{"id":785255,"date":"2026-05-09T22:50:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T22:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/785255\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T22:50:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T22:50:23","slug":"for-two-creatives-a-soho-rental-becomes-their-dream-live-work-studio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/785255\/","title":{"rendered":"For Two Creatives, a SoHo Rental Becomes Their Dream Live-Work Studio"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Estimated4 min read<\/p>\n

Above: In the living\/dining area of Maximilian Eicke and Irina\u2019s SoHo home, the carpet was designed by Maximilian using 12 runners purchased on Etsy. The stools are from Max ID NY\u2019s home collection. The couch and armchair were designed and produced by Maximilian, and the coffee table was designed by Maximilian as a prototype. <\/p>\n

The apartment that Maximilian Eicke and Irina Kro Eicke call home is technically a SoHo rental, but it feels more like a full-throttle creative compound. German-born Maximilian is a furniture and product designer with his own store, Max ID NY<\/a>, while Irina, known online as @withkro<\/a>, is a stylist and content creator. The couple spotted the 3,500-square-foot, ground-floor apartment\u2014with a full basement and lofted sleeping areas\u2014when it was listed for sale. Rather than putting in an offer, they asked to rent it (provided they could do cosmetic renovations).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to upgrade the space so it fit what we wanted and why we moved to New York City,\u201d Maximilian says. \u201cWe have no shame saying it\u2019s a rental. We\u2019re proud of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"InteriorBj\u00f6rn Wallander<\/p>\n

In the double-height kitchen, an original spiral stair winds up to the lofted bedrooms. The solid teak root sculptural balls are from Bali.<\/p>\n

Maximilian and Irina met in Bali eight years ago, as he was finishing up designing a house that became their first joint project. She brought what he calls \u201cthe best kind of input,\u201d tweaking colors and textures with her fashion-trained eye. From Bali they moved to Sag Harbor, where they renovated an apartment, and then went on to complete a full home gut reno in Southampton. By the time SoHo entered the picture, they\u2019d already treated multiple spaces as design laboratories.<\/p>\n

The existing SoHo apartment layout matched their working styles with eerie precision. The ground floor, insulated from street noise and lit by a generous kitchen skylight, became the shared zone\u2014living room, bar, kitchen, and Irina\u2019s primary shooting backdrop. Below, the 1,500-square-foot basement serves as Maximilian\u2019s workshop and archive. Above, two low-slung sleeping lofts tuck away their private life. \u201cI like hiding away from the world at times,\u201d Maximilian says.<\/p>\n

The couple began renovations just as they sold the Southampton house. \u201cFor about the first two weeks we were sleeping just on a mattress in the living room,\u201d Maximilian remembers. Their furniture arrived before they decided on paint colors, so they found themselves edging ladders around a 3,000\u2011pound marble dining table under 20-foot ceilings. \u201cWe should have just painted the whole space first and that would have solved weeks\u2019 worth of trouble,\u201d he notes.<\/p>\n

\"DecorativeBj\u00f6rn Wallander<\/p>\n

In the dining area, a 3,000-pound marble dining table designed by Maximilian Eicke, carved from solid block marble. The paintings are by Angelica Kaufmann. The chairs and stools are designed by Maximilian for his brand, Max ID NY.<\/p>\n

The marble dining table, an early piece Maximilian made, became the centerpiece of the ground floor, which hosts both dinner parties and product shoots. \u201cI always saw this table in his Bridgehampton showroom and I always wanted to live with it,\u201d Irina says. The only way to make that happen in the city was a ground-floor unit. \u201cIf we were in any other apartment in New York City, this would take a crane to bring in,\u201d Maximilian says. \u201cBecause we\u2019re on the ground, it literally came in straight through the front door.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the table is another unique piece. The couple didn\u2019t want to invest in a massive custom rug for the main living area right away, so Maximilian ordered 15 smaller runners from Etsy and, with Irina’s help, wove them into a single, oversized floor covering.<\/p>\n

\"InteriorBj\u00f6rn Wallander<\/p>\n

Off the bedroom, Maximilian lined Irina\u2019s low-ceilinged makeup nook with overstock fashion fabrics and a custom-cut foam mattress. The red painting (left) is by Louisa Lizbeth Chase.<\/p>\n

Upstairs, Irina\u2019s sensibility comes through in softer, more intimate ways. Take her makeup nook\u2014a low-ceilinged annex off the bedroom that \u201choards\u201d the apartment\u2019s best daylight. With a ceiling under six feet, a standard desk didn\u2019t look quite right, so the couple brought everything lower to the ground and added a window cushion. Maximilian sketched the footprint, walked up the block to a foam shop, and an hour later they had a custom design, dressed in linen and tented overhead with leftover fabrics. \u201cI really like to do makeup when I\u2019m sitting on the floor. It\u2019s very comforting for me,\u201d Irina says.<\/p>\n

In the basement, Maximilian and Irina\u2019s shared history in art and design is everywhere. An inexpensive billiard table became a one-off \u201ccouture\u201d object after Maximilian spent an afternoon wrapping its base in Japanese paper from a local art store. He made the dramatic pendant overhead from a humble table lamp, an orphaned shade, and a plastic IKEA planter, all spray-painted and suspended from a hook. Maximilian\u2019s furniture prototypes\u2014like the triangular chair from his first collection and a spiky metal table\u2014fill the rest of the space.<\/p>\n

Step Inside This Moody SoHo Apartment\"WoodenOpen Gallery\"\"<\/p>\n

On the walls are artworks from Maximilian\u2019s parents, two retired longtime dealers. The pieces include canvases by English painter Newton Haydn ‘Tony’ Stubbing, who also designed furniture for the Stanley Kubrick film A Clockwork Orange. \u201cWe have all the original plaster models for the project seen in the movie,\u201d Maximilian says, noting how much he\u2019s drawn to creatives with \u201cmany different careers and many different lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now that they\u2019ve settled in, Maximilian and Irina plan to stay as long as the apartment\u2019s owner will let them\u2014though that doesn\u2019t mean the space will remain static. The home\u2019s evolution is part of the ongoing process of living with your work and working where you live. \u201cThe apartment never looks the same,\u201d Maximilian says. \u201cEvery two or three weeks the space has a different change to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Julia Cancilla is the social media & news editor at ELLE Decor, where she oversees the brand’s socials and covers design, pop culture, and emerging trends. She also authors the monthly ELLE Decoroscope column. Her work has appeared in Inked magazine, House Beautiful, Marie Claire, and more.<\/p>\n