On a perfect Sunday afternoon this past summer I ventured into Brooklyn to visit the stylish studio apartment of Ben Miller who you may remember from our last installment of Meet The Assistant.  Ben’s studio is a pint-sized 240 square feet which would be a challenge to decorate even for New Yorkers who are used to living in cramped quarters. But – when you’ve worked with one of America’s top interior designers you certainly have the upper hand when it comes to space planning and knowing how to select just the right pieces to help maximize every square inch. Ben furnished his home mostly with vintage finds from shops in his neighborhood and put his DIY skills to the test in order to create clever storage solutions. He mounted floor-to-ceiling bookshelves along a wall to house artfully arranged books and accessories and installed a pegboard in his teeny kitchen as a place to hang pots and pans. The apartment itself is full of charm with incredibly high ceilings, large, intricate moldings and two large windows that bring lots of light into the space. It’s also full of personal touches like family photos, self-made artwork and heirlooms that were handed down to him from loved ones. Read on to hear Ben school us with a lesson on how he decorated his small space with such big style plus take a peek inside. It’s house tour time!

The Sleeping Area

“I always find great deals on good quality solid linens on Overstock.com and accent them with interesting pillowcases. These pillowcases and the lumbar pillow are from West Elm. I got the red and white striped guy years ago at Pottery Barn and never used it until this apartment. I love the weight of this Smith & Johnson Dry Goods bed sweater (a bargain find from Bed Bath & Beyond) and use it year round. Switching out your duvet cover is an easy way to change the look of your bed. This is a super simple one I grabbed at Ikea.”

The Space-Saving Solutions

“These wall shelves hand-crafted by some talented friends of mine and once hung on the wall of their super artsy loft in Bushwick. When they moved to Minneapolis for work, the shelves were willed down to me.”

“Even though they’re not really pieces, my plants bring such life and joy into the space. They’re happy with the tons of light they get and truly help make the place feel like a home.”

“My chest of drawers is an old piece I found at a local second hand furniture store. I was drawn to the intricate veneer inlay on the face and I had to have it. It’s not so much perfect for this space, but more something that I just knew I’d think about down the road if I didn’t make a home for it. The label shows it’s a John Widdicomb piece but I’m a little in the dark as to when it was made.”

“This came from Junk in Williamsburg and was in need of a little TLC, a little mineral oil and the wood came right back to life. The caned front was in great shape and really makes the piece in my eyes. It’s the perfect bar cabinet and has a couple of shelves to tuck away serving pieces I don’t use often.”

“Being that I love to cook, this was particularly tricky. There isn’t a single drawer in the apartment and only two usable cabinets so storage was an issue from the start. I figured the best approach would be some sort of exposed vertical storage. Shelves weren’t really an option because of the door swing, so I painted some inexpensive pegboard the same color as the rest of the studio and hit up Home Depot. They have a million little accessories for the garage that I used to configure just the right combo for my pots and pans. With counter space being almost nonexistent, I got a cutting board to partially cover the sink and added a nice chunk of work surface. What was nothing more than a 4′x4′ pocket of space is now a highly functional kitchen. It’s a little bit Julia Child, a little bit Tim The Tool Man Taylor. And the best part–it cleans up in a jiffy!”

“I really love my desk. It’s an old Steelcase piece with great character that I found on Craigslist for next to nothing. You don’t see the single drawer version all that often and the writing surface is just excellent. I love that it’s a bit beat up and has its own story. Being that I live in a pretty small space, it gets used all of the time–I use it for working but it’s my dining table too. I’ve hosted four friends comfortably.”

The DIY Artwork

“Before working with Laura I helped open up the Ace Hotel. One morning I noticed someone had forgotten their photo strip in the lobby photo booth overnight. As it turns out, it was an automatic test strip–four blank frames taken at random each night to be sure it was in working order. I started collecting these blank strips and before long, people began leaving them for me at the front desk. It ended up that I have one for just about every day I worked there. Here’s the kicker–after I’d begun working with Laura I was invited back to toast to a friend who was leaving the hotel. It was late and most of the crowd had gone home when I noticed the photo booth fire up on its own. I bolted over just in time to catch the last frame and then, promptly freaked out. I framed a sampling of them and included the one of me with a huge smile in that final square.”

The Personal Touches

“I’m terribly sentimental so most of the little objects and artwork are direct reminders of friends and family or fun trips. It’s nice to look around your place and feel like your loved ones are right there with you. Here is a piece from a set of gold lipped glass trays I found at thrift shop that I filled with spare keys to friends’ places, a small cup my mother made and an old industrial pail from Moon River Chattel in Williamsburg.”

“I have a bunch of pieces of pottery my Mom made around the apartment, this is a key bowl she made just for me, an antique copper flashlight picked up at the Brooklyn Flea and a found key inside a small glass ink well.”

” This chair was another great find from the local thrift store, the frame was $20! For the time being I wove a makeshift seat using twine and added the loose cushion. I love the lines and haven’t yet decided on a fabric for the seat.”

The End

Photos by Nicole Gibbons for So Haute

_{Ben Miller at home in Brooklyn}

Meet the Assistant profiles the assistants and associates who work behind-the-scenes with some of the industry’s top designers to help make beautiful spaces come to life.

Ben Miller is assistant extraoirdinaire to the incredibly talented Laura Kirar of Laura Kirar*TRU Design, who has infused her modern, tailored aesthetic into the interiors of residential spaces, award-winning restaurants, showrooms, and hotels across the globe. Originally from Lafayette Louisiana, Ben, 29, moved to New York on a whim nearly six years ago and has worked with Laura for the past year-and -a-half. With offices in New York and Miami, a wide range of product lines that includes furniture, accessories, lighting, tile, carpets and more, not to mention an insanely busy travel schedule, Laura relies on Ben to help her keep it all together. I caught up with Ben earlier this summer at his 240 square foot studio apartment in Brooklyn and was utterly impressed with how he created such efficiency and style in his small home. Look out for a house tour here on the blog coming soon (!) and in the meantime, let’s get to know the fabulous Ben Miller…

How did you end up in New York?
A few weeks after Hurricane Katrina I was home in Louisiana driving back to Lafayette from dinner in Baton Rouge when a dear friend of mine called to catch up. She had just moved to Brooklyn and was telling me about how a couple of potential roommates had fallen through and was going on about how much I’d love the city. It wasn’t the first time we’d kicked the idea of me moving to New York around, but it was certainly different this time. It took the 45-minute drive from Baton Rouge to convince me to give New York a shot. The next day I gave notice at my job, broke the news to my parents and bought a plane ticket. Two and a half weeks later I flew to New York for the very first time, blew up my air mattress and fell asleep in my windowless 10′x10′ room. I got a job with a big ad agency a couple of weeks after the move and the rest, as they say, is history. It’s crazy to think that was nearly six years ago already!

What is a typical day in the office for you?
Between collections and interior projects, everyday is its own adventure. We start work around 9am and finish between 6 and 6:30pm. Some days are spent in showrooms but most of the time I’m helping out with the project management of the licensing collections and smaller scale design projects.  The licensing collections is where most of my focus is currently.  There’s so much that goes into launching these collections–from gathering inspiration through all the planning and promotion it involves–that the majority of my day-to-day is spent making sure things are moving along.

_{A lamp from Laura Kirar’s collection for Arteriors home}

Do you have a favorite project that you’ve had the opportunity to assist Laura on?
Seeing the latest introductions from Arteriors home was big for me.  It’s the first collection I’ve been a part of all the way through, from hand sketches to the launch at High Point.

How would you describe Laura’s style?
Utterly refined, simultaneously handsome and beautiful, grounded in her foundation as a conceptual artist and accented with worldly influences.

_{A lounge chair from Laura’s McGuire furniture collection inside a penthouse residence she designed at the W Dallas residences}

Have there you ever had any crazy on-the-job disasters or mistakes that you’ve learned from?
Ha.  Just last week I directed our driver to a random address in New Jersey I’d mistakenly picked up in an email chain.  We were forty minutes out of the way but managed to make it to her speaking engagement on time!  Best of all, she completely kept her cool while I turned five shades of embarrassed.

 

What do you like most about your job?
The fact that it’s a constant education.  Our office is small but mighty so there’s lots of opportunity to be a part of all areas of the design process–I really love learning about new resources and techniques, though.

 

What do you like least?
Facebook!  I’ve never been that active personally, so to do it for our company is truly bewildering.

_{Another view of the Laura Kirar designed penthouse at the W Dallas residences.}

What has been the most valuable lesson Laura has taught you?
Scale and proportion matter more than just about anything.  I’m paying close attention to the way she balances restraint and grace with something a little punchier, like rich color.

 

What are your long term career goals?
To always work with inspired, talented people who are doing what they love.  I work best when collaborating, so hopefully to find a good partner or two to bounce ideas off.  Maybe we’ll start a small design firm together one day.

_{A sneak peek at a vignette inside Ben’s Brooklyn studio}

Finally – What advice can you share with our readers about decorating on a design assistant’s budget?
1. Start at the hardware store–grab some paint to completely shift the feeling of a space, swap in a dimmer switch to your most used light sources, look for creative new uses for otherwise typical products.

2. Spend as much as your budget allows on a few things–a comfortable sofa, your mattress and bed linens, and a rug that will work hard beyond it’s current home.

3. If you find something you absolutely love, get it, because chances are you always will.

4. Frequent your neighborhood antique shops and vintage stores–you’d be amazed at what treasures are hiding in those dusty corners.

5. Don’t be afraid to DIY–cut your own mats and dress up inexpensive frames, make some art, repaint (and reupholster while you’re at it) a tired chair with good looking bones.

Top and bottom photos by me