The Insider: Young Designer Decorates First Apartment From Scratch for Park Slope Couple
On the verge of having their first child, a young couple bought their first home: a three-bedroom brownstone floor-through on a tree-lined avenue in Park Slope.
On the verge of having their first child, a young couple bought their first home: a three-bedroom brownstone floor-through on a tree-lined avenue in Park Slope.
Conveniently for them, interior designer Lauren Wills of Fort Greene-based Wills Design Associates is a close friend. She whipped the place together with style, keeping easy care and comfort top-of-mind, in time for the new arrival.
“They wanted to start totally fresh, new palette, new everything,” said Wills, a Texas native who came to Brooklyn to attend Pratt Institute. She earned a BFA in interior design and worked for several high-profile Manhattan designers before going out on her own a year-and-a-half ago. “They came with a king-size mattress and two flat-screen TVs, and that was it.”
Another stroke of luck was that the apartment was “in phenomenal shape,” Wills said. “We didn’t have to touch any of the architecture. It had original moldings around the windows, tin ceilings and a huge vintage mirror in great condition.”
Apart from installing an HVAC system that necessitated ripping up the hall ceiling, and replacing some missing baseboards and molding around one door, “all we had to do was clean up, paint and furnish,” she said.
The majority of the furnishings came from West Elm, CB2 and online sources. “I made miracles happen with the budget,” Wills said.
The apartment’s walls are painted Benjamin Moore’s White Diamond, with Benjamin Moore Snow White on the ceilings. “We wanted it more on the gray side,” the designer said. “My client didn’t want yellow-y off-white. She wanted it as clean and fresh as possible — invisible white, if you will.”
The sectional sofa and TV console are from West Elm, the art from One Kings Lane. The white plastic chair is a Verner Panton knockoff from Overstock.
The distressed green cabinet was found on Chairish, a vintage and used furniture site.
The concrete composite dining table, as well as the coffee table in the living room, are from CB2.
A group of circular mirrors near the apartment’s entry door is “more fun than one traditional mirror,” Wills said, and it brightens the exposed brick.
Opening the ceiling for new HVAC equipment allowed the placement of a row of ceiling lights from CB2.
Blacktop from Benjamin Moore is a statement wall color in the master bedroom. The cane headboard is from Serena and Lily, the artwork from Pure Photo.
The little bamboo cabinet between the master bedroom’s windows hides the cable box and wiring. Simple blackout shades from Home Depot pull up and down without the need for cords.
A combo study/guest room is painted Benjamin Moore’s Blue Danube. The ceiling light is from Jonathan Adler, the wall sculpture from One Kings Lane.
The white laminate desk surface and stained-wood shelves make an office out of an alcove.
Fabulous fish wallpaper from Cole & Sons was a splurge in the existing bathroom. The door was painted a coordinating pink (Ben Moore’s Coral Gables).
[Photos by Ungano + Agriodimas]
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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