Actor and designer Krysta Rodriguez brought in vintage furniture, warm tones, and a faux fireplace to help her longtime friend and fellow performer bounce back from a breakup.
If we’re lucky, a good friend can see us through a bad breakup. They’re there for long walks, late-night phone calls, and to be a friendly face on darker days. Actor and designer Krysta Rodriguez took it one step further: When her friend Adam Levy left his long-term relationship with a live-in partner, she turned his new NYC rental into the modern man’s bachelor pad he needed to feel like himself.
Krysta Rodriguez, Adam Levy, and Tyler Logan, a Broadway performer and associate designer at Curated by KR, all attended the same performing arts high school in California.
Photo: Blaine Davis
Adam and Rodriguez have known each other for over a decade. The L.A. natives met at Orange County School of the Arts, where Rodriguez, a veteran Broadway performer and alumnus, was mentoring students like Adam. When Adam moved to New York and started performing on Broadway himself, the two grew inseparable (he notes that she’s never missed one of his shows), and they now collaborate on the shows Adam produces for Disney.
When she’s not on stage, Rodriguez has a successful side hustle designing dressing rooms for fellow performers like Kristin Chenoweth, Jonathan Groff, and Lea Michele. You could say it’s a family tradition: Growing up, her parents flipped the cheapest houses in nicer neighborhoods across Orange County. When Adam’s relationship ended earlier this year, he knew he could rely on Rodriguez.
Adam Levy sits in the kitchen of his rented Midtown apartment. Rodriguez furnished the apartment with a mixture of vintage pieces, like Adam’s dining chairs, with newer pieces, like the plant stand from West Elm.
Photo: Blaine Davis
“Krysta gave me the confidence to start over,” he says. He’d found a rental in a friend’s building in Midtown Manhattan. It was spacious, but it felt cold and lacking in character—and when Adam asked Rodriguez for help, she was there in no time. “She said, ‘I want to love you through this chapter by helping you create this space,’” he adds.
“I knew exactly what I wanted to do the minute I saw the apartment,” Rodriguez says. The two shared a vision: They called it “Sexy Soho House”, Adam says, and it was full of warmth, rich textures, natural fibers, and sensual shapes. They set a deadline: The apartment would be finished in April, so that Adam’s birthday party could be a housewarming as well.
The false fireplace in Adam’s living room was constructed by carpenter Trevor Miles, then wrapped in travertine-style wallpaper from Belarte.
Photo: Blaine Davis
See the full story on Dwell.com: Rental Revamp: “Sexy Soho House” Was the Inspiration for This Broadway Star’s Showstopping Apartment
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