Rising Design Star: Emmanuel Olunkwa's Apartment in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn

Photography by Matthew Williams

Multitalented designer, director, and writer Emmanuel Olunkwa recently launched his own line, E&Ko., adding furniture designer to his resume. Here’s a look at his flat.

Emmanuel lives on a tree-lined street in Bed-Stuy, in a two-bedroom flat on the first floor of a pre-war building.

“Everyone should have a flower table,” Emmanuel says.

“After I designed the flower table, my friends and my mom were like, ‘You gotta design chairs now!’ Then it was about figuring out how these objects fit together,” Emmanuel says.

A pulled-back view of Emmanuel’s seating area.

A painting by Ellen Frank anchors a wall in the living room.

Emmanuel commissioned furniture designer Sam Stewart to make the sofa.

A cutout plywood desk wraps around an old-fashioned cast iron radiator.

The color story continues in the kitchen, which is put together with restaurant supply store stainless tables.