A bedroom with a bed and two windows A bedroom with a bed and two windows - Before Image
A bathroom with a sink and a window A bathroom with a sink and a window - Before Image
A living room filled with furniture and a fire place A living room filled with furniture and a fire place - Before Image
A living room with a chair and a fireplace A living room with a chair and a fireplace - Before Image
A living room filled with furniture and a large window A living room filled with furniture and a large window - Before Image
A living room filled with furniture and a brick wall
A white table with a vase of flowers on top of it A white table with a vase of flowers on top of it - Before Image
A dining room with a table and chairs
A bed sitting in a bedroom next to a window A bed sitting in a bedroom next to a window - Before Image

South End Brownstone

It’s hard to imagine when ascending the narrow stairway of this 1889 South End brownstone to the top two-floor apartment, that the main living area will feature open space and be flooded with light. The kitchen, Living Room and Dining Room all benefit from the light streaming in through the tall, Back Bay-facing windows.

When the clients asked for my design assistance, I initially told them I’d be happy to take on the project if I could tackle the kitchen design oddities.

Not willing to undergo a larger kitchen redo and with enough urging, the clients talked me into taking on the project anyway. They asked me to focus on new furnishings and fixtures and a more personalized space.

The clients did agree to my suggestion of the addition of a banquet seat and small table in the kitchen bay window bump-out facing the main street – a space that sat empty. We created a tiny banquet with a designated ceiling fixture to give prominence to this special kitchen nook.

The brick wall in the Living Room was a bonus, and we only needed to patch a large hole with like-color brick. The custom designed 9’ wide Dining Room sideboard gave the clients the storage space they lacked in the kitchen. And the sculptural furnishings we brought in included a geometric mobile in the spirit of Calder, that hangs in front of the back windows.

The lower entry floor has a small bedroom, office and two small baths. We aimed to maximize the potential in the small spaces giving emphasis to the relatively high ceilings and windows.

Deep warm blue painted walls gave the office a cozy appeal and we replaced the open shelves flanking the fireplace with a walnut desk and cabinetry.

The tiny Guest Bath had a recent addition of a zero threshold shower, but it created almost no walkway between their new vanity and the corner of the glass shower wall. We made a tiny two drawer vanity that flanks a bump-out sink, out of the way of the pinch point.

For the bedroom, the clients insisted on a King size Bed, and fortunately the king mattress had already been craned into the unit. We created a custom bed with only two inches of depth in the headboard and an upholstered base flush with the edge of the mattress allowing a decent pathway through the room to the bath. The soft green and pink hues of the wallpaper, ceiling and trim paint, are contrasted with black and white from the iron curtain hardware, the end tables, the Japanese pen and inks above the bed, the sconces with the black trimmed white shades, and the bed runner. A pink wool fabric with a beautiful drape frames the windows. All the fabrics and the rug have varying textures, a crucial element for my work, especially in small spaces.