Written by Shawn Gauthier | Photographed by Patrick Cline | Produced and Art Directed by Michelle Adams

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Craving a new challenge, interior designer Nick Olsen revives a dark, cramped apartment to create a bold, Chinese-influenced escape.

In the spring of 2008, interior designer Nick Olsen got the itch for a new adventure. He sold all his belongings (save a few select pieces) and relocated from his Flatiron District studio to a Nolita one bedroom, swapping high ceilings and elegant architectural details for a dingy, dark apartment with a choppy layout and uneven flooring. Olsen was thrilled. “The apartment was the complete opposite from what I’d had before. I took it as an opportunity to do something quirky and intense, like an over-the-top jewel box on a smaller scale.”

Not an unusual stance for Olsen; close friends have referred to his aesthetic as “maximalist,” to which Olsen agrees: “I’m not completely extremist,” he says, “but I don’t do things halfway, and I’m never restrained in my decorating.” With a keen interest in history, his style is largely contemporary while always maintaining a strong foothold in the past. “Ancient pieces have a grounding effect for me; if a space is without anything historical, it just feels too new,” says Olsen, who works to incorporate Greek sculptures and motifs or Roman busts.

Paying homage to artist Damien Hirst, Olsen painted this polka-dot piece himself. “It proves that all colors really do go together!” he says.

Originally studying to become an architect, Olsen says the tables took an unexpected turn his senior year when he stumbled across a picture of interior designer Miles Redd’s townhouse in W magazine; his response to the décor was so strong he wrote Redd a letter, explaining himself and his interests. Redd called Olsen in for a meeting, and two weeks later hired him as his assistant. The designer worked by Redd’s side for five years, referring to the experience as his “education in decorating,” learning everything from color combinations and styling to functionally breaking down a room. “The most important thing he taught me was furniture arrangement and how to use a room to make the most of a space,” says Olsen. “Miles truly has impeccable taste; he’s influenced my current work in every way.”

Inspired by a brief stay in Chinatown between apartments, Olsen envisioned a Chinese opium den–like experience for his Nolita apartment, resulting in the high-gloss red backsplash that excites the living room and kitchen walls.

I needed something for the foot of the bed, and when I saw this fake fireplace at a flea market, I knew it would be a fun addition.

In his previous apartment, Olsen had used a bold color but had painted all the trim white. This time around he went all-in with a vibrant shade of red on the walls, trim, and ceiling. “Paint is the single most transformative thing you can do to a room,” says Olsen. “If you can’t embrace changing a space with paint, your options become extremely limited.”

Having lived in studios until this point, it was also important to Olsen that he both maximize and celebrate his separate spaces. Aiming to create a cozy, intimate bedroom, he draped fabric against all four walls, staple gunning it to the ceiling and pulling it apart at the windows for instant curtains. “The bedroom gets such great light; mixed with the fabric, it creates this warm, tented, outdoor-like feeling, almost old English in a way,” says Olsen, who finished the space with wall-to-wall sisal carpeting.

Olsen also tackled several necessary renovations. He hired contractors to tear down a partition in the bedroom to create a larger space, and to rewire the lighting, which, Olsen says, “felt like a fire hazard.” Olsen himself replaced the kitchen island with an IKEA cabinet and even went to such lengths as removing the original refrigerator because of its bulk. “It was huge! I couldn’t stand it in my kitchen any longer,” he says; he now uses a mini fridge, kept under the counter butcher block.

Even though Olsen’s bedroom and living area feature two entirely different design approaches, there is still a level of continuity that runs through the apartment. “I maintained a color scheme, so that the bedroom is a variation on the dominant red and green from the living room but tweaked it to be more relaxing,” explains Olsen. “The look is intense but definitely fabulous.”

Paint is the single most transformative thing you can do to a room. If you can’t embrace changing a space with paint, your options become extremely limited.