Perched high above the street, with a broad front porch and arts and crafts details, the Brooklyn Heights project had seen over 100 years of families. In the case of the current owners, they had raised three kids there and had 27 years of memories. As empty nesters they thought about downsizing and moving out of the city, but in the end, decided to stay put and give the beautiful old house a refresh. A center hall Arts and Crafts, this house came packed with great woodwork, box beams and built-ins. You could feel the warmth of the house as soon as you walked in. It was dark and cozy and embraced you.

The biggest challenge of the space was that the front room was divided into two spaces, neither of which was very large. It had befuddled the owners for the duration of their time in the house and was what finally convinced them they needed professional help. The two spaces were open to each other and therefore had to relate to one another to keep the total space feeling cohesive. The budget did not allow for a full revamp of both spaces, so we worked with the owner’s furnishings on what became the formal sitting area and refreshed them with new pillows, slipcovers and a new coffee table and lighting. That allowed us to concentrate more of the funds on the family room/tv viewing side of things. On the family room side, we went with custom furnishings designed to maximize every square inch, as the space was tight. We brought in lots of texture in a great occasional chair and a seagrass rug, over which we layered a vintage Persian rug to bring some character to the newer pieces. Again, we wanted it to relate to the more formal sitting room side but feel relaxed and inviting for family game nights and tv viewing. Using vintage in this project was key to our success as it allowed us to add one-of-a-kind pieces which helped to stretch the budget.

In the dining room, we worked with the existing dining room table, sending it off to the refinisher to bring it back to life.  We added a large, hardworking patterned rug that would hold up to the long dinners and lots of wine, while creating a beautiful spot in the window seat to relax and enjoy a book. The light fabric on the cushion helps to bounce light throughout the space and bring a bit of sunshine inside. This beautiful and gracious house is ready for another 100 years of family memories.