LUXURY LOFT

— MARNI ELYSE KATZ, Editor and Writer, Boston Home

An associate at a real estate investment firm, Dane Austin’s client loved living in a converted loft. At first, that is. A couple of years in, he began to lament that the unit—with its exposed-brick walls and its wood ceiling and beams—felt impersonal and stark. “He wanted us to make it feel more like a home,” Austin says. By integrating custom millwork and furnishings in sumptuous materials with a masculine vibe, the Boston-based designer and his team transformed the less-than-welcoming (but architecturally interesting) space into an inviting retreat with an easy and consistent flow. “Once we finished, the client told us that a friend said, ‘It looks like a sophisticated adult’s place now,’” Austin recalls.