Colin King Trades a Minimalist Loft for a Manhattan Aerie Brimming With Choice Finds

The ever-evolving tastemaker embraces a more layered, collected sensibility in his new art-filled Chelsea residenceColin King reclining in his new apartment in ChelseaAt Colin King’s new Manhattan apartment, on the 11th floor of a 1930 Chelsea building, casement windows and a generous terrace look out across neighboring rooftops, the city unfolding in a postcard-perfect sweep. It is, in every sense, the most elevated space he has ever called home—filled with choice antiques, vintage treasures, and a growing collection of fine art. Packed away are the rocks he’s collected since childhood. His bed, once artfully tussled, is a feat of military-tight corners. And there is nary a pear (IYKYK) to be found. “Every time people visit they’ll say, Wow, so different for you,” he reflects. “But this side of me was always there.”Antique and vintage finds of wide-ranging origin converge in the living room; artworks by Alice Rahon (center) and Dominique Knowles (right). ART: Alice Rahon. Dominique Knowles / Greene Naftali, New York and Hoffman Donahue, Los Angeles and New York.A vintage French chandelier hangs in the den, which is painted in Farrow & Ball’s Slipper Satin and furnished with a custom sofa, 1960s Charlotte Perriand cocktail table, and Beni Rug; artwork by Henri Fantin-Latour. ART: Henri Fantin-LatourA sisal wall covering by CMO Paris grounds a bedroom vignette; artwork by Kate Spencer Stewart. ART: Kate Spencer Stewart / Emalin, LondonÉlitis wallpaper cocoons the hallway; rug by Beni. Vintage Rosewood Spoon ChairBeni Cipher RugPewter Vase by Just AndersenBeni Regent RugThe creative polyglot and artistic director at large of Beni had until recently lived in a light-filled Tribeca loft, its limewashed walls a neutral backdrop to a spare mix of furnishings (AD, November 2022). Design lovers know it well as the cover to King’s hit 2023 monograph, Arranging Things. But if that apartment was a calling card, it had also become a pigeonhole. “I got placed in a beige box,” he notes, adding that, because the space doubled as his office, “it never totally felt like home.” When time came to move, King envisioned a prewar warren of cozy rooms, with a fireplace, outdoor space, and an overdue division of life and work. “I needed to express myself differently.”An antique coromandel screen anchors the bedroom; Vintage floor lamps by Jasper Morrison and painting by John Kelly. ART: John KellyArtworks by Nicholas Bierk (left) and Jared Buckhiester hang above the living room’s 19th-century Italian commodes; floor lamp by Tiffany Studios. ART: Nicholas Bierk / Gladstone gallery. Jared Buckhiester / David Kordansky Gallery.Waterworks fixtures accent the bathroom’s double vanity. Assorted vessels, including King’s own designs for Zara Home, gather on the dining room’s shelves. ART: Nate AntolikWhereas his old apartment was all about, in his words, “stripping it back,” his current digs lean into layers from the ground up. “It started with the rugs,” King explains, referring to Beni’s new Chelsea collection, handwoven by expert Moroccan artisans using a painstaking technique historically reserved for royal palaces. “This construction let us try things we never could before,” he says of the dense pile (a million-plus knots per 8-by-10-foot rug). Thus motifs tend toward the intricate and curvilinear, whether framed medallions or a field of leaves, vines, and blooms. “I had never been a shoes-off guy, but now I have to be—they’re too beautiful.”A Chesneys mantelpiece serves as a focal point in the living room. The living room’s collection of Line Vautrin boxes from Maison Gerard In the den, King’s prized Henri Fantin-Latour painting mingles with a wall-mounted Tiffany Studios vase and his own centerpiece vessel for Audo Copenhagen, among myriad other treasures. Beni’s Pavilion rug anchors a 19th-century chinoiserie writing table that displays vessels by (from left) Boch Frères Keramis, Dana Arbib, and Just Andersen. In the living room, king works from a vintage Pierre Jeanneret desk and chair. Beni Cloister Rug"Box Chair" by Pierre JeanneretBeni Pavilion RugPavot Centerpiece by Colin King for Audo CopenhagenArt acted as the secondary guiding force. With the help of eagle-eyed adviser Joe Sheftel, to whom he was introduced by Ryan Murphy, King spent the past two years amassing moody paintings by Nate Antolik, Nicholas Bierk, Dominique Knowles, and Kate Spencer Stewart, among other contemporary talents. Displayed against the bedroom’s 19th-century Coromandel screen is a 2025 John Kelly self-portrait modeled after Caravaggio’s The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist. Hung in the den, where King pores over his many books, is a circa 1890 Henri-Fantin Latour canvas of three nymphs. “Someone recently asked me if, given the choice, I would want 10 incredible pieces of furniture or one great piece of art—I said art. That to me is more of a lifelong commitment.”King at work in his bedroom; painting by Leonard Baby Art: Leonard BabyOpposite King’s bed, a Chinese console grounds a grouping of 19th-century low tables and antique chairs; rug by Beni. ART: Kate Spencer Stewart / Emalin, LondonLight dapples the living room, where a 1940s French side table displaying a collection of Line Vautrin boxes pulls up to a vintage Chesterfield sofa upholstered in black satin. ART: Jared Buckhiester / David Kordansky GalleryAn 18th-century French giltwood mirror reflects a view of the living room. Displayed on one of the living room’s Italian commodes are a vintage Brutalist table lamp and vessels by Pierre-Adrien Dalpayrat, Louis Cane, and Dana Arbib; painting by Nicholas Bierk. ART: Nicholas Bierk / Gladstone GalleryColin King x Zara Petit Egg LampTiffany Studios "Vine Border" Floor LampBeni Facet RugFrench 19th Century Louis XVI Style Giltwood MirrorOf course, his furniture is also fabulous, spanning myriad eras and styles, with leitmotifs of gilding and chinoiserie. Here, a Pierre Jeanneret desk meets an Egyptian Revival candelabra. There, Joe D’Urso cocktail tables face off with an altar-like console. Room to room, lighting ranges from Jasper Morrison floor lamps to a Fortuny pendant, while antique vessels by Christofle, Tiffany Studios, and Joseff Hoffman mingle with King’s own designs for Zara Home or Audo Copenhagen. Underpinning the mix is King’s poetic sense of texture, tone, materiality, and form, every vignette a study in contrasts.Diaphanous window shades filter sunlight in the living room. A rug from Beni’s new Chelsea collection serves as a soft base for the bedroom’s refined furnishings. A Fortuny lantern is suspended above the dining room’s 19th-century English table and French chairs; wallpaper by Élitis. Beni Leaf Fall RugFortuny Concubine Loto Silk LampLine Vautrin "De La Poudre Et Des Bals" BoxColin King x Zara Petit Iridescent Glass VesselMaybe he hasn’t quite busted out of that beige box: Walls are painted in Farrow & Ball’s Slipper Satin or else covered in sisal paper. But world, how you have misjudged Mr. Colin King, who has more surprises in store for us yet. “As I figure out the next chapter of my career, home will be an experiment,” he says. For now, he’s enjoying the views. “I have never lived above the third floor. The light up here is incredible.”This story appears in the November issue. Never miss a story when you subscribe to AD.Not a subscriber? Join AD for print and digital access now.Sign up for our daily newsletter to get the best of design in your inbox.Sam Cochran currently serves as the brand’s Global Features Director. In that role he shepherds coverage of design, culture, travel, and architecture news for the print magazine while contributing to all of AD’s international platforms, editorial initiatives, and events. Sam is also the author of the upcoming book American Designers ... 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