Cottage Charm in the Big Apple

A professional designer and young mom brings a colorful, traditional cottage style to her own NYC apartment.

- VICTORIA VAN VLEAR

DRAMATIC ENTRANCE. The entryway to the apartment features a calm Wedgewood blue shade and tile flooring original to the 1920s building. "It does feel very nice to have that entrance point to the apartment, have a place to transition into the house," homeowner and designer Ann Dee Sutton of AD Sutton Design says. "I went more dramatic in there with the color because it has no natural light with windows, so it's moody when you come in. That felt like a fun introduction to the rest of the apartment."

When you hear

“New York City” and “interior design,” cozy cottage style probably isn’t what comes to mind. But interior designer Ann Dee Sutton of AD Sutton Design loves vibrant classic cottage style and has brought it into her own NYC apartment for her young family.

Originally from the East Coast, Ann Dee and her husband moved to the West Coast for a few years and then decided to move back to New York City. In 2020, with a toddler and newborn, they moved to this 1,500-square-foot Manhattan apartment. With both the pandemic in progress and having a newborn in tow, they decided to take things slow and renovated their home in stages over the next two years. Here's how they did it.

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