Designer Jay Jeffers is known for the interiors he creates that weave a rich narrative by layering thoughtful furniture finds with interesting art, supple fabrics, and rich palettes. It’s an aesthetic he’s cultivated at private residences—including his own New York apartment—and his California hotel, The Madrona. Several years ago, his San Francisco studio shaped the model units at a Bay Area address with Manhattan vibes.
It was there that his client, a young tech entrepreneur, was introduced to his work and brought Jeffers on to design his two-bedroom home within the building. “He wanted modern, easy living but also space to entertain,” says Jeffers of the homeowner’s directive for the project, that is featured in the designer’s latest tome, Modern Classic: Tailored Homes, Timeless Style (Gibbs Smith).
When approaching the design of the space, Jeffers first tackled the entry. “One of the things about these new build apartments that I really don’t love is there’s not an entryway, there’s not a foyer,” says the designer. “You open the door and you’re automatically in the kitchen or the living room or you’re peering through the rest of the house.”
Jeffers reconfigured a small office between the front door and kitchen to create a cinematic first impression. Here, walls are paneled with a tight mosaic of whiskey color oak panels and bronze channeling, the unexpected geometry echoing the pattern of a rug by Yerra from De Sousa Hughes and a kaleidoscopic Misia fabric used on a Dylan Ferrell bench. “It’s not a large apartment but it has nice high ceilings, and great windows and great natural light, so we were able to bring some color and warmth in and not have it feel tight or closed in,” he says.
To support the client’s love of entertaining, one of the apartment’s bedrooms was remastered to host a dining area connected to a show-stopping powder room. “I always think of them as the jewelry of the home,” says Jeffers of the punctuating bath wrapped in the same paneling as the entry and an exuberant Walker Zanger tile. “I love it when people walk into a room like a powder room and they’re like gasp, what’s going on in here, this is incredible.”…