Truly fantastical, this evocatively colorful home in New York is a curated mix of collectable vintage and 20th-century design pieces layered with artful, custom finishes. Standout pieces such as a pendant light commissioned from Crizu, handmade from paper flower bouquets, are just one of the ways that Australian designer Greg Natale has turned this into a wonderland. Marble plays a defining role throughout, sourced directly from Italy and installed with exacting craftsmanship by Italian stonemasons flown in for the project.
When selecting this project from the many entries for the shortlist of our House of the Year award in the Livingetc Style Awards 2026, the judges felt that its calming feel, enhanced by the bold use of color, was what made it stand out immediately. "The decor is so whimsical, but above all that, so, so pretty," says Livingetc's interiors editor Emma Breislin.
Greg takes us on a tour of it in his own words.
The House
Tall, slender, and nestled between some typically New York-style buildings, this Upper East Side townhouse couldn't feel more Manhattan.
"I'd worked with the owners on a previous home of theirs in Brisbane, which, believe it or not, was all black," says Greg Natale. "But when they bought this house, they were actually in Paris, going out to a lot of maximalist restaurants, and so they wanted that as their brief. Pink, greens, marbles... so that's what we did."
Walls and ceiling in Magic Potion by Benjamin Moore. Sesann sofa and Ada lamp, both Tacchini. Rug, Nordic Knots. Ada flooring from the Bosco collection by Greg Natale. Pendant light, Crizu. Chairs, &Tradition.
The owners of the property have their own art foundation on the ground floor, so Greg wanted to lean into their artistic nature by embracing different styles of mural throughout. "Each one is inspired by a different artist, with the one in the living room being a nod to Kandinsky," he shares. "It was kind of our version of a feature wall."
When Greg got the call to work on this home, he was in Paris himself, showing his own projects at MaisonObjet, next to a stand "run by a mother and daughter who made fascinating things out of old books," he shares. "So one of my favorite details in the home is the light hanging from the ceiling in the living room, made from old books. It's very artistic."
Kitchen and Dining Room
Kitchen: Walls and ceiling in Van Alen Green, Joinery in Herb Bouquet, both Benjamin Moore. Wall light, Apparatus. Dining room: Vintage chandelier, Barovier & Toso from 1stDibs. Dining table, Dirk van der Kooij. Dining chairs by Juliana Lima Vasconcellos from The Invisible Collection. Ceiling in Cloud White by Benjamin Moore.
A key feature of the house is marble — it surrounds door frames, it's used for fireplaces, it stretches across the galley kitchen.
"I just love all the marble," says Greg. "It was all cut in Italy, and the stonemason came from Italy and installed it himself. The owners live mostly in Florence now, and they have a strong connection with stonemasons there and with all the wonderful local marbles. It made sense to bring it across to New York, to help tell their story."
Most of the house is a cocooning trove of blush colors, and Greg says that all the pinks and blush shades are very calming. "When you’re in the space, it’s got mood; it’s very immersive," he says. "You’re transported somewhere else, and it's all very enchanting.'
But he also believes that good design is about the element of surprise. "By the time you get to the dining room, you need a break from color blocking, and we decided to go a bit calmer in here," Greg shares.
That said, he didn't just want it to be neutral and flat. "A plain white ceiling didn't seem like enough, so the idea was to add a 3D decal of plaster blocks fixed to look like a sunburst," Greg says. "It's a relatively simple thing to do, but very effective."
Ceiling in Southwest Pottery, Benjamin Moore. Walls in White Blossom wallpaper, Iksel. Headboard by Vincent Darré from The Invisible Collection. Lamp, Martinelli Luce. Ceiling light, Allied Maker.
Layered and heavily decorative, one of the details that truly stands out is the irregularity of shape. The headboard in the main bedroom is asymmetric, with a circular hole cut into one rounded corner.
"When you have a brief like this, you get to have a lot of fun," says Greg. "We took the whole artistic style of the owners and ran with it. The bedhead is surrealist, and ended up being one of my favorite pieces in the project. It's really cool."
Dressing Room and Main Bathroom
Dressing room: Verde Alpi panels fitted by Mondo Marmo Group. Shower: Mosaic fitted by Mondo Marmo Group. Shower fixtures, Kohler.
More surrealism on display in the dressing room, with the marble shelf dividers echoing the shapes of a Picasso profile. "The dressing room is pretty special," Greg says. "The owners wanted it to feel really luxe, to be more like a store than a dressing room, so we went big on marble."
Meanwhile, in the main bathroom, another artistic — and surrealist — mural is embedded into the tiles. "Showers are such functional spaces, and I wanted to do something different," Greg says. "Why can't it be uplifting and interesting as well?"
Of this candy-colored house, Greg says, "The owners really wanted to have an experience every time they come here. They wanted to be able to host and have fun."
Coming from an all-black home, he says their new place in Sydney is all "cream and travertine," so clearly the owners are not afraid to pick a style and commit to it. And that's what makes this house such a worthy part of the House of the Year shortlist, with its showstopping use of color and even more impressive use of material.
See the House of the Year and other homes on the shortlist here.