I have always wanted to live a life filled with art, declares Susan Aqeel, who took a couple of painting classes in college and, unable to keep up with the classs requirements, resolved to appreciate it in other ways. In 1968, Susan landed in New York's Soho neighborhood, where she brushed shoulders with the likes of artists like Louise Nevelson and Jamie Wyeth (Andrew Wyeth's son). At night, the Italian restaurants were brimming with just two kinds of people: artists and the Mafia, she recalls. Artists had the whole floor of each building to themselves, and it felt like the great American art renaissance.In the years to follow, Susan moved to California where she raised her son, Omar, filling their home with her favorite paintings. Omar moved to New York in 2011, studying interiors at Pratt, interning for Steven Volpe, and then starting his interior design firm, Methods of Assembly, this year. Thats when Susan, now retired, started dividing her time between the west and east coasts, finally purchasing a small pied--terre in the city to be closer to her son. She knew exactly who would design it and how. Susan wanted a city pied--terre that felt cool and relaxing, clean and uncluttered, somewhere to host a party after a gallery opening, a place to work, and a home in the cityone that would certainly be filled with art, says Omar, who was thrilled to step up to the task. I really wanted this project to be a love letter to how I see her: bold, elegant, independent, and defiant of expectation."David MitchellThe apartment sits on the second floor of an 1854 townhouse in the West Chelsea historic district. Its Anglo-Italianate architectural style features ornately carved stone fireplaces and double French door windows that open to look out over the High Line hotel. Fittingly, its just around the corner from galleries like Jack Shainman, Ateliers Courbet, and Gagosian. Before Omar could begin bringing Susans artwork in, however, there were some square footage issues to address. Fortunately, the apartments bones were good, save the core of the apartment, which contains the kitchen, bathroom, and hallways. The front room had these 11-foot ceilings, but when you walked into the kitchen, you were in a two-foot-by-two-foot space that felt like a shoebox, Omar explains. We cut into the ceiling and realized there was another few feet of possible ceiling space there, which is architectural gold in a historic New York apartment. Omars team raised the ceilings and doorways, adding molding to further create that sense of height. The floors, too, were bleached and refinished with a lighter hue. David MitchellBeyond those additions, Omar sought to maintain as much of the original character of the building as possible, seeking to highlight the houses original details, including the moldings, the ornate fireplaces, and a pair of 18th-century French panels, which became a jumping off point for Omar and Susan. I was envisioning a place where she would get off the Jitney, open the door, and exhale, Omar explains. We landed on this idea of the informal gallery with inspiration from the concept of a Parisian salon.The living room, which they dubbed the salon, is a lesson in balance: a creamy white backdrop (Farrow & Ball's All White) is accentuated by a loud pair of cherry red 1978 Don Chadwick club chairs and a larger-than-life painting by Evan Paul English; traditional architectural details sit alongside a contemporary Astep VV Cinquanta Suspension lamp and a Brutalist-style library table in nero black marble with lacquered conical bases. In considering how to bring together Susans tastes and artworks, Omar looked to a lot of Italian design references (Osvaldo Borsani's legendary villa outside Milan, for example) and Jean Dunand, to speak to Susans love of Art Deco. We don't need to over-dramatize the rooms great architectural features with excessive design, Omar explains. It was really focusing on creating this quiet backdrop and letting the furniture become sculptural art pieces. David MitchellEvery project needs one element that pushes one's boundaries. For Susan, that was the kitchen. I spent a lot of time in the San Francisco design center area, and I have seen all the kitchens and have done my homework for years. I knew my kitchen style was Ralph Lauren with a touch of Restoration Hardware, Susan explains. Omar suggested a stainless steel kitchen and at first blush, it seemed way too out there for me. With time, however, Susan says she kept going back to that. I finally told Omar, Do it your way, Im not going to resist anymore.The whole room is a piece of art. Omar, given a carte blanche, threw out the cooking spaces standard cabinets, in place of brushed stainless steel cabinets by Reform. On one side, the cabinets reach from floor-to-ceiling; on the other, similar cabinetry goes up to the standard kitchen counter height. I was trying to un-kitchen it as much as possible, Omar jokes. Its steel minimalism juxtaposed with a warm Akari light sculpture, and there's no backsplashit's all lime wash with a stain-resistant wax finish. I think this really speaks to the tension we were investigating in the project. For Omar, inspiration for the kitchen was sparked by his studies of the late American artist Donald Judd: I like to go back to the simple forms, planes, cubes. Susan says the rooms simplicity speaks for itself, The whole room is a piece of art. See Inside This Artful City HavenThe apartment is filled with treasures that Susan has collected over the years. I know all the artists, Susan fondly recalls. Theyre friends: one is an old boyfriend; another, Michael Snodgrass, is a friend of ours in Carmel; and another is Omars ex-husbandall wonderful artists that are still living. Somehow this apartment feels more alive, because Im surrounded by the work of living, breathing friends. Rachel SilvaAssistant Digital EditorRachel Silva is the associate digital editor at ELLE DECOR, where she covers all things design, architecture, and lifestyle. She also oversees the publications feature article coverage, and is, at any moment, knee-deep in an investigation on everything from the best spa gifts to the best faux florals on the internet right now. She has more than 12 years of experience in editorial, working as a photo assignment editor at Time and acting as the president of Women in Media in NYC. She went to Columbia Journalism School, and her work has been nominated for awards from ASME, the Society of Publication Designers, and World Press Photo.