Name: Chuck and Michael
Location: East Village
Size: 820 square feet, one bedroom with patio
Lived-In: 5 years, own
Everything in Chuck Gonzales and Michael Thibeault's East Village one-bedroom has a story. Whether it's a wood carving picked up in Mexico or work made by friends, every inch of the apartment is used to display their eclectic art collection, and yet somehow it doesn't feel cluttered...
Their art obsession comes naturally, Chuck is an illustrator and Michael is an art rep and co-creator of Think It Ink It Publishing, a creative writing experience for kids that allows them to turn their stories into hardcover illustrated books.
Last summer, they renovated their kitchen with the help of friend and designer, Barry Rice, who opened the 1980s kitchen up to the whole apartment. The new kitchen utilizes every square inch of space and allows them to exercise their love of homemade Tex-Mex and peanut butter cookies.
Chuck and Michael's Survey
Inspiration: Art. Especially work by the many artists we know.
What is your favorite element of your home? The kitchen and outdoor space…it’s a tossup
What is the biggest challenge of your home? Space, of course.
What do friends say about your home? They seem to like all of the art and everyone loves Barry Rice’s kitchen design (www.barryricedesign.com) and what it has done for our cooking!
What is your home's biggest embarrassment? The closet doors have a will of their own. They constantly spring open…
What DIY project are you most proud of? We're always working on something from changing light fixtures, to painting and gardening. We keep ourselves pretty busy.
What is your Biggest Indulgence, when furnishing your home? Art and we just love that we splurged on a real solid bed!
Best Advice: Buy art and frame it well. You don’t necessarily need a big budget. There are lots of galleries, cafes or online sources. When buying art online, galleries are usually willing to exchange the art if when it arrives, the art is not what you expected.
Resources
Appliances: Viking
Hardware: Our sources range from local hardware stores to flea markets.
Furniture: Our last sofa from Crate and Barrel still looked good after 10 years, so we are sticking with them for sofas! Also Cite in Soho. And we have had great success with Park Upholstery on East 14th street. They have been around for years.
Lighting: The Bowery, Gueridon and flea markets
Rugs and Carpets: ABC Carpet (in the basement where they are always willing to negotiate)
Tiles and Stone: Stone Source
Bed: ABC Carpet and Home
Artwork: A lot from artists we know personally and love, but many from travels and going to galleries. And we are heavily drawn to folk art….we appreciate and admire that many folk artists who may be untrained and working with a limited resources, yet have such motivation and drive to make beautiful art.
Masood Kamandy -- Afghanistan airplane close-up in kitchen
Ben Miller -- linoleum collages
Max Miller -- Willie the dog portrait and various abstracts
Peter Ross -- b&w Afghani bricklayer portrait
Matthew Waldman -- fairy
(kitchen photos in slideshow taken by Peter Ross)
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Another house tour that I am in love with!!!! You have a very beautiful place, I could get lost there, it's just so comfy looking!
view dunklekatze's profile
looks like a house of fun! i love the fridge.
view mvastudios's profile
Your place looks great, and the art is fantastic. I already like you guys. Wish you lived closer so we could hang out.
view mrs yow's profile
love the kitchen!!
view sdnyc's profile
Chuck & Michael: please journey south and help me with my house!
view madampince's profile
in love with that bedroom.....
view amazonikon's profile
Wow, that made my day.
view MiklakMiklak's profile
that quilt is glorious! Where did you get it?
view Tiamat_the_Red's profile
Where IS that beautiful headboard from?
: )
view ljbmonkey's profile
It's the Lotus Bed. You can find it at High Fashion Home. You'll have to call in to find out the price though.
http://www.highfashionhome.com/lotus-bed.html
view designsnob's profile
I am going to come to your place and make a mess in your gorgeous kitchen, smoke cigarettes on your patio and then crawl into that big cozy bed.
view sharon needles's profile
I like the bird house/chapel and the guy with the corkscrew penis!
view Mr. Dangerous's profile
Thanks for the answer, designsnob!
view ljbmonkey's profile
The quilt was an ebay find about 5 years ago. Apparently, it had been packed up in an attic for many years, so it is in excellent shape...we were lucky.
The bed is the Lotus bed as posted by designsnob. We were told it is made with recycled wood. It is a very solid bed. We purchased it at ABC Home in NY. We watched it for a while and bought it when the store had a "25% off" sale.
view Conrad's profile
I would expect no less Sharon Needles. Just not sure if cigarettes are all you'd be smoking.
view cgonza08's profile
I like your art, especially that church. My wife and I had a dollhouse that your church reminds me of and now we wish we had kept it. By the way, our daughter wrote one of your Think It Ink It books and she loved it!
view SteveO's profile
Wow, I'd love to make some eggplant parm in that kitchen...
view TML's profile
I am not an Arts and Crafts fan but your home especially the living room has such warmth. I love Willie. I emailed Max Miller to see about a portriat of my Jack Russell who is 17 years old.
I always miss the light when I leave Manhattan. You seem to have a great exposure, I love the light coming in on your table with the plants.
view LoriSF's profile
Love your place. Where did you get the bookcase with stainless steel legs?
view meola's profile
That chair is fantastic! Where can I find one like that?
view Allsunday's profile
I'd love to know where to find a chair like that too.
view tiramisu's profile
We got the chair at Cite in Soho. You can easily change the upholstery on it. The also have red wool/poly, leather covers, and an interesting wool plaid wool/poly. The best part is the price, since the chair is from a Canadian designer it's not subject to the radical dollar to euro flux. I don't recall the name of the designer, but Amy posted a link to Cite, and I know they still carry it. The bookshelf was from the Chelsea flea market about 12 years back.
view cgonza08's profile
the chair.
http://www.citenyc.com/retail/main.html?loungechairs
view cgonza08's profile
That kitchen. I'm dying. Nice work, both of you! (It's Jason, btw)
view The Rural Modernist's profile