The bedroom's back wall features paneling custom-designed by Vern – a tribute to the rusticated masonry that hallmarks 19th-century buildings in New York City. "That wall is designed to give this very modern unit, with all its modern amenities, some architectural flavor, and to pay homage to these foundations that I think are so beautiful and so grand," says Vern.

Vern commissioned a carpenter to craft six-foot-tall pedestals that serve two purposes: to display artwork and to provide an end-table-style surface to house a small table lamp, reading materials, beverages and even an alarm clock. "Everything you need is right there in that column," says Vern.

Wall space is reserved for a piece of fine art Vern acquired at the famed Christie's auction house. The gelatin silver print, circa 1950, by Walter Rosenblum features a young boy on a Lower East Side rooftop. "He's using the rooftop as his escape from the rest of the world, his escape from the hustle and busy streets of the city," says Vern, who finds a parallel with the HGTV Urban Oasis bedroom itself. "I just think it's such a beautiful, incredible photograph."

Circa-1916 keystone pediments, salvaged from a brownstone scheduled to be demolished, stand sentry over the bedroom space. "They were sitting on the floor of the salvage yard," says Vern. "Keystone pediments are designed to be elevated and appreciated on an elevated level, so I had those pedestals designed to showcase them."