The Insider: Considered Decor Gives New-Build Brooklyn Townhouse a Dose of Personality

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Personalizing a brand new townhouse was the challenge before interior designer Lucy Harris, who decorated from scratch for the very first occupants of the four-story building. There were desirable features aplenty, including a front yard as well as a rear one; a bright interior, thanks to a rooftop skylight over the stairwell and glazed rear walls on the two lower floors; a dining deck off the second floor living room; and existing high-end kitchen and baths that were to the new homeowners’ liking.

“The house didn’t need any renovation. It was clean and simple; the clients just wanted to do some special touches,” said Harris, founder and principal of Lucy Harris Studio, an eight-person firm with offices near Bryant Park in Manhattan. That may make it sound quicker and easier than it was. Harris and her team, spearheaded by designer Michael Warren, spent a year and a half crafting a subtle color palette, designing custom millwork, and curating furnishings and textiles with an emphasis on playful geometric patterns and natural materials like leather, wool, cork, rattan, ceramic, and wood.

The homeowners, a couple with a very young family, had a clear focus, Harris said. “They wanted a peaceful, functional family home.” Varied influences came into play, from Harris’s own background growing up in a modernist home in New England and living in Italy for two years, to the clients’ predilection for the colors of the American Southwest. “It was sort of an undercurrent,” the designer said. “They weren’t looking for intense color, but serene and subtly vibrant colors found in the cycles of nature.” That translated to deep blues and greens and warm, earthy yellows and oranges in textiles, furnishings, and art, while walls remained neutral.

A jazzy patterned tile floor from Fireclay enlivens a formerly plain mud room/entry area. Extensive custom millwork throughout the house starts here, with a pale-wood closet and bench.

Counter stools by Stahl and Band and Arundal Orb pendants from In Common With are stylish tweaks in the open kitchen.

A custom built-in banquette, Marathon Table by Yucca Stuff, and Angelo Mangiorotti chairs kit out the cozy dining area. An Arrow pendant from Apparatus hangs above.

The living room (top photo) centers on an Aqueduct sofa by Poiat; a Barba club chair by Fogia; the Ojai chair, of oak and leather, from Lawson Fenning; and a contemporary coffee table in the style of Art Deco designer Paul Frankl. The geometric rug from Christopher Farr is key to establishing a light-hearted, contemporary ambience.

Alfresco dining takes place at a cactus-colored dining set on a deck off the living room.

Linen bedding and coordinating custom pillows make the primary bedroom inviting. Sconces were sourced from Nickey Kehoe.

The nursery’s main pieces are from accessible retailers like Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn Kids, and West Elm. Suspended above: a Mori pendant from Rich Brilliant Willing.

A top floor bedroom, with twin beds for guests, is a study in cool greens.

Anchoring the ground level family/media room is a massive modular sofa by Piero Lissoni for DePadova. Jens Risom’s classic webbed lounge chairs for Knoll are visible outside.

The multi-level backyard features a powder-coated aluminum pergola atop the new dining terrace, steps and platforms of black locust, and bluestone walking paths. It is the work of Brooklyn-based landscape designer Michael Cafiero. Native plantings provide interest in all seasons.

[Photos by Brian W. Ferry | Styling by Katja Greeff]

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.

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