THE MOST BEAUTIFULLY DARK PERSONAL SPACE NOW

Personal space reflects us. The most beautiful spaces are created when people let their inner space -- their mindset, their passions, their soul -- sculpt and color everything from the surrounding walls to everything they contain.

One space we’ve come to love, as a brilliant example, is Cindy Gallop’s Black Apartment. This beautifully dark home is a magnificent jewel-box. Every square inch of it is filled with dazzling collections of intimate artifacts, eclectic objets d’art, wild memorabalia, and personal passions -- all playing together in a genius design.

The Black Apartment began its colorful life as a YMCA locker room. Gallop bought it in 2003 and hired designer Stefan Boublil of The Apt to transform this 3750 square foot raw space into a gorgeous bachelorette pad.

Gallop’s vision was to create the ambience of a Shanghai nightclub called the Glamour Bar. Boubil translated this design missive to evoke a kind of lacquered Chinese box. It took 2 ½ years to complete.

There are no interior walls, but rather a network of two-track black curtains which can create “rooms” in any number of configurations. The floors are covered with black carpet. The walls and ceilings are painted with black gloss. Black makes all of the art and objects really pop -- one reason why Gallop advises, “Give up white and turn to the dark side.”

One cool feature is a lighted display of Gallop’s 300-pair outrageous designer stiletto shoe collection and her seemingly endless rows of books.

Also on view, a framed AK-47 stamped with the Chanel logo and a gold-painted Gucci chainsaw (both by artist Peter Gronquist), a black leather Gucci spanking paddle, a pink-and-yellow YSL light installation, and a black leather YSL bustier. So cool and beautiful, Nelly, Diddy, and Usher shot their video for “Nasty Girl” here.

Sound like something you might want to live and/or play in? You’re in luck! It’s now for sale!

How can Gallop bear to leave this place? “It's very simple,” she explains. “I bought and built The Black Apartment in my past life as a high-flying highly-paid advertising executive. Now I am startup entrepreneur.” Her needs have changed.

While this answers the question practically, there is still the question as it relates to her personal connection on an emotional and spiritual level. “The Black Apartment will always live online… so even if someone bought it and completely changed it, it will always be there.” Check out Gallop’s video here.

What will become of Gallop’s massive idiosyncratic collections? Well, for the right price, they can be included in the apartment sale (We are SO tempted!).

If you are interested in becoming the new owner of this Beautiful Dark space, check out Town Residential or Brown Harris Stevens for the listing.

Gallop is a big believer in regular reinvention. “I’m confident of my ability to create an equally enjoyable but different environment somewhere else,” she says. We are certain, knowing Gallop, that it will be exceptionally beautiful. We wonder, will it be black???

Cindy Gallop was an early friend of BeautifulNow. She was one of the first people in the New York startup community to offer us encouragement and support. She is the founder/CEO of IfWeRanTheWorld, a web-meets-world platform designed to turn the good intentions of businesses into action. And she is the founder/CEO of MakeLoveNotPorn, a non-judgemental open forum aiming to provide more realistic information about human sexuality than that provided by hardcore pornography. Check out Gallop’s fabulous TED Talk.

Read more about Beautiful Darkness, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink,Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including 10 New Books Celebrate Beautiful Darkness Now, 10 Beautifully Dark Blooms to Love Now, Black Food Is Beautiful Now, Beautifully Dark Photos Happening Now and 10 Beautifully Dark Beaches Happening Now.

Enter your own images and ideas about Beautiful Darkness in this week’s creative Photo Competition. Open for entries now until 11:59 p.m. PT on 12.14.2014. If you are reading this after that date, check out the current BN Creative Competition, and enter!

PHOTO CREDITS:

1. Photo: Courtesy of The Apartment. Library in the Black Apartment.
2. Photo: Courtesy of The Apartment. Black Apartment.
3. Photo: Courtesy of The Apartment. Bathtub in the Black Apartment.
4. Photo: Courtesy of The Apartment. Kitchen in the Black Apartment.
5. Photo: Courtesy of The Apartment. Black Apartment.
6. Photo: Courtesy of The Apartment. Shoe Room.
7. Photo: Courtesy of The Apartment. Black Apartment.
8. Photo: Courtesy of The Apartment. Black Apartment.
9. Photo: Courtesy of The Apartment. Bedroom in the Black Apartment.
10. Photo: Courtesy of The Apartment. Black Apartment.
11. Photo: Courtesy of The Apartment. Dining Room in the Black Apartment.
12. Photo: by Paul Stone for Dwell. Screenshot of Black Apt / Cindy Gallop video.
13. Photo: by Michael Weber. The Black Apartment. Used with permission.