Yelena Gerts
is not afraid – not of wearing a ruffly fuchsia top, painting her living room green with a silver sparkle, or ordering a huge marble coffee table that took eight people to carry. Her task for this Monmouth County family (two traveling entrepreneurs with two children) was to “create a redesign that represents everything they are about: young, fun and modern, with a touch of luxury glam.”
BEST DRESSED | “The family has many visitors from all over the world, so the appearance of their home is important,” tells Gerts.
When they bought the beautiful, custom built contemporary house, it was furnished in a traditional style – not their taste. Enter Gerts. A 120-foot nature photograph by Peter Lik that the couple loved became the focal point in the spacious hallway. A gray leather sofa in the living room was the perfect neutral base to play off different shades of orange in accessories and pillows.
“My clients were willing to experiment, and I added a few elements of surprise, including the silver painted console in the hallway and the chain chandelier over the coffee table,” notes Gerts.
KISS & MAKEUP | Gerts left Odessa, Ukraine at 18 to attend Fashion Institute of Technology. After graduating, she worked for Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) Beauty as a makeup artist and then as a manager before opening New York’s first Lancome boutique on the Upper West Side.
“My love affair with color started at the house of YSL,” she says, but creating the Lancome space from scratch brought home her desire to be an interior designer.
COLOR DIPS | “I’m not afraid to wear bright pink lipstick and a royal blue dress, and pull it together confidently,” states Gerts, a mother of three. “I had a bright green wall painted with a silver shimmer. For some, it would’ve been terrifying, but when I put a white leather sectional next to it, the space looked modern and stylish.”
TALL ORDERS | In the clients’ expansive living room, Gerts chose a very long –18 foot–custom sofa in shimmery gray leather and black leather chairs with a silver wood finish that she later dressed up with dusty pewter for pizzazz. She is also passionate about window treatments. “They’re like jewelry,” she explains. “When everything is neutral, a touch of color in the window treatments adds personality.” For the 24-foot wall space, she handpicked silver mesh sheers and glam panels with orange and silver banding. “I love accessorizing,” declares Gerts.
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