How does a design brand known for its California cool make a splash in New York City? By taking over a downtown loft, naturally, and bringing its 1910 bones into the present day with inspired color drenching and roughly 400-feet of walnut paneling. Lawson-Fenning co-founders Glenn Lawson and Grant Fenning launched their business in the late nineties with a showroom on Melrose Avenue, in Los Angeles, offering an in-house furniture line, LF Collection, as well as curated vintage and exclusive pieces from local makers.
The back room was designed to feel like a residence with wall-to-wall carpeting and curved window openings. The bed is Disc for Lawson-Fenning. Niguel Desk and Cruz chair by Lawson-Fenning. Table lamp and sconce by Ceramicah. The paint color is Benjamin Moore Potter’s Clay.
Twenty-odd years later, the dynamic duo felt the time was right to migrate out East. When a suitable space opened above the showroom of their friend, the ceramicist Danny Kaplan, Lawson and Fenning jumped. They brought on interior designer Josh Greene in October 2024 and set about transforming the raw loft interior into a warm, inviting Manhattan flagship. “We kept the bones of the space like the windows, steel columns, and cement beams, and then organized the showroom into sections to balance both the commercial and residential elements,” says Greene, who divided the entire showroom into discrete “rooms” with walnut-paneled wing walls that align with the footprints of each original column.
Lawson-Fenning co-founders Glenn Lawson and Grant Fenning.
Greene drew inspiration from California’s natural beauty—specifically the view from Lawson’s kitchen window, in Los Feliz—as well as the work of mid-century modernists like Greene & Greene and Harwell Hamilton Harris; the shelving and radiator enclosures were even inspired by Rudolph Schindler.
Custom walnut shelving holds a selection of lamps and accessories that are available for purchase. The floors are original from 1910.
“With all the noise online, we wanted to go back to our roots in retail and to the in-person experience of our work,” says Lawson. “Giving that opportunity to our East Coast clients has long been a goal of ours.”
The cabinet, walls and ceiling are painted in Benjamin Moore’s El Cajon Clay. The sconces are by J Adams and the Ojai Barstools are Lawson-Fenning.
The 4,500-square-foot New York showroom features an expanded curation of fabrics and finishes for LF Collection bestsellers including the Chiselhurst bed and Ojai lounge chair, alongside a selection of new and exclusive pieces from artists and designers including Devin Wilde, Canoa Lab and James Cherry. “We really wanted to champion our circle of artists and friends,” says Lawson. “Working with a designer who understands how our pieces can all work together gives the space another layer.”
A second bedroom vignette shows the walnut-paneled wing walls that run throughout the space and serve as dividers for different furniture groupings. The bed is Lawson-Fenning, the settee is by Brian Paquette for Lawson-Fenning, and the paint color is Benjamin Moore’s Creekbed.
The showroom also boasts a slim eat-in kitchen, designed to look like a bar and painted a deep purple with color-matched marble, as well as a tonal terracotta bedroom at the back of the space. “Painting the walls, cabinets and ceiling all the same color makes the room feel more expansive,” says Greene. “And there’s nothing more luxurious than a completely tonal bedroom.” Now, of course, you don’t have to take Greene at his word—you can stop by and see for yourself.
Sean Santiago is ELLE Decor’s Deputy Editor, covering news, trends and talents in interior design, hospitality and travel, culture, and luxury shopping. Since starting his career at an interior design firm in 2011, he has gone on to cover the industry for Vogue, Architectural Digest, Sight Unseen, PIN-UP and Domino. He is the author of The Lonny Home (Weldon Owens, 2018), has produced scripted social content for brands including West Elm and Streeteasy, and is sometimes recognized on the street for his Instagram Reels series, #DanceToDecor
