Jonathan Escalante & Andrew Ford

Meet Jonathan & Andrew - In May they were lucky auction winners of our Pop Chair, which is now residing with them in their Upper West Side apartment. After sharing photos of the chair in situ we reached out and got the chance to photograph them for this weeks edition of Orior In Real Life.

As they welcomed us into their home, we quickly realized the Pop Chair was the newest in a collection of beautiful pieces ranging from Apparatus studio to Lindsey Adelman. This all made sense to us once Jonathan explained that he is deeply involved in the design world, currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Interior Design. However, Andrew, an attorney, hasn’t recused himself from design and merits praise with the beautiful layout of their home. A decade after meeting in a Hells Kitchen bar they are now married and have a wonderful dog named Bruno.

While we feel the Pop chair is the jewel of their collection, Jonathan & Andrew graciously agreed to answer our questions on style, design, and life in the time of Covid:

Q: Your home is absolutely stunning. Are you both involved in the design process? Do you generally agree on a certain aesthetic?

A: Thank you very much! A work in progress but we are happy so far. As far as who has influence we definitely both play our parts. As design is his chosen career path, Jonathan is the one doing most of the sourcing and guiding of the overall vision but each piece is 100% a joint decision. Nothing that the other disagrees with, makes it into the space.Aesthetically, Andrew leans more minimal, Jonathan probably leans more maximal. But so far it hasn’t been too hard to find things we both love.

Q: Has there been any positives that you have taken from quarantining? New hobbies, etc.

A: The nature of Andrew’s work means very long hours and many late nights. We’ve really enjoyed the chance to just have proximity to one another throughout the day. We haven’t done the math, but there is a good chance we’ve spent more time together these last 6 months than we have cumulatively in the last 10 years and it’s been great. We appreciate how fortunate we are to have one another and a space in which we love spending time.

Q: We love a space that isn’t afraid of some pops of color. We’re in love with your green accent ceiling and two accent stripes on your bedroom wall. Where do you pull your inspiration from?

A: Color is important to us. It’s always been Jonathan’s philosophy that the gypsum/plaster white walls that are pervasive in New York are the poster-child of transience. Not worth leaving your mark on as you don’t know how long you’ll be there. Choosing the colors and shapes of your environment is the best way to make a claim that it is yours. As far as the specific decisions, as cliche as it might sound, the space really informs those. Understanding what will be seen from where. Like the two stripes, we had already opted for a warm off-white throughout as the base color of the apartment. As that particular guest room is off the main living space it needed something intentional that didn’t compete with the bold green of the ceiling, just something to carry the eye around the space. You feel it out. How does the light work in the space? What won’t you get sick of? What will continuously look like something new?

Q: What is your favorite part of your neighborhood?

A: Access to the park is up there, but obviously that is not exclusive to this area. In our neighborhood, you really get the feeling you’re in a residential neighborhood without sacrificing the energy or accessibility of Manhattan. Upper Best Side.

Q: What other designers work do you have in your house and what is your favorite piece (Apart from the pop chair).

Jonathan’s favorite is the Fendi Coffee Table, other than the pop chair, of course and Andrew’s is the Roche Bobois credenza. Apart from those we have a wide range of other designers including;

• Our counter stools are from KGBL (Pierre frey upholstery)
• Living room rug is from Tufenkian
• Coffee table is the constellation table from Fendi Casa
• Brass side table next to couch is from DDC
• Dining chandelier is Lindsey Adelman for the Future Perfect
• Couch and accompanying table from Flou
• Custom table from Robert Sukrachand and Jonathan
• Blue living room Credenza from Roche Bobois
• Guest rattan bed from Lawson Fenning
• Guest Lamps from Stone and Sawyer
• The large photograph in the living room is by Olaf Otto Beckerson
• The small table next to Pop chair is from the Future Perfect
• Dining Mirror is from Pinch London
• Kitchen counter lighting pendants from Apparatus studio
• Elevator bank chair from Luteca Furniture
• Elitis Wall banana leaf wall covering in master bedroom
• Cole and son paper “Leopard walk in powder room

Q: You are both big travelers. What is your favorite place you’ve been so far and if you could travel anywhere right now where would it be?

A: We’ve been lucky to have some really wonderful experiences around the world, pretty hard to choose one. But if we had to, Andrew grew up in South Africa, and so some of our favorite trips were the earlier years of Andrew showing Jonathan his home country. Driving up the garden route. Swimming at the beach he went to every summer in Umhlanga Rocks. Pretty magical times.

Technically speaking we are supposed to be in Tokyo right now. So given the opportunity, I think we would both choose to be on the trip we had planned a year ago. Hopefully we can make that happen again in the not-too-distant future, but we wouldn't blame Japan if they didn’t let us in for a little while.