“It’s a love affair,” Behun says of the fantastically practical touch that has become one of her signatures. The table, which seats 10 but can squeeze two more, is illuminated by a fabulously surrealistic, oversized floor lamp, another custom Behun special. Here, she added cushy foam and sheepskins to the hardwood seats, but, she admits, “I make those comfort concessions for clients all the time. For me, I loved the look. So I thought, it’s okay if you get a little uncomfortable, then you get up and you move somewhere else—to another room; another view.”
After all, this home is a laboratory for Behun, a place where she can experiment with ideas she might use later in a project or collection. The custom headboard she designed for her bedroom, for example, has influenced those she has made for clients. Meanwhile, the candy-colored pink and orange light that sometimes appears, magically, at dusk has inspired her line of rugs for The Rug Company.
While the first floor of the apartment is ever so slightly more grounded (if you can say that this many stories up), thanks to woodsy touches—stained oak floors, rustic stools, a walnut-clad media room—the second level feels officially heavenly. “This was the sensation I was talking about,” explains Behun ascending the winding metal staircase that connects the floors. “You feel like you’re coming up in a cloud.” You arrive in her home office, where a custom lacquered-white X-desk and Eames task chairs sit on a shaggy alpaca area rug. In the next room, a cloud-covered paper by Rebel Walls appears almost as an extension of the sky outside.
Even after three years in the apartment—and several decades in the city—Behun says she’s still full of wonder. “This view really puts everything into perspective—the way the city was built, the sheer beauty and enormity of it. It’s always kind of miraculous. I’m still that Midwestern girl in awe of it all.”
Kelly Behun’s Manhattan apartment appears in AD’s January 2024 issue. Never miss an issue when you subscribe to AD.