Houzz Tour: Calm and Organized in a Brooklyn Brownstone
A designer helps homeowners freshen up their apartment while letting family members’ personalities shine through
Two journalists who are voracious readers collect a lot of books. In this case, there were stacks of them all over their apartment, the third floor of a 25-foot-wide 1915 Brooklyn brownstone. Ready for a refresh and some help organizing, they searched for a local designer on Houzz, checked out portfolios and reviews, then chose interior designer Julia Mack to help them organize and redecorate their home.
Formal Meets Casual in the Living Room
“One of the biggest challenges was designing a room that needed to serve as both a formal living room and a casual family room,” Mack says. The room’s architectural assets included 10-foot ceilings, five large windows and a lovely fireplace surround. Mack covered the windows with simple sheers to provide privacy and filter the light without covering up the millwork around them. Then she found furniture that fit the room, met the family’s storage needs and suited the members’ vibrant personalities.
A new sofa, a sculptural love seat with a whimsical red cushion and buttons, and a red Eames chair have a casual yet tailored feel and are the right size for the room. There’s also ample light for reading throughout.
Mack kept the clients’ existing contemporary bookshelves and arranged them with their own belongings in a way that left some breathing room. But by no means does she consider her arrangements set in stone. “I tell my clients that it’s really important to make a space feel like it’s their own and that they should always feel free to add in their favorite things. Personality is what makes a house feel really homey.”
Tip: “Add touches of sparkle and shine,” Mack says. “Glow and reflection make a space dynamic.” Here, the glass-topped metal coffee table, new chandelier and large mirror with a silver frame do just that.
“One of the biggest challenges was designing a room that needed to serve as both a formal living room and a casual family room,” Mack says. The room’s architectural assets included 10-foot ceilings, five large windows and a lovely fireplace surround. Mack covered the windows with simple sheers to provide privacy and filter the light without covering up the millwork around them. Then she found furniture that fit the room, met the family’s storage needs and suited the members’ vibrant personalities.
A new sofa, a sculptural love seat with a whimsical red cushion and buttons, and a red Eames chair have a casual yet tailored feel and are the right size for the room. There’s also ample light for reading throughout.
Mack kept the clients’ existing contemporary bookshelves and arranged them with their own belongings in a way that left some breathing room. But by no means does she consider her arrangements set in stone. “I tell my clients that it’s really important to make a space feel like it’s their own and that they should always feel free to add in their favorite things. Personality is what makes a house feel really homey.”
Tip: “Add touches of sparkle and shine,” Mack says. “Glow and reflection make a space dynamic.” Here, the glass-topped metal coffee table, new chandelier and large mirror with a silver frame do just that.
Before: The room skewed casual and wasn’t really showing off the homeowners’ personalities. “My clients had a lot of oversized furniture that didn’t fit the space well,” Mack says. “It lacked the storage they needed and it lacked sparkle.” One thing that was clear was that they liked red, a color she knew she’d use to add warmth in the room.
Mack specified a large cabinet by USM Modular Furniture to hold the TV and media equipment as well as books. She utilized these hardworking cabinets throughout the home, strategically placing five in total.
Find a media cabinet in the Houzz Shop
Find a media cabinet in the Houzz Shop
The French doors were existing and lead to the eat-in area of the kitchen. Thanks to the long, narrow drop-leaf table seen here, the living room also serves as extra dining space during holidays and dinner parties. When pulled out and extended, the table seats 12 to 14.
Wall paint: Balboa Mist, Benjamin Moore; trim paint: Collingwood, Benjamin Moore
Wall paint: Balboa Mist, Benjamin Moore; trim paint: Collingwood, Benjamin Moore
This is the eat-in area, which serves as the home’s only everyday dining space. The kitchen is to the right. The homeowners had completed a full renovation in here a few years ago with the help of kitchen designer Kate Altman. All Mack needed to do was help with some shelf and cabinet arranging.
Whimsy and Warmth in the Master Bedroom
Before: The headboard in the master bedroom was placed against a chimney that jutted out, making circulation in the room awkward.
Before: The headboard in the master bedroom was placed against a chimney that jutted out, making circulation in the room awkward.
Mack relocated the bed between the windows and covered the headboard wall in blue Woods and Stars wallpaper by Cole & Son. The wallpaper adds color, pattern and the sparkle of stars to the room. Mack also helped the couple choose new bedding to complement it.
The designer “shopped” the entire house during the redesign, moving things from room to room to find the best spots for her clients’ favorite things. This Oriental rug had been in the living room, but Mack knew that room needed a rug with a calmer feel. Now its color and pattern warm up the master bedroom. And the gold-framed mirror adds sparkle and shine.
Mack added a wood mantel to denote where a fireplace had been years ago. She arranged the homeowners’ existing artwork and added a new piece to it (the butterfly).
Tip: Have plenty of places to store clothing with ease. Mack maximized the closet storage throughout the apartment by having California Closets outfit them with shelves, drawers and racks. “Having control of your stuff makes things feel neater,” she says. She placed a hamper in here so the couple have a spot to put their dirty clothes when they change for bed.
By the way, this is Momo the cat. Their other cat is named Noodles.
Tip: Have plenty of places to store clothing with ease. Mack maximized the closet storage throughout the apartment by having California Closets outfit them with shelves, drawers and racks. “Having control of your stuff makes things feel neater,” she says. She placed a hamper in here so the couple have a spot to put their dirty clothes when they change for bed.
By the way, this is Momo the cat. Their other cat is named Noodles.
Mack created an inviting reading spot in the master bedroom by swiping the black-and-gold houndstooth chair and the trio of paintings from the living room. She added a small black accordion table, floor lamp and yellow pillow to cozy things up.
Maximizing a Compact Bathroom
Before: The only full bathroom, shared by the entire family, measures just 8 by 5 feet. “Space was so tight in here that it actually took us a while to figure out where the toilet paper holder would go,” Mack says. The one thing the room had going for it was the 10-foot ceiling.
Before: The only full bathroom, shared by the entire family, measures just 8 by 5 feet. “Space was so tight in here that it actually took us a while to figure out where the toilet paper holder would go,” Mack says. The one thing the room had going for it was the 10-foot ceiling.
Mack brought the bathroom down to the studs for the renovation. She gave the room ample storage by way of a tall mirrored medicine cabinet, a floating vanity with two large drawers and a new niche over the toilet. A predominantly white color palette makes the bathroom feel airier. The tall mirror draws the eye up toward the high ceiling.
The floor tile is a mini mosaic by Porcelanosa in a gray-and-white herringbone pattern. The tile in the tub-shower combo is large-format (12 by 35 inches), which cuts down on the busyness of the grout lines.
Shop for a mirrored medicine cabinet
The floor tile is a mini mosaic by Porcelanosa in a gray-and-white herringbone pattern. The tile in the tub-shower combo is large-format (12 by 35 inches), which cuts down on the busyness of the grout lines.
Shop for a mirrored medicine cabinet
A More Spacious Feel for the Office
Before: The couple’s shared office was functional but felt cramped.
Before: The couple’s shared office was functional but felt cramped.
The first thing Mack did was move the desk in front of the windows so the journalists could enjoy the view while they worked. She freshened up the walls with Benjamin Moore’s Silver Satin paint.
She reused their existing large storage piece with its handy cabinets on the bottom and bookshelves on the top, added two USM Modular cabinets across from it and helped the couple designate what would be stored where, including office equipment, books and clothing. She brought color and pattern into the room with a flat-weave area rug and added a modern touch overhead with a Nelson pendant light.
She reused their existing large storage piece with its handy cabinets on the bottom and bookshelves on the top, added two USM Modular cabinets across from it and helped the couple designate what would be stored where, including office equipment, books and clothing. She brought color and pattern into the room with a flat-weave area rug and added a modern touch overhead with a Nelson pendant light.
Style to Suit a Young Modernist
Before: The couple’s teenage daughter’s room had a bulky bed with built-in shelves. She had outgrown the look and wanted a new design.
Before: The couple’s teenage daughter’s room had a bulky bed with built-in shelves. She had outgrown the look and wanted a new design.
Mack redecorated her room, painting the walls white to create a backdrop for a pattern the teenager liked. “She’s a modernist and she likes things simple. She wasn’t into pattern at first,” Mack says. “But it turned out shibori was a really good concept for her. It’s a Japanese hand-dyed textile in deep indigo and white.” (While they appear more periwinkle in the photos, these blues are inky indigos in person.)
A Heywood-Wakefield dresser, wood Eames lounge chair and Nelson pendant lights suit the young modernist. “The three lights of the pendant provide nice general illumination for the room,” Mack says.
Takeaways
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A Heywood-Wakefield dresser, wood Eames lounge chair and Nelson pendant lights suit the young modernist. “The three lights of the pendant provide nice general illumination for the room,” Mack says.
Takeaways
- A combination living room-family room can be elegant yet playful and comfortable. Using a calm neutral palette with well-edited pops of color and furniture with a tailored look is a good way to accomplish this.
- Add sparkle and shine to a room with metallic finishes and glass.
- Redecorating doesn’t mean replacing everything. Switch up the look of a chair with a new pillow, swap rugs around and rearrange artwork and books.
- Make sure your personality shines through. Point out your favorite objects and discuss your favorite colors and patterns with your design pro early in the process so he or she can gain an understanding of your style.
- And when the process is over, don’t be afraid to switch up arrangements and add new things you find and love.
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House at a Glance
Who lives here: Two journalists; their teenage daughter; and Momo and Noodles, their cats
Location: Brooklyn Heights, New York
Size: 1,300 square feet (121 square meters); three bedrooms, 1½ bathrooms
Designer: Julia Mack
The homeowners and Mack agreed that they needed to highlight the home’s enviable original details, including oak parquet floors with mahogany inlays in the corners, intricate moldings and a classic fireplace surround.
Mack lightened up the spaces with paint, brought in color and helped the owners choose new furniture, art and accessories to mix in with their existing pieces in pleasing layouts. Most important, she created a place for everything so the family could keep everything in its place — in particular all those books. The scope of work also included a full remodel of the apartment’s only full bathroom.
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