Protege to New York designer has the "eye," blogs about his ideas

With an eye out for the next great find, New York designer and blogger Nick Olsen browses at Billy's Antiques & Props.

Nick Olsen moved recently into a new studio apartment in midtown Manhattan that looks, he says charitably, like a "crack den." It's got one window, cheap wooden cabinets and a fridge looming alone along the kitchen wall. With moving boxes still unpacked, he says he can already picture the whole place finished -- sleek and serene -- and has set about transforming it.

Those who reside in the realm of the young and style-obsessed know of Olsen as something of a wunderkind: a walking-talking-blogging personification of urbane cool. He's a protege of New York status designer Miles Redd, had his previous apartment featured on the cover of Domino magazine and writes a buzz-generating blog for the shelter mag.

In addition to his early accomplishments, Olsen, 25, possesses that elusive, enviable quality called "eye" or "knack" or perhaps "flair": an innate sense of style so many of us aspire to and so few seem blessed with. Olsen acknowledges that much of his approach to design comes down to instinct. But part is pure fearlessness: a passionate interest and willingness to take chances. Nothing is irrevocable, he says; anything is fair game. An ugly fridge in a rental apartment? Olsen wallpapered his.

"I wish people would think of decorating their home in the same way they think about fashion, because they're willing to take more chances with that," he says. "Because decorating is a lot of troubleshooting."

With a degree in architecture from Columbia University, Olsen saw a spread in W magazine about Redd, a high-profile designer for moneyed clients and chic hot spots who had recently been named creative director of Oscar de la Renta's home line.

"It made such an impression on me, like nothing before or since," Olsen says. Hired to be Redd's assistant, Olsen learned and grew creatively. Experimenting with a first apartment, he knew he couldn't afford the high-end pieces chosen by the clients he was working for, but he could seek out the look from thrift shops and fabric stores and do it himself.

Even before moving in he knew he wanted assertively vivid wall color, and he picked out a vibrant olive-green paint. He was determined to reclaim quirky flea-market finds, such as the faux-bamboo side table, enameled starfish and '70s-era ashtrays he'd been collecting for a decade.

"My whole inspiration for the apartment was a cartoony version of Miles' place," Olsen says. "I wanted it to have a sense of humor; to be whimsical, yet stylish."

There was plenty of trial and error, but when Redd saw the place at Olsen's housewarming party, he was impressed enough to mention it to Deborah Needleman, editor in chief of Domino. Magazine scouts showed up two days later, and the apartment landed on the November '06 cover.

Needleman and her staff were so taken with Olsen that they thought of him for a "Deal Hunter" blog they had in the works, which launched in January.

"We knew we wanted someone who could do this `Domino on a dime' thing, and it was important to me to find someone who knew how to translate design," Needleman says. "You can feel good about being on a budget, because it comes from a refined sensibility."

That sensibility is critical when working with Redd's million-dollar clients. It also comes in handy when designing on the cheap. "I want really high style, right?" Olsen says. "But I'm not kidding myself: That costs a lot of money, and I don't have it, so how do I get it, or at least fake it?"

Fake-it-till-you-make-it tactics are the backbone of Olsen's blog for Domino (www.dominomag.com). There he suggests framing old science magazine covers as art; transforming an Ikea credenza by sanding and painting it with high-gloss paint or covering it with contact paper that looks like faux marble or stainless steel; knocking off your favorite abstract painting by making one with a store-bought canvas and paint; and making your own ikat fabric by saturating ordinary broadcloth cotton with a paint-covered sponge.