A first look at the loft owned by Matt Damon’s character in The Adjustment Bureau, the noirish film based on a Philip Dick short story (in theaters Friday), with Damon playing an ambitious politician. Production designer Kevin Thompson dreamed up an industrial chic loft overlooking Madison Square Park, carving the loft out of a raw space in a disused office building. “We wanted a very masculine, spare vibe,” Thompson says. Set decorator Susan Bode-Tyson visited local antiques dealers to put together a collection of appropriately masculine props: vintage footballs, yachting flags, gas station signs, even a ping pong table.
N.B. “Set decorators are good at doing rich on a budget,” Bode-Tyson says. See below for a few of her favorite NYC-area resources.
Above: “The red upholstered Lawrence Chairs are from Thayer Coggin, a North Carolina furniture maker known for their clean lined, modernist pieces,” Bode-Tyson says. “We found the tufted couch at the ABC Carpet warehouse sale.” The wood veneer Watcher Lamp is by Noah Prince of Brooklyn-based Phosphoria, and the vintage gas station sign is from Braswells in Norwalk, Connecticut. The two-inch dark wood Venetian blinds from M. Epstein’s Son in Manhattan.
Above: A pair of framed vintage flags adds a note of color to the pared-down, masculine kitchen.
Above: The rough wood beams and exposed brick walls were left unfinished, while the concrete floor was sealed and polished.
Recreate the vintage loft look with the following elements:
Above: For similar vintage signal flags, go to Home at Sea or Etsy.
Above: Vintage Mobil Station Signs; $95 each at Factory 20.
Above: Custom Clothing Rack on Coasters; available in a range of dimensions from Strawser & Smith in Brooklyn.
Above: Limited edition black custom Ping Pong Table by James Perse in Los Angeles.
Above: 1963 Rand McNally Globe; $155 from Giant Flea on Etsy.
Above: Leather Head Handmade Football; made in Glenn Rock, NJ, of American-tanned leather and rawhide lacing; $115 at Kaufmann Mercantil in Los Angeles.
SET DECORATOR SOURCES
Braswell Galleries in Norwalk, CT, features 40,000 square feet of vintage items at wholesale prices.
Weathervane Hill in Norwalk, CT, offers fantastic prices on a wide selection of fabrics.
John Derian on East 2nd Street in Manhattan always has something unexpected.
Judith & James Milne in Manhattan is a good source for rare finds.
Two Jakes in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, offers great prices on 20th century modern or vintage furniture.
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