Recent Interior Design Work: Meagan Cignoli's Visual Country Loft

For those of you who read the blog frequently, you'll probably recognize the name. Reference gorgeous fashion photography here, Fashion Photography, Meagan Cignoli.

Below is her loft, which Meagan uses as a combination live and work studio. I had the good fortune of advising her on the interior design.

Now, the existing condition is
1. Big open space.
2. Mminimal windows, and thus minimal light at one end.
3. It has to be extremely open for frequent events, gatherings, and photoshoots.

Given this criteria the idea was to
1. Challenge the scale of the space with a few big moments or elements.
2. Keep most everything white to allow for whatever slight natural light is coming in to keep moving throughout the space.
3. Define livable areas that feel comfortable, enclosed, and home like. All without literally dividing the space with walls. To define areas within areas I suppose.

There are notes below all of the photographs, and if you'd like to see more of my work you can simply visit my website at tmds1.com.

Thomas-Michael

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Home Interior Design, New York Fashion Photographer Meagan Cignoli's Live And Work Visual Country Loft. The exposed ceiling beams became a subconscious grid to regulate furniture arrangements into the larger space. We also defined areas like this one with large jute rugs below. This way the furniture can float in the space but also feel like it belongs to a designated area.

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Home Interior Design, New York Fashion Photographer Meagan Cignoli's Live And Work Visual Country Loft. Same notes as the first image, but I also want to point out the canvas in this one. To challenge the scale of the loft, we used big or oversized canvases throughout. Their extreme presence and position in an abstract way also helps to complete the space within space definitions.

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Home Interior Design, New York Fashion Photographer Meagan Cignoli's Live And Work Visual Country Loft. There are only three small windows twenty to thirty feet away from where this picture is taken. So you can clearly see the effect of using a lot of white. It really keeps the light bouncing around and dispersive within the windowless space.

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Home Interior Design, New York Fashion Photographer Meagan Cignoli's Live And Work Visual Country Loft. A dining room is defined simply an oversized dining table with a big area rug beneath, and an oversized canvas at one end on axis. With this kind of treatment you can define a space without literally dividing it off or enclosing it.

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Home Interior Design, New York Fashion Photographer Meagan Cignoli's Live And Work Visual Country Loft. Since the space is so big, just placing a bed in it would have seemed odd. It would feel small and lost. So I designed one into the column grid to integrate it with the existing architecture. We kept things industrial and loft like, so it's simply two wood box platforms with queen size mattresses on top. Remember, big space equals big moments. It may be the largest bed in Manhattan. Simply enclosed with some basic white sheers held from some old metal pipes. The sheers allow the bed to be closed off without being as opaque as a wall. I should also note that the box platforms are on wheels as some of the other furniture is. Just in case it needs to be moved out of the way for a big event or gathering.

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Home Interior Design, New York Fashion Photographer Meagan Cignoli's Live And Work Visual Country Loft. I also designed a big desk that Meagan could work on which would also kind of be like a moment since there isn't that much furniture in the space. It's oversized and made out of standardized lumber dimensions. I used them to create something like a screen pattern so it wouldn't feel too bulky. And thus maintain the theme of extreme openness. A simple large piece of glass on top is a great clean working surface.

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Home Interior Design, New York Fashion Photographer Meagan Cignoli's Live And Work Visual Country Loft. A bigger desk image. Here you can see the little wheels a few of the furniture pieces are on.

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Home Interior Design, New York Fashion Photographer Meagan Cignoli's Live And Work Visual Country Loft. Just a nice detail here. Less is more. You don't need a ton of stuff. Even in a huge loft.