A Striking Study in Black and White

Last year, I fell in love with the home of Alison Cayne, founder of Haven’s Kitchen after seeing a feature in Domino. Naturally, I was thrilled to stumble upon new photos of her gorgeous West Village Townhouse while perusing One Kings Lane the other day. As much as I love and embrace color, I am most drawn to neutral palettes with high contrast. In fact, that is how I’ve decorated my own home for the most part, so as I scrolled through the images on One Kings Lane, I was majorly drawn to Alison’s home. The walls are crisp white, accented by warm herringbone floors, setting the stage for a beautiful collection of abstract art, a fabulous mix of traditional and modern silhouettes, and a great balance of masculine and feminine accents. The living room is distinctly feminine with its warm mustard velvet sofas, crystal chandelier, soft ivory drapes, and gilt mirror, while the kitchen is decidedly more masculine– think classic white subway tile with dark grout for high contrast, open shelving, and blue-gray cabinetry.

The other spaces featured, such as her to-die-for office, master bedroom, and dressing room are quite striking toe the line between masculine and feminine a bit more closely. Alison decorated the home herself and the thing I loved most about reading her story is that she truly paid attention to her inner voice, opting for a color palette, furniture, and fabric selections that reflected her taste at its very core. The result is beautiful and is a powerful reminder of the beauty of a pared down, black and white palette. When executed in good taste, a neutral palette can be much more striking than one filled with a variety of colors. Do you agree?

{Images by Leslie Unruh via One Kings Lane}