The Insider: Furnishings Refresh Cobble Hill Townhouse for Evolving Family

Jennifer Morris’s clients had been living in their 19th century townhouse for about a decade when they called her in for a top-to-bottom redecorating juggernaut. “They got a ten-year itch to make a change,” said Morris, whose Park Slope-based firm, JMorris Design, has a portfolio of both urban and suburban homes. “They’d survived the toys and mess, and their children were now teenagers. Things had started to look a little worn.”

The couple had done an extensive renovation when they first moved in, which restored or replicated detail like the lacy crown molding in the front parlor, in keeping with the room’s original pilasters, and added tech-smart features and central air. But “they never really figured out their living room,” Morris said. “They wanted to create a place that was warm and inviting, both for entertaining and for regular family life, with some free floor space for the kids to do their TikToks. You don’t want them hiding in their rooms.”

Morris worked out a whole new decorating scheme encompassing new furniture, lighting, finishes, and wall coverings, along with modifications to the existing kitchen to “keep the flow of the new color palette continuous.” Out went all the family’s old furnishings, with Morris’s assistance. “We donated most of it, brought light fixtures into Housing Works, and resold some items as it made sense,” she said.

To reflect limited light in the front parlor/living room, Morris chose moire wallpaper with a subtly rippled texture and lustrous finish. “It feels clean and bright, with a lot of movement,” she said. The velvet sofa is “grounding, warm, autumn-y,” Morris said. “I can’t tell you how hard we worked to get the shade right — not too red, not too orange, not too pink.”

The modernistic ceiling fixture came from Zia-Priven; new artwork throughout was chosen with the help of Mason Lane Art Advisory.

The dining room walls have a reflective lime wash wax finish, another way to enhance the play of light. “We really wanted some personality in the space,” Morris recalled. “It was a bold move to go darker in a place that gets the least amount of light. We introduced a dimmable light fixture with maximum wattage, plus wall sconces,” floating glass discs on brass brackets.

Whimsical bird wallpaper in the parlor-level powder room was sourced from the small-batch maker Betsy Olmsted in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The existing kitchen was repainted, with new cabinet hardware and a newly blue center island and blue counter stools “to create a conversation between rooms,” the designer said.

A luminescent leather headboard and deep teal bedding anchor the primary bedroom, with bedside tables from Matthew Fairbank, a furniture and lighting manufacturer in Upstate New York.

Fortuny fabric makes a love seat between the windows “the diva in the room,” Morris said.

A home office at the rear of the second floor is based on a panel system with customized desk and shelf components from Atlas in Hudson, N.Y.

Doors lead to a deck on the roof of the kitchen, in an extension on the floor below.

The top floor contains two children’s bedrooms, with a skylit play space in the middle. Morris added a games table and beanbag chairs suitable for teens.

A warm brown guest bedroom and a den/media room that opens to the backyard occupy the garden level. A swivel chair from Dmitiri and other seating is covered in indoor-outdoor fabric to make it “a little more forgiving,” Morris said.

[Photos by Kirsten Francis]

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.

Got a project to propose for The Insider? Contact Cara at caramia447 [at] gmail [dot] com

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