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It's an enviable circumstance — not to mention a rather practical living situation for a frequent traveler. The gentleman who inhabits this masculine, wonderfully scaled space, situated eight floors up in Inwood Manor, can simply shut the door en route to his beloved country retreat and leave behind the what-ifs that often plague ground-level homeowners. Decorator Cathy Echols was charged with refashioning, in her words, a "'70s disco cool" apartment and making it relevant again. The 2,600-square-foot expanse retains many of those elements, not to mention several fun furniture and lighting pieces once owned by the former owners, who lived there for almost two decades. The space was originally gray with burgundy accents (plumbing and otherwise). Echols repainted with Farrow & Ball Tanner's Brown — a deep aubergine hue that changes with the time of day, appearing eggplant at one hour and chocolate at another. "I believe using one color not only unifies the space, but makes it look fresher and large," she says. "And in a high-rise, the space can already read like a box. I think you shouldn't try to make it read like something else, or you'll lose the sleekness and stylishness of it." She worked with many existing materials that her client had purchased along with the space, such as the rich chocolatebrown marble flooring and a plush L-shaped sofa in the living room that anchors the open floor plan, opening into the dining room. She refreshed its cushions with charcoal Polyform wool fabric and slicked the built-in tables that run along two sides of the sofa (with oodles of storage beneath) with still more Tanner's Brown. In keeping with this theme of consistency, Echols purchased dozens of polished nickel flush ring pulls from Fixtures & Fittings — "they remind me of something you'd find on a ship," she says. She installed them on every cabinet, from the bar to the bath to the kitchen. Blessed with two large balcony spaces that open up onto the dining- and living-room area, as well as another that spills into the bedroom suite, the apartment is extremely conducive to entertaining. The galley kitchen, revamped with new appliances and mirrored to give the illusion of a larger space, is a functional area where the owner, a talented cook, can whip up meals for a dozen or more. Neither he nor Echols is shy about playing with scale in Continued page 40 MAY | PAGE 39 | 2012 PREVIOUS PAGE: Top left: Living large in black and white … In the living room, an orchid from David Brown in a cache-pot by Robert Kuo for Baker. Crystal and silver collectibles top the glass cocktail table Top right: In all the gin joints in all the towns … A drinks bar is tucked away off the main hall. Bottom: Interior designer Cathy Echols of CH Designs, dressed in Hermès, is in the living room of her client's high-rise home. Painting by graffiti artist Retna, from New Image Gallery, Los Angeles THIS PAGE: Top left: In the dining room, six leather cantilevered chairs from the previous owners attend a McGuire glass-topped table. A turned natural-wood bowl serves as the centerpiece. To the left, Allison Schulnik's monkey painting from Mark Moore Gallery in Santa Monica. Lighting by Andy Coolquitt. Top right: In the sunlit sitting room off the master bedroom, a pastoral painting by '20s muralist David Karfunkle. Sofa by Shabby Slips, covered in Belgium cut velvet. Waylande Gregory bowl from Sloan/Hall. Above: Surrounding a custom glass-topped cocktail table in the living room, a Polyform brown-leather chaise and an L-shaped sofa purchased from the former owners of this high-rise and re-covered in a rich wool fabric. Custom-made étagère holds a collection of largescale antiquities. Bronze lamp from Blackmon Cruz Workshop in Los Angeles. Donald Sultan's smoke-ring photos from McClain Gallery.