He found his answer by looking up, deciding to extend the ceiling's subtle, white-on-white pattern down two walls to the soffit level on one side and nearly down to the floor on the other.

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Mariette Himes Gomez, who designed the model at 515 East 72, wound up building a soffit for the kitchen and installing an island in the space to "not make the kitchen look like it was falling into the living room, " she said.

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