Interior Designer in Larchmont, NY
The Village of Larchmont covers 1 square mile, and many of its large Victorian cottages from the late 19th century survive in Larchmont Manor.
We design whole interiors for families in Larchmont and the wider Town of Mamaroneck, planning rooms where a stair, a counter, or a wall of built-in cabinetry does two jobs. Our New York studio, led by Azin Valy, works alongside your architect and contractor.
Living in an older house that no longer fits how your family runs its days?
Request a consultation for your Larchmont home
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Key Highlights
Cityzen Designs plans full interior renovations, custom built-in cabinetry, and furniture that doubles as architecture.
Our lead example is a 3,000 sq ft NoHo family home where a stainless-steel stair also serves as cabinetry and countertop.
Village of Larchmont households average 2.58 persons, and 26.1 percent of residents are under 18, per the U.S. Census Bureau.
Azin Valy, a graduate of The Cooper Union School of Architecture, brings more than two decades of design and architecture work.
Permit drawings come from a registered architect or licensed engineer, and Cityzen coordinates the design with them and your contractor.
Larchmont interior design services cover layout, built-ins, and finishes
Cityzen's interior design service for Larchmont homes covers the whole interior, from where the walls go to the color of the floor. Plenty of homeowners assume an interior designer mostly picks furniture and paint. Our residential portfolio leans the other way, with open layouts, built-in cabinetry, and custom pieces that become part of the house.
| What you want for your house | What the design work involves | Who else is involved |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer closed-off rooms | Planning a new layout and deciding which walls come out, as at Freedman House in Greenwich | A registered architect or licensed engineer prepares and seals any permit drawings, and your contractor builds |
| More storage for a busy family | Designing built-in cabinetry and furniture that doubles as stairs, seating, desks, and shelves | A cabinetmaker or your contractor builds the pieces |
| Room for furniture and art you already own | Planning rooms around existing collections, such as a client's Eames furniture at Lazzaro Residence | You decide what stays and what goes |
| Light without losing privacy | Specifying translucent panels or smart glass that switches from clear to opaque, as at Munter Residence | Your contractor and the installing trades |
| Fresh floors and color | Choosing material and color palettes and refinishing existing floors, such as maple refinished light gray at Freedman House | Your contractor and finishing trades |
| Work outside as well as in | Some Cityzen projects joined interior and exterior renovation, including a NoHo roof garden | An architect wherever structure or the exterior changes |
Can an interior designer add storage to an older house?
Yes, and built-in cabinetry is the usual route. Cityzen designs storage into stair walls, window seats, desks, and low bookcases, so each piece also shapes the room around it. At the Colp-Haber Residence on the Upper East Side, one continuous band of birch cabinetry changes height to become a desk, seating, bookshelves, and a powder-room vanity.
Larchmont family homes call for interior design built around the household
Interior design for a Larchmont home starts with the people in it. Village of Larchmont households average 2.58 persons, and 26.1 percent of residents are under 18, according to U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts. Those figures describe houses that hold school mornings, homework, guests, and remote work under one roof.
Much of the housing stock is old. The surviving Victorian cottages of Larchmont Manor date from the village's years as a summer retreat for wealthy New Yorkers. Houses built for summer weeks now carry a full year of family life, and their room plans often show it.
Our work reaches past the village line too. The Town of Mamaroneck is made up of the Village of Larchmont, part of the Village of Mamaroneck, and an unincorporated area that the town's own planning study calls mostly low-density residential. Families in all three parts of the town are welcome to reach out.
What could a family-focused redesign look like in an older Larchmont house?
Here is a hypothetical case. A family of four lives in an early 1900s house with a formal dining room the family rarely uses and a kitchen too small for homework. A Cityzen plan might open the two rooms, add a long built-in bench with drawers for school supplies, and run shelving that serves both spaces from either side.
Alikhani-Petroulas Residence: a family home where every element does two jobs
The Alikhani-Petroulas Residence in NoHo is our clearest example of a family home where each element does two jobs. The 3,000 sq ft full interior and exterior renovation was planned for Nasim Alikhani, later the chef behind Brooklyn's Persian restaurant Sofreh, and her partner Ted Petroulas.
At its center sits a sculptural stainless-steel stair. The piece links the kitchen to the children's playroom and the roof garden, and it also works as cabinetry and countertop. One removable section becomes a rolling ladder for reaching the highest storage.
Think of the stair as kitchen furniture you can climb. Slip-resistant glass steps appear to float above the cooking area. Elsewhere, a mahogany fireplace surround holds storage and display, and a liquid-crystal glass wall between the primary bath and the entry turns clear for light or opaque for privacy.
Nasim Alikhani put it simply: "The end product far surpassed my expectations (which were very high to begin with)." The home appeared in The New York Times and Domino.
A Larchmont family can apply the same thinking to a center-hall stair, a mudroom bench, or a sunroom that has to serve as an office during the day.
Want a stair, a wall, or a kitchen that pulls double duty?
Discuss your family's floor plan with us
A Cityzen interior design project runs on context, flexibility, and coordination
A Cityzen project begins with context: how you live, what you value, and the character of the house and the town. Our approach to design then looks for rooms and elements that adapt and serve more than one purpose, and it encourages clients to dream past convention.
In practice, a project with us moves through these stages, and Azin confirms the details with each client at the consultation.
A confidential consultation about the house, the household, and the scope you have in mind.
Design work grounded in how your family uses each room and in the character of the building.
Plans for flexible rooms, built-in cabinetry, materials, and color.
Coordination with your architect, engineer, and contractor through construction.
Clients notice the care in that coordination. S.R. wrote on our testimonials page that the team are "great collaborators and pay careful attention to detail."
What if the project grows once the walls are open?
Scope can change once a contractor opens walls in an older house. Cityzen's approach keeps the design tied to how you live, which gives each decision a clear reference point when plans shift. One client, T.P., wrote that a renovation grew larger and longer than planned and was handled with diligence.
Azin Valy leads Cityzen's residential interior design
Azin Valy founded Cityzen Designs and leads its residential work. She is a graduate of The Cooper Union School of Architecture and a co-founder of I-Beam Design, an award-winning New York architecture firm. Her projects have ranged from 250,000 sf of international headquarters to 250 sf of refugee housing, and she has served as a guest critic at Parsons School of Design, Pratt Institute, Columbia University, Maryland Institute College of Art, Ball State University, and City College of NY.
Working at both ends of that scale trains an eye for small spaces doing big jobs, which sits at the core of a family renovation. Cityzen's Freedman House, a family home in Greenwich, won Silver in the Interior Design category at the 2024 New York Architecture Design Awards.
Is Azin Valy an architect or an interior designer?
Azin Valy trained at The Cooper Union School of Architecture and leads Cityzen's design of interiors and built-in architectural elements. Cityzen does not seal drawings or file permits. When a Larchmont project needs permit drawings, a registered architect or licensed engineer prepares them, and Cityzen coordinates the design with that professional and your contractor.
Commercial and hospitality interior design for Larchmont
Larchmont shops, restaurants, and offices can work with Cityzen Designs, which designs commercial and hospitality interiors alongside family homes.
In hospitality design, our work includes the Macao Trading Co. restaurant in Tribeca, a 4,000 sq ft I-Beam Design project with an 82-seat dining room under a mezzanine. Salvaged teak lattice screens divide the room into smaller zones, and custom light fixtures reuse antique bicycles, boats, and rickshaws.
In commercial design, it includes a 9,000 sq ft bridal showroom and offices on Fifth Avenue for designer Reem Acra, completed with I-Beam Design. The plan leads clients through the collections, then into smaller rooms for consultations and fittings.
The habit of making one element do two jobs, like the stair at the Alikhani-Petroulas Residence, carries into a small storefront or dining room.
Key Takeaways
Cityzen Designs plans full interiors for Larchmont and Town of Mamaroneck homes, including layouts, built-in cabinetry, and finishes.
Village of Larchmont households average 2.58 persons, so rooms that serve two purposes earn their space.
The Alikhani-Petroulas Residence shows the approach across 3,000 sq ft, with a stair that also serves as cabinetry and countertop.
Azin Valy leads the design, and a registered architect or licensed engineer prepares any permit drawings.
Ready to plan rooms that work harder for your family?
Frequently asked questions
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In general, interior designers decide how a space will be used, sketch layouts, specify materials and fixtures, and coordinate with building contractors, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. At Cityzen, that work centers on the floor plan, built-in cabinetry, and custom pieces for the household, with Azin Valy leading the design.
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Many renovations of older Larchmont houses use both. An architect or engineer handles structure and the sealed drawings that permits require. An interior designer shapes the layout, built-ins, materials, and color. Cityzen works on the design side and coordinates with your architect, engineer, and contractor so the plans line up from the start.
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Yes. Cityzen often plans rooms around pieces a family already owns. The Lazzaro Residence on the Lower East Side was organized around a collection of Eames furniture, and Freedman House in Greenwich pairs walnut built-ins with the family's mid-century pieces. In the McFarland Residence, an I-Beam Design project, a cherished painting became part of a cabinetry wall.
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Cityzen's published residential projects are full interior renovations, and the studio invites inquiries about a newly purchased home or an existing residence. If you have a smaller scope in mind, such as one floor or a kitchen, describe it at the consultation, and the team will tell you how it fits.
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Cityzen plans family rooms around flexibility, with elements that adapt and serve more than one purpose as children grow. In the Alikhani-Petroulas Residence, one stainless-steel stair connects the kitchen to the children's playroom and roof garden while also holding cabinetry. Built-in benches, low shelving, and open sight lines from the kitchen follow the same idea.