Small Spaces: Take Mini to the Max

When Ken Foreman moved into a rented 1,000-square-foot duplex in New York's Greenwich Village, the place made him see red. "Red was a color used a lot in the Victorian period, but I tried to give it a modern twist," says the designer. In these tight new quarters, he uses red as a way of drawing the eye across the living room, through the dining area, and out to the small terrace greenhouse—a visual sweep that makes it all seem roomier.

Juxtaposing highbrow Italian design and affordable mass-produced furnishings, Ken was able to create a streamlined environment whose elements are highly utilitarian. For example, the stained-pine dining table, by B&B Italia, doubles as a workbench on which he can study blueprints.

Identical rugs under the dining and cocktail tables ensure continuity and enlarge the scale, as do the slight B&B Italia sofa, the armless (and seemingly weightless) Cappellini chair, and the Marcel Wanders light fixture from Moooi.