Interior designer Mark Zeff goes from Swank to The Commoner

Designer Mark Zeff moves easily between residential and commercial projects. Recently, he went from (Hilary) Swank to the truly common, actually The Commoner restaurant at Hotel Monaco, Downtown.

The South African native, whose design firm, MARKZEFF Design, is headquartered in New York City, has been doing residential work for three decades and took up restaurant design nearly 12 years ago.

Doing different projects on a constant basis is really my sweet spot, he says. Otherwise, Id tear my hair out.

For Ms. Swanks New York home, Mr. Zeff strived to create a space that reflects her individuality. Working together on three separate projects, he developed a level of trust with the Oscar winner that he says is paramount to getting it right.

The design process with residential is very subjective, and its a one-on-one relationship with myself and the client,

When she invited him to look at the space, it was a very simple white condominium.

We needed to bring in some spirit and softness, he recalls.

Ms. Swank liked the reclaimed wood wall in his office and said,I want that in my house. The wood wall in her apartment came from an old barn in Pennsylvania.

We did something very similar in her study as well with a wooden nook. They used a hammered metal art piece with a thousand faces on it in her bedroom, he says.

She fell in love with it because it felt like her industry. She does gravitate to doing work that is very austere and hard and natural.

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Interior designer Mark Zeff goes from Swank to The Commoner