Carrie Hammer’s bright-colored apartment is an energy-filled house in one of Manhattan’s coolest neighborhoods, the West Village. It’s an perfect location for a young creative professional such as Hammer, founder and CEO of her own style line tailored for professional women. From an intricate aluminum painted ceiling and gloomy partitions to eclectic furnishings and artwork, Hammer’s flat mirrors her love of style and her artistic aesthetic.
in a Glance
Who lives here: Carrie Hammer and two housemates
Location: New York City
Size: Around 900 square feet; 3 bedrooms, 1 bath
Chris A Dorsey Photography
“I love what I do today, and I really like that my flat is filled with life and color,” Hammer says. She’s had housemates over the years, but the decorating is a reflection of her personal style.
Her favorite piece in the flat is the chandelier. “I’ve always wanted one,” she states. “It had been my life dream. I had a decal chandelier within my room in L.A.. Now I’ve got a real one, so that’s really exciting.”
Chandelier, carpet: Overstock.com; coffee table: Ikea; sofa: Door Store (now closed); pillows: Target
Chris A Dorsey Photography
Hammer formerly worked in ad sales. She’d go to work and think, “What we wear is so boring; it’s all just variations of black and white with no colour” Wanting to come home to an energizing haven, she adorned her space with vibrant colours.
Length: Ung Drill, Ikea; mirror: Empire Gallery and Framing; paint: Benjamin Moore
Chris A Dorsey Photography
Hanging on almost every wall in Hammer’s flat are framed fashion posters she picked up during Fashion Week in 2009. “This random subway guy was handing out these images. I took a few and thought, ‘One day I want to do so.'”
She put away the posters, then brought them out once she quit the sales job and began her fashion line, as a reminder of her want to do something more creative. “I framed them, and today I get to see them daily,” she states.
Frames: Westside Frame Shop; candleholders: Ikea; mantel clock: Linens n Things
Chris A Dorsey Photography
Her mother, artist Jean Wellshad a hand in the decor. “My mother is an artist, so I’ve grown up around art my entire life,” Hammer says. “She does oversize art, such as mosaics and things. She really did the silver wings over my TV.”
Hammer painted the iconic power.
Chris A Dorsey Photography
Hammer shares her apartment with 2 housemates. “I predict my area the bachelor flat,” she states. “It’s funny: If anyone goes out, it’s to have married!”
The dining table is a gift in the old housemate, and the mannequin is from the city’s Garment District.
Frames: Ikea
Chris A Dorsey Photography
Mannequins do dual duty as dressmaking forms and layout elements throughout the primary living spaces.
Chris A Dorsey Photography
These screen mannequins, including one covered in a toile pattern, have found a house in an unlikely area: the kitchen.
Chris A Dorsey Photography
Also in her colorful kitchen are oversize fork and spoon stickers inspired by neighborhood restaurant Great on Greenwich. Hammer commissioned the art from Etsy vendor Household Words.
“I mailed them the colour I wanted and they snapped it and delivered to me,” she explains. Great has these huge framed forks, spoons and knives I just love, so once I was decorating I pulled those out of my toolbox.”
Table, chairs: Overstock.com
Chris A Dorsey Photography
Hammer applied vinyl art by Etsy vendor Household Words to customize a straightforward Ikea Malm dresser in the bedroom.
Bedding: Bed Bath & Beyond
Chris A Dorsey Photography
The New York weather also inspires Hammer. She claims her native California, “There is no punctuation of seasons. Everyone should experience changing coasts.”
A bright purple quilt adds life into the space even on the coldest winter day.
Mirror: HomeGoods
Chris A Dorsey Photography
The painted over-sized playing card holds particular significance for Hammer, whose great-grandfather was an artist and a prisoner of war in World War I.
“In his camp the prisoners would make little trinkets and trade them with one another to get cigarettes, additional food or blankets. My great-grandfather took to painting the backs of playing cards to trade,” she states. “The general saw a deck of cards he made and moved him into a room from the camp along with different musicians, [who would] get delivered in to town to do things such as paint murals on churches”
Following five years Hammer’s great-grandfather was given a visa to go home. “I think all the time that had it was for a deck of playing cards, I literally wouldn’t be here now,” says Hammer.