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At home with Brian Ogan
Modernist's home is showplace for the sleek styles he sells
By Allison Serrell
Wednesday, September 8, 2004
It should come as no surprise that Brian Ogan has been running a successful retail business for nearly 15 years. He began flexing his entrepreneurial muscles early on.
As a second-grader, he rented out bureau drawers to his brother and sister for 5 cents a week. By age 10 he had a paper route, and was mowing lawns by age 12.
Ogan, 37, owns The Magazine, the popular store for modern European furnishings in Berkeley, with partner Rainer Lagemann. His San Francisco apartment in the Yerba Buena Lofts building (designed by architect Stanley Saitowitz) is very much an extension of his business, which includes interior design services.
"I bring my clients here all the time. And 30 percent of the people who live here have bought furniture at the store."
The loft is an inspiring repository for modern furnishings and design. When Ogan moved in three months ago, he says, the challenge was to warm the industrial-looking space. With 18-foot ceilings and exposed pipes and concrete, it could feel raw and cold. The 1,250-square-foot loft has two bedrooms and a deck overlooking the freeway with a view of the Coca-Cola sign. Faux maple flooring lightens the space, as do the whitewashed walls.
Ogan employed a mix of warm lights, textures, sculptural shapes and judicious color to enliven the space and make it welcoming.
In the living room, he used a Ralph Lauren paint that is mixed with sand to create a richly colored textural wall that complements an exposed slab of concrete. His couch, made by Leolux, is upholstered in both leather and wool; a shag rug beckons bare feet. A textural abstract painting by Susan Egan graces the wall; flecks of green in the rug match tones in the painting and help pull the space together.
Ogan struggled with the concrete slab, but came up with a creative solution to soften the look. He created a floor-to-ceiling grid of 12 votive holders and placed tiny white candles in each; at night he lights the candles and as he says, "The whole room glows."
The kitchen was especially challenging. Long and narrow, it functions as both a hallway joining the living room and second bedroom and as a working space.
To diminish the pass-through effect, Ogan used scale to his advantage. A 10-foot table anchors the space, with Cappelini chairs placed on one side only, facing the kitchen rather than a wall. This way the table can be used as both a dining area and workspace. He also hung large aluminum lights from the ceiling along the length of the table, bringing them low to create more definition and intimacy. The result is a room that is both inviting and functional.
Ogan grew up in Sacramento in what he calls a "sheltered, religious household"; his family was 7th Day Adventist. His parents always encouraged his ambitions: Ogan worke
d after-school jobs to pay for nicer clothes than what the family could afford at K-Mart.
His affinity for numbers led him to study accounting at Pacific Union College in Angwin, above the Napa Valley; before he even graduated he had a position at Wells Fargo in San Francisco, where he moved in 1987 at the age of 19. From there he moved to Trane Air Conditioning where he served as credit manager. But ultimately his destiny was furniture, not figures.
He opened The Magazine with Lagemann in 1990; today they operate a 6,600- square-foot showroom and sell to clients around the world. Ogan spends much of his time helping clients in their design endeavors at home, offering advice on projects that range from one room to a whole house. Understanding how space works and carving out intimate, functional areas are among his specialties.
In the bedroom upstairs, Ogan employed various techniques to amplify the small space. First, he filled it with a few pieces of furniture, such as an aluminum bed, two nightstands, and a felt chair by Cappelini. The low-slung furnishings make the room seem bigger, as does the large mirror propped against the wall.
He also used a color scheme that includes some fiery reds and oranges, adding drama to the room and grounding it within the larger loft context.
Ogan uses white judiciously, employing white lacquered Ycami cabinets to hide a stereo and computer, and white leather stools for extra seating, tables or putting feet up. These pieces have a calming effect in what could be an overwhelming space, he says.
He avoids trends wherever possible, opting for pieces of classic modern design. "Modern furnishings can be overpowering," he says. "I prefer the calmness of timeless pieces."
The result reflects his keen sense of design, understanding of the mechanics of space and ability to manipulate color, texture, form and light to make rooms that are both soothing and inspiring.
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