Berto and Design-Apart in The New York Times

A Loft That’s a Real Showplace

Published: November 20, 2013

When Diego Paccagnella, the president of Design-Apart, a company that sells custom Italian furnishings, wanted to display samples in New York, he found someone in Manhattan with a 2,600-square-foot loft who was willing to move out for a year and give it to him rent-free. Mr. Paccagnella; his wife, Livia; and their 16-month-old son, Giulio (all at top right), moved in and redecorated the apartment as a live-in showroom. In a year, the Paccagnellas will move out, leaving about a half-million dollars in furnishings for the owners to keep, while they find and redo another New York home.

The showroom, at 110 West 25th Street on the second floor, displays goods from 20 Italian manufacturers, including the Berto sofa called Time Break, on which the family is seated ($10,050), and the TM Italia concrete kitchen island, whose top slides to reveal a sink and stovetop (from $46,000). The orange Renata Bonfanti rug is $1,500. Information: 646-202-0116 or design-apart.com.