The Insider: Fresh Color and Vintage Finds Define a Young Woman's East Village Apartment

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

When a young woman who works in real estate purchased a bright two-bedroom floor-through in a vintage walk-up building, she furnished it in a way that reflects all the excitement and enthusiasm she felt about her new home.

To lend a professional eye and hand, she engaged Lexi Brandfon of Lex & Hudson Interiors, who set up her Brooklyn-based interior design business three years ago and who shares her client’s love of color, pattern and foraging for unique vintage pieces.

“She was looking for personality, vibrancy, and soul, in a way only vintage pieces can give,” said Brandfon of her client. “She didn’t want sterile. She wanted it to be welcoming and interesting, with pattern and unexpected elements.”

Explore The Insider

Find your Brooklyn design inspiration

The apartment’s envelope — its old plaster lathe walls and wood floors — were in a state of good repair. Redoing the kitchen and bath are projects for the future, Brandfon said. “Phase one was making it comfortable. Phase two will be more extensive upgrades.”

So they dove right into decorating. “This was her chance to express herself,” the designer said. “This is her pod, where her life happens,” including entertaining family and friends and occasionally working from home.

The apartment’s entry is into a central hallway with original moldings and transom, where Brandfon made an immediate splash with fern-patterned wallpaper from Osborne & Little. “Her vibe is so fun and feminine,” Brandfon said of her client. “We wanted something bright and fresh.”

The living and dining rooms, painted Benjamin Moore’s Misty Blue, are one contiguous space spanning the width of the building.

A salvaged mantel from Hudson Valley House Parts is not original to the space, Brandfon said. “It’s just for looks. It provided a focal point,” along with some architectural gravitas, not out of keeping with the age of the building.

The traditional-style sofa, covered in olive velvet from Schumacher, is an anchor piece, which fortunately the homeowners’ two cats, whom she adopted midway through the project, have left alone. The wing chair, reupholstered in a blue Scalamandre floral, is the perfect scale, Brandfon said. “We didn’t want a monstrous chair. It was important that the proportion be right.”

The Arteriors chandelier brings in a bit of lightweight grandeur. The unusual table was a gift to the homeowner’s mother from a submarine captain (it came right off the submarine).

That’s not a work of art above the mantel; it’s a frame TV from Samsung. “You can put whatever you want in it,” Brandfon said. The black-and-white photo is an old Gucci ad.

The marble-topped oak cabinet that serves as a bar is an old store fixture with bins for grain, now used for storing such things as utensils and linens.

The X-legged dining table was an eBay find, the chairs new from Häti Home, and the tambour console from Soho Home. The playful light fixture above was sourced from Rejuvenation. The New York-themed Tiffany plates on the wall were a gift to the client.

Custom shelving from Soil & Oak holds books, a speaker, decorative items. Brandfon sized it to “make sure there was enough room to seat six or eight without bumping into it.”

Vintage plates from a yacht club, tortoise flatware, and rattan chargers for texture are the type of thing the homeowner enjoys collecting.

[Photos by Susana Ines; Styling by Kelly Maguire]

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.

Related Stories

• The Insider: Redesign of Williamsburg Bachelor Pad Pivots From Hotel Chic to Homey During Pandemic
• The Insider: Light, Low-Cost Renovation Turns Park Slope Railroad Apartment Into Sweet Family Home
• The Insider: Reimagined Layout Improves Flow of Long Park Slope Prewar for Young Family

Email tips@brownstoner.com with further comments, questions or tips. Follow Brownstoner on Twitter and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.