At the time of our shoot, the other end of de Cardenas’s living room held a dining table set beneath a giant Ben Jones painting. But the designer has since given the table away to a friend. “I do yoga there now,” he says, admitting that he never entertains in his apartment and has no plans to anytime soon. “I took some red sawhorses my friend Mel got at the flea market and I’ll probably put a black glass top on it. I don’t use tables, but it feels like it’s the right thing to do, right?” The Blu Dot Real Good chairs are one of the only contemporary items of furniture in the entire apartment. “Our interiors do have a contemporary effect, but we actually hardly use any new furniture, it’s all antique. So that says something about the state of design now.”