Brynn Whitfield’s living arrangements have changed since audiences first met her in last year’s season of Real Housewives of New York, and the hubbub of shooting a TV show is partly to blame—but not the program she stars on. “I couldn’t film in my apartment [last season]. The landlord was so funny and sweet, but when we were explaining to him what the filming was, he kept saying, ‘I don’t want all those Marvelous Mrs. Maisel trucks here,’” the corporate communications and marketing maven tells AD. “I was like, ‘I’m honored and flattered; I am not Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. In another lifetime, maybe!’”
So when the reality show’s rebooted cast signed on for another installment last fall, the new Bravolebrity set her sights on leaving her Greenwich Village pad for a more accommodating abode. Giving viewers a stronger sense of her interior life and aesthetic sensibilities was only part of the reason behind her relocation; the other piece was openly celebrating how far she’s come since her difficult upbringing in Indiana, which she shared on RHONY. “I have so many deep traumatic associations with home…. I came from Section 8 housing and welfare,” Whitfield says. “I’ve gone out of my way to make sure that I would have the exact opposite experience as an adult and love my home and be proud of it, not ashamed.”
The apartment marks Whitfield’s first time having an in-unit elevator, which she describes as “really old and super murder-y”—but all the more delightful when she sees guests step from there directly into her entryway. “It’s like: Surprise, it’s super cool!” Print by Deborah Velasquez sourced via Minted.
Photo: Frank Frances
She snapped up a two-bedroom apartment sight unseen (unless you count FaceTimes from her brother, whom she enlisted to tour in person while she was briefly abroad) in Manhattan’s Gramercy Park neighborhood—not Tribeca, but by all accounts a very up-and-coming locale in its own right. Time was of the essence with only a few weeks between move-in and shooting the next RHONY season, so she signed the papers within about 10 hours from her brother’s dispatch. “It was half intuition, half desperation,” she says. To make sure the place was styled to perfection and ready for its closeup, Whitfield partnered with the design marketplace Minted, who assisted in making art and decor selections.
“What I’m excited about in the coming season [of RHONY] is that it’s going to be the same fun, flirty, silly stuff, some drama, and some attitude, but also I want to share more,” Whitfield says. “I shared a lot last year, and it was tough, but I don’t just want to share the trauma. There are different sides of me: I have a career, and passions, like design and decor.” As fans know well, another one of those passions is chess, so she was sure to source a set for her new place.
Photo: Frank Frances. Art: Shiho Whitehead; Keren Toledano.
The reality star has lived in her fair share of rentals over the years in NYC, so she has a number of “little party tricks” up her sleeve to make temporary quarters feel like home. “I don’t have a key to the park, but I’m going to become a Gramercy girl and do what I always do, which is decorate, decorate, decorate, pour money into a rental, and not care if I get my security deposit back,” Whitfield says. Swapping the light fixtures and outlet panel covers in favor of some more opulent touches, putting up whimsical wallpapers, and weaving in sumptuous textures were among the ways she gave her rental the Brynn aesthetic, which she thinks of as “1970s Parisian vibes, sprinkled in with some antiques and funky contemporary pieces—it’s all over the place.”
As eclectic as it sounds, there was method to the madness. Whitfield’s easygoing party girl persona on RHONY belies her shrewd corporate strategist’s approach to nearly all spheres of life. “I did a deck [for the apartment’s design]; I create a deck for anything, even when I go on trips. I have for years,” she says. Adding to that game plan was personal consult from friends with some serious art and design bonafides: her castmates Jenna Lyons, the fashion and interiors mogul, Erin Lichy, a realtor and interior designer, and the art curator and advisor Racquel Chevremont, who joins the cast this upcoming season.
The walls of Whitfield’s bedroom are painted Farrow & Ball’s Sulking Room Pink. The bed, from CB2, wears Frette Linens.
Photo: Frank Frances
Mindthegap’s Ischgl swathes the bathroom walls. An art print by Elliot Stokes, sourced via Minted, hangs over a vintage chest.
Photo: Frank Frances
With her friends and the boost from Minted, she pulled it all together in time. “I sent so many options to Jenna. She just was doing thumbs up, thumbs down [on texts],” Whitfield says. “She saw 12 different iterations of the chair I’m sitting on right now.” Art in every room helps give the apartment that curated, lived-in feeling she was after. “Working with Minted and getting to know all the artists during this process… it’s just been so cool,” she reflects.
Mindthegap’s Gardens of Jaipur wallpaper was the first item Whitfield purchased for the apartment. Prints by Kamala Nahas via Minted.
Photo: Frank Frances. Styling: Cecelia Elguero.
When she’s not chasing after her new puppy, Sugar, you’re likely to find Whitfield kicking back in her glam room, an amenity she once scoffed at but has since warmed to. “I used to roll my eyes like, ‘Oh, you have a glam room?’ But here’s the thing: I do sometimes have hair and makeup [teams] huddling in my bathroom and tripping over stuff. A dedicated space is the ultimate luxury,” she says. “Even if I look like a hot mess, I’ll go in that room and I’m like, ‘I’m going to be okay.’” Hopefully the rest of the home inspires a similar calm amid the storm of all that famous Bravo drama.