludes. “While the apartment skews traditional, it’s mixed with youthful pops of modernity, global patterns, and vivid color.”
