At Home With Frankie Foye

Celebrity hairstylist Frankie Foye has been fortunate enough to travel the world with her job which involves styling the tresses of celebrities and supermodels like Shania Twain, Jennifer Nettles, Molly Sims, Adriana Lima and Marisa Miller. Her list of credits includes fashion editorials for Glamour, Numero and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue as well as photoshoots for regular catalog clients including Berdgorf Goodman, Bloomingdales and Victoria’s Secret. Frankie is constantly inspired by the beautiful and exotic places she’s visited and counts Morocco, Thailand, Mexico and India among her most inspirational. This global influence can definitely be seen throughout her bohemian West Village apartment which is filled with pieces she’s acquired during her travels, a boatload of flea market finds and even a few found treasures she picked up off the street. Frankie decorated her entire apartment herself and the process was a true labor of love. Let’s take a peek inside…

Frankie has what most New Yorkers would consider a dream apartment. She lives on the perfect block in the West Village, her place is incredibly spacious, with 12 foot ceilings and a wood-burning fireplace – a rare luxury in New York. This is her living room which gets amazing light. She maximizes the natural light with mirrors that are strategically placed on just about every wall.

Here an Indian foot stool with a velvet cushion doubles as a coffee table. On top is a vintage tray from Thailand found at a home accessories shop in Greenwich Village called Be Seated. Frankie collects first edition hardcover books and this one here on the works of legendary photographer Irving Penn has such a beautiful cover. Also on display here are a pair of Moroccan finger cymbals used for tribal belly dancing which she found while traveling through the Atlas Mountains.

Here’s another view of Frankie’s living room. The Pottery Barn sofa was a steal from Housing Works. The Turkish kilim was a find from a street fair. The Scottish paisley blanket draped over the sofa was purchased at the 25th Street flea market as were the two matching mid-century chairs and the vintage blown glass lamp on the left was a street find! Frankie says one of the best parts about living in the West Village is that she always stumbles upon the most wonderful treasures lying on the street!

Inside the cabinet is more of her McCoy pottery collection, seen on the top shelf, along with her collection of Moroccan glassware and one of her favorite tea sets which she found in Argentina…She lived in Buenos Aires where she danced tango for 2 of years! Another interesting tidbit about Frankie is that she’s quite a talented artist. She paints as a hobby and the small nude oil painting on the bottom right is one of her many works.

Frankie’s workspace includes this early American desk and chair from Penine Hart.

Her work area is filled with things she loves including photos of family and friends, a favorite vase from morocco and two African beaded boxes (on the far left) from Be Seated.

Unfortunately this photo came out blurry but I included it anyway because I think it’s the perfect example of how Frankie combines her great taste with a little ingenuity to create a home filled with personal style. The mirror here is from Urban Outfitters and she gave it a worn, antiqued look by re-painting the frame and distressing the mirror with a concoction of muriatic acid and water applied with a spray bottle. The shelf is actually an antique archery box from a used to store a bow and arrow which she found at a flea market and transformed into a shelf using brackets from Anthropologie. The Chinese secretary is also a flea market find and to the left of the secretary is an antique American butter churn stool.

Throughout her career Frankie has worked with a number of notable fashion photographers whose works she has been collecting over the years. This one is by Steve Erle.

Frankie’s apartment has a sunny eat in kitchen which is another envious amenity that is rare in the world of New York City apartments. The dining table base was in bad shape when she found it on the street in the restaurant district and she brought it back to life with by painting it and adding on the top. The geometric shaped mirrors are from the Rose Bowl flea market in Pasadena. They were originally 3 really bad paintings which she had turned into mirrors. The Moroccan lamp in the corner was a find from Housing Works and the wooden chair is yet another treasure found in the trash!

The rattan bench in Frankie’s kitchen was a find from the 25th Street flea market. The suzani cushion is from ABC Carpet & Home and the pillows were collected over time from various places including Peru and Morocco. I love the Moroccan tea set which Frankie uses as a centerpiece for her kitchen table. She used the drinking glass as a votive.

Frankie’s kitchen has such vintage charm, with cabinets, a sink and stove that are all original. The rolling cart on the right, another garbage find, adds to the charm. On the walls are portraits of women, mostly from flea markets, which Frankie has been collecting over the years.

This is the corner of Frankie’s kitchen where she does hair for her private clients. Even some of her celeb clients have had their hair done right here in Frankie’s kitchen!

This long hallwayseparates the main living space from the bathroom and bedroom in Frankie’s apartment. The rugs here are Persian and Moroccan and the lantern seen at the far end of the hall was a find from Urban Outfitters!

Here’s a glance at Frankie’s bathroom. The floor to ceiling shower curtain was custom made using a black and ivory floral fabric from Ralph Lauren. The small table is from a flea market and on top is a lamp from Morocco. In the window sill are two photographs by Cleo Sullivan and a clock that she purchased while in Thailand doing the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. The numbers on the clock are printed in Thai.

In between her sink and toilet is a small Chinese cabinet which she uses to store her toiletries. On top is another Cleo Sullivan photo.

It’s hard to tell from the photos but the walls in the bathroom are painted a soothing shade of blue. Two more Sullivan photos hang on the bathroom wall and I especially love the one of the woman unfastening her corset. The blue backdrop of the photo matches Frankie’s walls perfectly.

Of all the rooms in Frankie’s apartment I think her bedroom was my favorite. It feels so peaceful and serene and I love all of the beautiful textiles.

This Pakistani rug at the foot of her bed is from Hello Sari in Soho. Isn’t it beautiful?

Here’s a different view of her bedroom. The vintage cedar trunk in front of her bed stores all of her cashmere and the antique chimney cabinet seen on the left is where she stores all of her vintage rugs and quilts.

I loved all of Frankie’s bedding. The sheets and quilt are all from John Robshaw and the darker colored throw at the foot of the bed is actually a hand dyed Tibetan scarf purchased at a museum gift shop.

I also love this cozy little nook in the corner of the room. Frankie rescued the bergere chair from the trash and covered it with a camel and white colored cowhide. The silver lamp with lionhead detail was purchased at a street fair in her neighborhood and she spruced it up with a black shade from Just Shades. On the windows are what used to be a Moroccan divider screen. Frankie disassembled the screen to make these shutters which create such beautiful patterns of light.

And finally here’s a view of the room showing Frankie’s vintage cabinet which she painted herself and added a distressed finish using brown shoe polish. The cabinet houses her TV, books and other items that she prefers to keep out of sight. On top of the cabinet are nude paintings which she collects. The Moroccan inspired pendant lamp is from Urban Outfitters.

Hope you enjoyed the tour and thanks Frankie for giving us a sneak peek inside your home!