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The Househunter: Room by Room

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We’re going for a nose round a celebrity home this week. We don’t do this very often because they are usually, it seems to me, so over the top in some way that while it might be nice to have a poke about you wouldn’t really want to live in any of them as there’s usually something just a little off about them.

Not this one though. At least not in my humble. This is the New York home of actress Meg Ryan which has just gone on the market for $10.9m via Corcoran. I know. But look at it. Despite the fact that I’ve just painted my kitchen black (the cupboards not the walls) I look at this and fancy it. Mind you there’s a few squillion dollars worth of marble on that splash back but details aside it’s an achievable look.

I think it’s mainly down the rustic kitchen table which gives the room character and stops it being just white and bland. And yes, just like the rest of us, she’s clearly tidied up for the estate agent photographer.

long hall with bench in meg ryan's home

This bit’s probably quite tricky to pull off without a house like this but the idea of a long bench in a hall is a classic that always works if your hall is wide enough. Mine isn’t but I could just imagine sitting here with my feet up, lap top on and a cup of coffee pretending to work and, in reality, staring out of the window.

The sitting room does feel a bit “done” to me and while I love the idea of the wooden sofas that are a bit like customised church pews, they do have very low backs so I’m not sure how comfortable they would be. I like all the black door frames though.

meg ryan home via corcoran

But have a look at the bathroom. After all kitchens and bathrooms are the rooms that sell houses after all. Although oddly having persuaded you to buy the property in the first place, they are then the rooms that people are most likely to want to change. Go figure.

This is a good’un though. I love that industrial black light and the wall of metro – sorry subway – tiles with the pretty black and white floor. I might not have had black basins but perhaps that’s the celebrity element. What do you think? There are more pictures if you click the link above.

meg-ryan-84-mercer-street-bathroom

Where next? Well I can tell you it’s been tough this week. I have looked at A LOT of houses. And there is a lot of stuff out there that would hurt your eyes. I have seen red kitchens, red and white striped walls. A lot of brown and beige. I can’t tell you how many high backed leather dining chairs and flouncy curtains. And you wonder why we spend a lot of time at The Modern House? Because we are fantasy shopping, people. We want to see great spaces now and not have to imagine moving all the furniture out and remodelling the kitchen. So, with that in mind here are a couple of shots from a new holiday development which, I think possibly hasn’t even been built yet.

blue walls and checked floor

It’s part of the Lakes by Yoo  development and this is a new set of buildings that are in the woodland. These are images from the five bedroom house that is on the market for £1,615,000 via Humberts.  I was drawn in by this rather fabulous kitchen above as the colours are so gorgeous. Suddenly mixing blue walls with lots of leather seating and a black and white floor seems like a brilliant idea.

wood burning stove and brick wall

And a woodburning stove is never a bad thing. We spent a fortune having the chimney relined last year and then having to faff about having a new grate built as ours was too cracked to use. There was more than one occasion when we started to wish we’d just gone straight for a woodburning stove and cut out the hassle. Especially when the chimney man disappeared to Ireland in the middle of the job for a family tragedy that lasted two weeks and also broke his phone so he couldn’t contact me to tell me when he would be back. Don’t.Even.Start. me on that one. Anyway, someone else finished the job in the end and we do love having an open fire – when we have time to light it.

Anyway – deep breath – moving on. Nice kitchen? At my great age I prefer to chair to a bench although benches are pretty to look at.

rustic kitchen with wooden bench

I hope you like this week’s selection. I shall now go and rest my eyes from all the horrors I have seen.

Kate Watson-Smyth

The author Kate Watson-Smyth

I’m a journalist who writes about interiors mainly for The Financial Times but I have also written regularly for The Independent and The Daily Mail. My house has been in Living Etc, HeartHome and featured in The Wall Street Journal & Corriere della Sera. I also run an interior styling consultancy Mad About Your House. Welcome to my Mad House.

6 Comments

  1. I agree with you, benches look so much more beautiful, especially when the table seem quite low. But I’d preferred the benches to be off-white. Maybe a light beige in this setting.

  2. Meg’s Kitchen & bathroom are lovely, but really hate those sofas in her living room, they are all I could focus on….. I love your posts, though. Your comments on your chimney man made me smile!

  3. Meg’s apartment is amazing. Not sure it would look quite so appealing with my cat scratched sofa, but I guess if I win the lottery tonight and can afford the move to NY then I could pick up a couple of sofas as well 😉

  4. ….and I want to say that I love getting your posts in the morning, your sense of humour and style is always a good, positive start to the day! Thank you!

  5. I love Meg Ryan’s place. I’ve seen other photos of it, but not the bathroom. Did you notice the tops of the walls have mirrors? I wouldn’t want to have to keep them clean, but what a great idea for multiplying light in what looks to be a windowless room.
    I lack confidence in those free-standing pipes like next to the tub. I am sure I would trip over it (who knows? the soap shoots out of my hands and I go looking for it?) and cause an expensive plumbing crisis.

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