29/03/2024 3:49 PM

Themonet-ART

Adorn your Feelings

A MoMA Collection Specialist Lives Amid Her Art in Her Brooklyn Apartment

5 min read

“I really didn’t have any other parameters other than ‘prewar,’” says Kayla Dalle Molle, collection specialist at the MoMA, of her hunt to find her next home. On a Bed-Stuy street chock-full of Victorian-style row houses sat an 1892 brownstone with the sort of iconic period details any history buff or design lover would fawn over. But the hand-carved crown moldings and 10-foot ceilings weren’t the only reason the art researcher felt drawn to the space. After moving back to the city following a short stint in Connecticut, Kayla’s tolerance for clichéd horrible apartments was nonexistent. “I knew what Manhattan had to offer and I knew what I could afford,” quips Kayla of the harsh reality of New York City real estate; “I’ve already lived in a classic dungeon-like space.”



a vase of flowers on a table next to a fireplace: Her fireplace, sanctified with candles purchased from Alive Herbal, nests under a mantel showcasing the best of Renaissance 19th-century revival style. In the forefront placed neatly atop a Morgan Spaulding acrylic coffee table lies one of many glass-blown vases in Kayla's home. This one she purchased from G. Brian Juk, the resident glassblower at the Corning Museum of Glass.


© Architectural Digest
Her fireplace, sanctified with candles purchased from Alive Herbal, nests under a mantel showcasing the best of Renaissance 19th-century revival style. In the forefront placed neatly atop a Morgan Spaulding acrylic coffee table lies one of many glass-blown vases in Kayla’s home. This one she purchased from G. Brian Juk, the resident glassblower at the Corning Museum of Glass.

Cue the opulent apartment that most definitely warrants a double take. It’s no shock that Kayla, a researcher by trade, was able to secure the first apartment she saw, as she was in fact “very prepared.” “My work follows me into every facet of my life,” she half-jokes of her role at the famous museum. “It can be funny but also burdensome.” She was able, however, to set aside her analytical nature for one quite important task: the design process. 



a person standing in a room: Thinking outside the box, Kayla strayed from typical design rules by bringing an outdoor table indoors. Purchased from Hay, the table acts as the centerpiece for a mashup of modern chairs that make for an interesting exchange with the rest of the apartment's decor.


© Architectural Digest
Thinking outside the box, Kayla strayed from typical design rules by bringing an outdoor table indoors. Purchased from Hay, the table acts as the centerpiece for a mashup of modern chairs that make for an interesting exchange with the rest of the apartment’s decor.




a kitchen with a sink and a mirror: “People can get kind of myopic about where they shop,” says the collection specialist. “I'd maybe offer advice on being open to shopping in unexpected places.” Case in point: the wooden pegboard hanging in the kitchen, found at Maisonette, a children's boutique.


© Architectural Digest
“People can get kind of myopic about where they shop,” says the collection specialist. “I’d maybe offer advice on being open to shopping in unexpected places.” Case in point: the wooden pegboard hanging in the kitchen, found at Maisonette, a children’s boutique.

Equipped with years’ worth of memorable pieces, Kayla was able to fill the majority of the space with decor as decadent as the home she now occupies. Allowing her intuition to act as her “internal arbiter of taste,” reason and rationality were tabled—for a moment at least. After she bolstered that intuition with “cold hard facts,” Kayla’s home slowly but surely came to be the space we see now. Well, almost. “These images were taken a month ago and the space looks completely different.” And so goes the life of a maximalist looking to quench an object-loving thirst. A self-proclaimed “scavenger,” Kayla has stocked up on eye-catching collectibles. From a complete set of William Nicholson’s ‘An Alphabet’ (1897–98) hanging proudly over her Ronan and Erwin Bouroullec’s Palissade Table for Hay, to the 1970s wool tapestry by Dutch artist Karel Appel she purchased at auction and now has doubling as a rug, Kayla’s collection of art is one for the ages.



a living room filled with furniture and a fireplace: Front and center sits Kayla's latest project: upcycling furniture. Awaiting its final coat of resin, the stunning blue beauty will be one of many for sale in the (hopefully) near future.


© Architectural Digest
Front and center sits Kayla’s latest project: upcycling furniture. Awaiting its final coat of resin, the stunning blue beauty will be one of many for sale in the (hopefully) near future.

Accomplishing what many art aficionados crave but rarely master, Kayla’s Brooklyn abode feels more like a lived-in gallery than an 800-square foot apartment. But don’t be fooled: Her home is not a place for snobbery. “There’s a no-shoes rule but that’s it,” a valid ask for living in a city as vibrant as New York. “You can create warmth and comfort and not sacrifice on great-looking art—the two are not mutually exclusive,” she comments on the approachable nature of the space. She credits her plants for providing such an inviting feel. Sitting comfortably in an array of self-watering pots rest 30-plus plants all contributing to the relaxed air encompassing the space.



a bedroom with a bed and a mirror: A recognizable Lipsticks Rug by Seletti Wears Toiletpaper covers the bedroom floor, while a 1980s vintage laminate credenza brings in hues of pink we see from the nearby bathroom. A 1960s resin mirror from Hillebrand Leuchten illuminates the space and draws attention to the dresser below.


© Architectural Digest
A recognizable Lipsticks Rug by Seletti Wears Toiletpaper covers the bedroom floor, while a 1980s vintage laminate credenza brings in hues of pink we see from the nearby bathroom. A 1960s resin mirror from Hillebrand Leuchten illuminates the space and draws attention to the dresser below.




a vase of flowers on a table: “I'll never get rid of them,” Kayla laughs about the wacky fabric flowers her mother gifted her after she got her first job in New York. “I was living in Paris with my parents and I'd always walk past this horrible home decor store with these flowers.… I call them my first-job flowers.” Sounds like a great parting gift to us.


© Architectural Digest
“I’ll never get rid of them,” Kayla laughs about the wacky fabric flowers her mother gifted her after she got her first job in New York. “I was living in Paris with my parents and I’d always walk past this horrible home decor store with these flowers.… I call them my first-job flowers.” Sounds like a great parting gift to us.

So what’s next for the collection specialist? Creating furniture of her own. “I basically dumpster-dive and try and find something that’s on its last leg and then try and upcycle it by sculpting over it with papier-mâché and plaster and finishing it with acrylic paint and resin.” With each room representing a different stage in the researcher’s life, the decor is imbued with a deep sense of thoughtfulness and sustainability. “I think it’s healthy to be the temporary custodian of things, allowing them to go on and have a second life somewhere else,” she says. “We will never be the forever owners of any one thing.” 



a pink tub and sink and mirror in a room: If the mirror hanging above looks one-o-a-kind, that's because it is. An ode to her early-quarantine work, the shell collage mirror came about after spending time in Rhode Island. “I just ravenously began collecting seashells and when I came back to Brooklyn, well I just started researching Victorian shell craft.” And thus was born the showstopping mirror.


© Architectural Digest
If the mirror hanging above looks one-o-a-kind, that’s because it is. An ode to her early-quarantine work, the shell collage mirror came about after spending time in Rhode Island. “I just ravenously began collecting seashells and when I came back to Brooklyn, well I just started researching Victorian shell craft.” And thus was born the showstopping mirror.

🛍 Shop It Out

All products featured on Architectural Digest are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Creative Growth Art Center

“A terrific place to start collecting art online. Creative Growth is a nonprofit gallery and studio serving artists with developmental, intellectual, and physical disabilities.”

MoMA Design Store

“Every Design Store purchase supports MoMA’s exhibitions and educational programs. I couldn’t even begin to count the number of purchases I’ve made here over the years.”

Neue Galerie Design Shop

“Another great online museum store is the Neue Galerie Design Shop. They reissue stunning Wiener Werkstätte design objects, wallpaper, and other paper goods. Expensive, but impossible not to like.”

The Noguchi Museum Shop

“The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum has already sold around 5,000 Akari light sculptures during the pandemic.”

Raini Home

“A new home goods concept store from Kai Avent-deLeon, the founder of my favorite neighborhood coffee shop: Sincerely, Tommy.”

Whispering Winds Store

“A Native-owned Etsy shop where I buy products like sweetgrass, sage, and palo santo. The owner, Sheyenne Tereshko (Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe) produces everything on her organic farm in Wisconsin. She includes a little gift and a handwritten note with each order—the type of small gesture that completely changes the course of your day.”

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