The Insider: Color-Loving Family Gives Prospect Heights Row House a Bold Makeover
Eight years after a renovation that preserved historic features, a young family tapped their architect to boost their furnishings and decor.
Photo by Gieves Anderson
In 2013, the new owners of a landmark-block row house undertook a costly renovation to address structural and mechanical issues and preserve historic details, including decorative woodwork, stained glass window transoms and a rear bay window.
Decorating was not a priority at the time. But some eight years later, the couple returned to Gowanus-based Frederick Tang Architecture about upping their furnishings game. Barbara Reyes, interior design director of the 10-person architecture and design firm, set about to reimagine the main living spaces on two floors of the couple’s triplex.
“Our clients have very vibrant personalities, which is why I was able to get away with so much color,” said Reyes, who infused the house with deep, saturated hues, lively patterns and layered textures. “The goal was to embrace both wives’ dispositions — one’s inclination for everything to match and the other’s love for boldness and the color black.”
“There are a lot of different forces coming into play,” Reyes said. In the living room (top photo), “there are hits of black, graphic patterns and really feminine pieces, like a curved velvet sofa that’s not as edgy. I tried to incorporate everyone’s ideas but maintain cohesion.” Even the couple’s young son, now 6, had his own ideas, requesting rainbow colors for his room.
About a quarter of the couple’s existing pieces were repurposed, and the rest of the furnishings purchased new.
The house retains a goodly amount of original woodwork, restored in the prior renovation.
Reyes rethought furniture placement to help her clients optimize their space and improve circulation, shifting the dining area from the rear of the parlor floor, near the kitchen, to the middle, where it works better for entertaining groups.
Brass Series 430 chairs by Verner Panton and a custom built-in bench with a floating backrest, upholstered in teal fabric from Maharam, surround an ebonized Paul McCobb extension table. The living room’s blue velvet couch came from Crate and Barrel, the hand-knotted Terrazzo rug from Nordic Knots.
Across from the dining table, a floating mid-century shelving unit by Danish designer Poul Cadovius serves as a display case for the family’s collection of miniature food sculptures and vintage candy tins.
A small den at the rear of the parlor floor serves as play space for the couple’s young son, where his parents can keep an eye on him while working in the adjacent kitchen.
The wood armchair is a reupholstered mid-century piece from the homeowners’ collection, the ice cream cone brought back from a trip to Japan. A hexagonal ottoman from The Inside continues a theme of patterns reminiscent of the 1980s.
Hand-painted wallpaper (Korinthian Sea by Sarkos) in cerulean blue flecked with gold forms a distinctive backdrop in the primary bedroom; it’s paired with millwork painted deep raspberry. “You don’t always get someone who will agree to that,” Reyes said. “Now their bedroom feels extremely special.”
Hardwired sconces replaced mismatched table lamps above beechwood and marble nightstands from Crate & Barrel. Another mid-century wood armchair received a facelift with new upholstery in a graphic triangle pattern from Wolf Gordon.
The boy’s room stands out for its exuberant wallpaper (The Heavens by Flat Vernacular) with a gradient of lime, hot pink, lemon yellow and sky blue. Accent walls painted deep blue “tone down” the effect, Reyes said.
Other playful pieces include a dotted rug and beanbag chairs. The adjustable Vitsoe shelving unit “will grow with him,” Reyes said.
Peach and blue wallpaper from Flat Vernacular is paired with an arched metal mirror from CB2 in the powder room.
[Photos by Gieves Anderson]
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? Please contact Cara at caramia447 [at] gmail [dot] com
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