The Insider: Gut Reno Recasts Brooklyn Heights Apartment as Luxe, Meticulously Detailed Cocoon
A gut renovation brought considered design and built-in storage to transform a postwar Brooklyn Heights apartment into a jewel box.
Photo by Nicole Franzen
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When architects Andrea Fisk and Jess Hinshaw of Boerum Hill-based Shapeless Studio first met their new client, a woman who had just purchased a one-bedroom apartment with a lovely view of treetops and church steeples in a Brooklyn Heights World War II-era co-op building, she used the phrase “jewel box” to describe the feeling she was after.
As Fisk unpacked the term, “She wanted a space that was well considered, where each corner of the apartment had something unique, with furnishings and design objects chosen very thoughtfully.” And plenty of storage, especially for books.
First came a complete gut renovation. “We replaced absolutely everything and changed the layout considerably,” said Fisk. “Before, the kitchen was in a tiny windowless alcove next to the front door. We opened it up in every direction.” A new bath and extensive custom millwork were part of the project, as were all-new furnishings.
“The one thing we didn’t replace were the windows. But we angled the jambs to make the windows look bigger and bring in more light,” Hinshaw said.
Benjamin Moore’s Whispering Woods, a warm taupe, was chosen for the distinctive monochrome of the living room, dining area, and kitchen. “Our client had strong ideas about color and had already painted 20 paint samples on the walls of her old apartment,” Hinshaw said. “She wanted light but warm, all-encompassing color for the more public spaces, and a darker color for the bedroom” on the other side of the apartment. Porch Swing by Benjamin Moore, a moody green, was selected for the latter.
Shapeless Studio painted not only the walls, but “ceiling, baseboard, everything,” Hinshaw said. “The ceiling is not particularly high, which is one of the reasons we wanted to paint it all one color.”
The attention to detail is meticulous. Reveal lines — an intentional one-quarter inch gap around baseboards, casings, and other millwork — are “a way to add a bit of shadow and depth between things in the same plane with each other,” Hinshaw said.
The living room sofa (top photo) was custom designed for the apartment by Pierre Atelier in Red Hook. It sits between an abstract painting owned by the client and a uniquely shaped coffee table from the Danish Design Store.
More than four can dine at this pillar-style table of travertine, which accommodates a flexible number of chairs. The delicate Myrna pendant from Brooklyn-based Ladies & Gentlemen lighting studio has a bit of movement to it, which, along with the curved chairs, mirror, and round rug, brings softness to the dining area in contrast to the hefty stone table.
An open wall of shelving allows light from the living room into the kitchen, while unlacquered brass hardware, including finger pulls by Sawkill, provide warm reflections that make the space come alive.
Shapeless Studio chose a Calacatta marble with a soft, almost watercolor appearance.
A shiny painted strip on the ceiling was conceived as a subtle way of dividing the desk alcove from the rest of the living room.
A pair of slim doors with caned bottoms and fluted glass tops separate the bedroom from more public space. When open, they sit flush against the wall.
The deep-green bedroom has a custom-fabricated bed and headboard by Armada, a fabricator located in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
A tiny existing bathroom was expanded and enlivened by stealing a bit of square footage from the bedroom and using playful terrazzo for flooring, the vanity, and other details. Glossy handmade tile and brass fittings in the shower were chosen for their reflective qualities.
[Photos by Nicole Franzen]
The Insider is Brownstoner’s weekly in-depth look at a notable interior design/renovation project, by design journalist Cara Greenberg. Find it here every Thursday morning.
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