Everything's Got a Backstory in This Culinary Consultant's Chelsea Aerie—Yes, Even the Molding

PublishedFeb 24, 2026 7:59 AM EST

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Life in New York City requires a heroic amount of schlepping—trudging to and from the nearest subway in the snow, wobbling down the sidewalk hauling 30 pounds of groceries like they're kettle bells, heaving yourself up five flights of stairs just to see a pal or collapse at home.

Five flights is alot—a full glute workout twice a day just to exist. But when editor, culinary consultant, and woman-about-townChristine Muhlkefound herself staring down a 900-square-foot apartment on the top floor of a circa-1898 building in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, every inhibition flew out the window. It was 2023, she'd just bounced back into the city after a Covid-era sojourn upstate, and her temporary sublet in a nearby building was about to expire.

True, the space was thoroughly unlivable: destroyed floors, cramped ceilings, layers of crud. There was a distinct vibe that nothing had been updated in the several decades the previous tenant had lived there, and the rooms had basically become a storage unit for stuff (the super told Muhlke it took six months just to haul his personal effects out).

But Muhlke could see past the grime. "I always say in real estate that if I can feel every hair on my head stand up, or I feel like I've mainlined espresso, that's my spot," she adds. This place gave her both sensations. Plus, the price was right.

Among the many friends she dragged in for so-called "Am I crazy?" tours was designerLithe Sebesta, an old pal trusted to deliver a no-nonsense verdict. Sebesta, who Muhlke says "has the spatial equivalent of perfect timing," instantly clocked the potential. So Muhlke made her move, haggling with the building owner on the price. After closing, it took until 2024 for the board to bless the plans she'd hatched with Sebesta and an interior architect. To finally get things rolling, she bribed the then-board president with custom-curated travel guides—one of her specialties.

Ultimately, having "that [added] time was really important because it let us refine what we wanted," Muhlke remembers. "The main objective was a clean envelope with nice materials. We were able to add quiet details. My goal for this apartment was a calm atmosphere because the city is so crazy. I wanted a place with light and for my son Max to have a real bedroom."

Sebesta's interiors superpower is her knack for quietly blending past and present. With Muhlke's apartment, she had to start nearly from scratch, which freed her to weave in elements that would actually serve the owner (and look like they'd always been there). She'd sneak in new touches thatfeltoriginal, with a contemporary edge, plus serious storage—because Christmas ornaments, seasonal clothes, and suitcases weren't going to stash themselves.

The duo got a little gift while installing new flooring. Sebesta rang up Muhlke to let her know they were actually working with 1,100 square feet, not 900 as it had been listed. "It was one of those dreams of opening the medicine cabinet to find another apartment on the other side," she jokes. In turn, they needed extra flooring (not cheap, considering they covered the apartment in engineered white oak.) Overhead, they poked through the ceiling to steal another foot and a half of height. Then they decided to chop one of the rooms into a bedroom for Max and a private workspace for Muhlke.

Muhlke invited me over for afternoon tea recently, and I marveled at how the apartment naturally unfurled as I moved through it. A tiled entry spills right into the serene kitchen, clad in Muller Van Severen– and Inge Sempé–designed cabinetry that houses Muhlke's borderline-obsessive collection of ceramics and cookware. As someone who writes cookbooks, runs a culinary consultancy, and helped iconic kitchenware brandDanskcatalogue their archive, it's no shock this room is where she logs the most hours. The Dekton countertops are basically indestructible, she notes, letting Max experiment with his own budding recipe development without fear of stains, and the wall-mounted pot filler is just the right amount of fancy. In the evenings, she cooks dinner while her son does homework or friends chat at the banquette nearby. (If she could redo it, she'd wedge in a wine fridge.)

In a previous life, this one unit had been two. Floor-to-ceiling cookbook shelving now lines a wall between the kitchen and dining area—once the corridor that connected the two original apartments. Above the dining table, Sebesta dropped the ceiling just so and reoriented the flooring in a different direction for a wink at transition. Instead of ornate, Parisian-esque adornment, she added handsome stepped molding and window trim, then applied the same style to baseboards throughout.

The bedrooms branch off from here. Muhlke likens hers to a cozy hotel room, thanks to the custom oversized headboard wrapped in Chiarastella Cattana fabric, a dressing area that also houses her washer and dryer, and an en suite bathroom. In the sizable, sophisticated living room, the walls are lined with custom millwork bySummerfield Fabricationand art she's collected over the years; a grand window with elegantly-shaped panes looks out on the city—a sliver of the Empire State Building in sight. "I'm just setting up all these little conversations around the apartment," she says. Around the corner is her office, outfitted with more shelving, a custom daybed so the room can double as guest quarters, and a beloved vintage Georg Jensen desk she inherited from a mentor (her fairy godmother, as she puts it).

"What endures are the things that are really personal," Muhlke says, nodding to items like her father's 1974 Bang & Olufsen receiver, a set of Agnes Martin prints, a vase from Bilbao, wood nesting bowls from Japan. "Everything is here because I love it. I'd rather have fewer things and have them really matter."

Settling in after the years-long renovation took roughly zero time—the apartment felt like home the instant she walked in. Muhlke will stay as long as she can, but knows she'll eventuallycravesomething new. "This is not my forever apartment, because I'm not going to be able to climb these stairs forever," she admits. "But I wanted to do it in a way I'd be happy with forever."

Samantha Weiss-Hills is the managing editor for Domino. She edits and writes home tours and features, and she's that friend everyone texts in a glassware-sofa-sheet panic. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Alex, and their beagle-corgi, Elsa.

Belle is the in-house photographer and associate photo editor for Domino, shooting everything from home tours to gift guides, plus the occasional how-to. She joined the photo team as an intern in 2018 and got the full-time nod in January 2021.

Naomi deMañana is a freelance stylist and editor who's been working the publishing scene for the past 15 years.

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