A 1,420-square-foot apartment in a brand new condo building presented a blank canvas for Studio Nato, a comprehensive Brooklyn-based boutique design firm. It was a pretty swell space to begin with: a duplex three-bedroom, three-bathroom penthouse with high ceilings, kitchen and baths nice enough to remain as is, and an outdoor terrace. Studio Nato’s task was to customize and decorate.

There was one unusual program requirement: the homeowners’ two Bengal cats, an unusually active breed, were in need of climbing and exercise opportunities. The feline design component became a consideration almost as important as those of the resident family of humans (which number three, including a baby).

“The question became ‘How do we incorporate the cats into the apartment without feeling like they’re taking over?'” recalled Studio Nato’s founder Nathan Cuttle. “We had to study the cats, their skill set, how high they jump. They can navigate the cabinets and the catwalk and get up onto the window ledge and perch there, which they do.”

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The Studio Nato team, led by Cuttle and senior designer Eleonore Pillet, created a wall-spanning media/bookshelf unit that doubles as a cat playground in the living room, of painted white oak with brass hardware and ribbed glass sliding doors. They tweaked the developer’s offerings by adding a custom closet in the primary bedroom, and rejiggered the kitchen peninsula, which ate up too much of the living room, by moving the bar area to the end of the counter.

Finally, the designers animated the space with thoughtfully chosen modern furnishings, wallpaper and light fixtures from a variety of sources, both unusual and well known.

The owners “wanted a relaxed California vibe,” Cuttle said — mostly white and wood, but with a textured rug and sofa and two bright ottomans.

The ribbed glass doors on the media/bookcase unit slide all the way left and right, hiding the TV when not in use. Ceramic wares on the shelves are held in place with special putty, just in case.

Vintage wood armchairs by American mid-century designer Adrian Pearsall provide extra seating. The three-tiered floating chandelier is by Italian lighting master Ingo Maurer.

Brooklyn kitchen

Studio Nato filled in the area under the kitchen counter with 12-inch-deep cabinets for extra storage and fashioned a small bar at the end of the peninsula.

The rolled-arm Bollo lounge chair is from the Swedish company Fogia, the low Tacchini Sesann sofa — a  ’60s design by Gianfranco Frattini — from SoHo showroom Matter.

Brooklyn dining

The green and red custom banquette in the dining area across from the kitchen “pulls from the color story in that wallpaper,” Cuttle said (it’s the Coven pattern from Maison C). The table was sourced from Design Within Reach.

Brooklyn cat exercise wheel

Cat door in wall

The lucky cats have a dedicated exercise wheel and a cut-out in the wall leading to their utility-room litter box.

Brooklyn bedroom

Brooklyn nursery

Hoppet Folk wallpaper by Brewster Home Fashions in the nursery came from Burke Decor, a wide-ranging online design resource, and the Compass rocking chair is from AllModern.com.

[Photos by Hanna Grankvist]

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