Eco-Chic

At Battery Park City in New York, overlooking Rockefeller Park, a lush and popular riverfront stretch, rises a 31 story, green, luxury residential tower called Riverhouse. To promote the building's eco-luxe lifestyle and the stylish interior architecture of David Rockwell, a quite convincingly family-oriented show home has been created in a beautiful, light-saturated, 3 bedroom, 3 1/2 bath duplex.

Parenting lifestyle magazine Cookie organized the event to share ideas of eco-chic family living in the new and certified green building. The 1,930 square foot apartment features such smart green choices as solid bamboo flooring, low emission adhesive and paints, filtered air and water, energy efficient appliances and double pane floor to ceiling windows in each room (with spectacular views of the Hudson River).


Cookie's designers selected comfortable contemporary furniture and accessories to create rooms that multi-task for multi-uses by multi-ages very appealingly. Upholstery in dark colors and stain resistant fabrics for the great room worked well with rounded edges for the coffee table and layers of light for playing, reading or entertaining. Some rooms were painted soft shades of blue-grays or soft whites with a hint of sunshine, while the window treatments were mostly white and simple with shades and translucent draperies. All the spaces were tempting to settle into immediately and make yourself at home. Even the stair hall was transformed into an inspiring spot for a quiet moment.


Between the master suite with a large dressing room and the 2nd bedroom with bath, a gallery of photos lined the second floor hallway. The simplicity and flexibility of the wooden laundry clips evenly spaced in a row further reflected the practical aesthetic exhibited throughout.


In the entrance hall, leading to the great room with a sleek open kitchen on the right, a mud room was established with white shelves lined with baskets on one wall and a large closet opposite. The beautiful white and black baskets were woven from rolled newspaper - perfect storage for keeping a well-organized green home.

Even if you don't live in a building generating energy from solar cells on the roof and boasting an organic bakery in the lobby, you can still take inspiration from the practical, yet chic ideas exhibited.

The Cookie Living show home is open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays 11-5, October 10-October 26, 2008. Further information on Riverhouse may be found at www.the-riverhouse.com.