Welcome to Gregory from New York; a blogger trying out for a place on the Apartment Therapy editorial team as a House Tour Contributor. Enjoy his work!
Name: Spencer & Jordana
Location: Brooklyn, NYC
Size: 1500 square feet plus 700 square foot terrace
Years lived in: 1
What do you do when you put down roots surrounded by 85 acres of New York City’s newest playgrounds, ball fields, water parks, and climbing features all on the Brooklyn Waterfront? The answer is undoubtedly, make time to use it! Spencer and Jordana can’t wait!
The couple was one of the first residents of One Brooklyn Bridge Park the massive and amenity rich building that is wrapped by newly opened pier 6 of Brooklyn Bridge Park. Included in their upgrade from Brooklyn Heights brownstone living was the 700 square foot roof terrace which acts more like a park extension than a backyard. Just like the new park, their view toward Manhattan is charged with the towers of the financial district and the east river bridges.
As their first new home together these spaces prove that they are made for each other. Love and playfulness is thrown together with a quirky style of the precious mixed with low brow humor. It is an organically evolving work showcasing loving expressions of their relationship. They have crafted a nest so comfortable and relaxed that upon visiting you may never want to leave!
Apartment Therapy Survey:
Our Style: Comfortable, Casual, Modern, Playful, and Anthropomorphic.
Inspiration: Our travels together help us decide our décor. We love holding onto the good memories and displaying our favorite trips. We also entertain our friends a lot. Its important for us to have an easy and comfortable space. Our only limitation is the amount of counter space for the massive amounts of food our friends expect when they visit.
Favorite Element: Our outdoor space.
Biggest Challenge: Our biggest challenge is on its way! We will be renovating our office in order to make room for a new family member due to arrive in the fall!
What Friends Say: "I never want to leave." :) just a few.
Biggest Embarrassment: Our packed shelves. If anyone in cyberspace wants our kitsh, please let us know!
Proudest DIY: Birthday present for Jordana; a lawn and garden on the terrace. While she was away with her family, friends helped me install the garden as a surprise.
Biggest Indulgence: Weber Grill
Best Advice: Never say enough is enough!
Dream Sources: I’ll have it when John Deere makes a Home Collection
Resources of Note:
Appliances: Kitchen Bosch, Weber Grill,
Kitchen: Dada cabinetry, Bamboo Box Knife Holder from Viva Terra,
Furniture: Custom Dining Table, Sofa B&B Italia, Bedroom set Room and Board. Outdoor furniture by Frank Gehry.
Accessories: many accessories from IKEA, Michael Anchin Glassware, Areaware, Human shaped planter from Eternit, Gifts from friends, Pac-Man from ebay
Flooring: floating hardwood flooring
Artwork: Telluride Film Festival Posters, Original Art,
Thanks, Spencer & Jordana!
Images: Gregory Sparks
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Do you mean Bosch?
Don't care for the cluttered decor, but wow, I love the knife holder (besides the $89 price tag). Something that can definitely be recreated for about $5.
what is the name of this condo-building? It fits the bill for what my husband and I are looking for!
I also don't care for the cluttered decor...but it's definitely a well lived in house. I'm totally jealous of the view! I really don't get the knife holder though.
Love what they did with simple Ikea dvd holders... from afar it almost look like a big piece of art!
Great terrace! I'm interested to know how you sourced/installed the lawn? Thanks!
Mjade - Looks like One Brooklyn Bridge Park.
http://www.onebrooklyn.com/
wow. you have to really have a thick skin to have your living space featured here.
What color is the feature wall in the living room? It looks like a lovely purple gray.
Wow, that's a pretty incredible space. Its on the cluttered side, but there's an awesome lived-in feel to it that I just love.
jmarsh, you aren't kidding. Sometimes I wonder how people can do it.
hey i wasn't THAT mean. what i meant was, clean up your space for a photoshoot, and dont showcase messy areas!! and that the rest of the house is nice. there.
Nice real estate, but these folks definitely need a purge and more enclosed storage...
The garden sure is nice.
I like this apartment a lot, and the clutter doesn't bother me. In fact, it looks safely contained and interesting in a way. In fact, I find this post even more appealing because it looks like someone actually lives in the apartment, and not some staged space or a W Hotel.
I really like it. I actually only think that the office space is cluttered; I don't feel that the rest of it is that bad. I just have three questions:
Is the NES functional?!? If so, I greatly envy you.
Is that backpainted glass in your kitchen? If so, how did you get the Ikea rail in there without cracking it?
How do you get out of bed (or do, um, other things in your bed) without knocking those lamps over. I know I'm clumsy, but if I put standing lamps that close to my bed, I'd knock them over constantly.
Your terrace is bigger than my whole apartment. And now I feel sad.
The name is One Brooklyn Bridge and if anyone has an interest in living here let me know. I know the building, there are some available units and it is an awesome place to live!
Shawn Jaysen
www.markdavidny.com/shawnj
I am not really a huge fan of the design aesthetic here, however I love how lived in this space looks. Having seen a lot of these units unfurnished, or just cold looking, this seems very warm, and inviting, although just a tad bit cluttered... But hey that's just my personal opinion. What ever works for the residents I guess!
Who makes the outdoor kitchen furniture--the island and counter/storage next to the grill--it's fantastic!
Love the giant pencil, and the retro video game systems!
I've got an orig NES as well and a stack of games. We hook it up for parties sometimes.
At least it looks like a home. With actual people with personalities living in it. LOVE the outdoor sofa and orange chair, what are they made of?
"LOVE the outdoor sofa and orange chair, what are they made of?"
Plastic
http://www.dwr.com/category/designers/r-t/philippe-starck.do?gclid=CIjLgMqv_aICFR0BiQodbBg8iw
Love. That. CD. Rack.
Wow, that really jumped out at me in the first pic here, and then when I saw the alphabetical tabs in the tour pics, it made me drool. I don't know if it even matters whether the cases have actual CDs in them. It looks like art (although, in person, it might really matter that they have disks in 'em.
Where is that from? It's fantastic!
OHMYGOD. I just realized those are DVDs. That's one heck of a video library. Like I said, I love it.
Telluride Film Festival in the house! Do you guys attend as passholders? I've worked for the Festival for the past fifteen years.
For me, the house shows some of the tendency to think that buying anything retro should automatically make your house fun and hip. But it could just be the headache talking.
Wow, so many carping on the clutter, I bet some of you have cluttered homes in real life, if so, get over it. If this had been as uncluttered as some of you want it, it'd be as soulless as many of the places we go view and then you'd be carping about that so which is it?
That said, I don't find this overly cluttered if you are referring to the slightly disheveled bookcases/shelves and the lots of stuff on the walls, this is what makes the home a home now I'd probably not to that much stuff on the walls but in this case, it works, I'd work in more color in some of the larger pieces to liven things up a bit more.
Not every one wants to be in an empty space.
Sometimes being surrounded by lots of things you love can be comforting. To each his own.
I love that they used an original Nintendo NES as a display item! As for "clutter," it's fun, and I can imagine spending a very comfortable evening visiting this home.
I scrolled right to the bottom before I read the inevitable grousing about clutter. I want to say :
Hurray for well loved clutter! From the whimsical menorah collection to the big burst of photos on the office wall to the touristy pillow in the living room....all the pictures made me grin.
The most public room has a bit less "clutter" for clutterphobic visitors to enjoy sitting in, but the rest of the house is a delight. I'd wander the rooms as much as permitted.
When can I come visit?
It's cluttered for AT, but it's probably not so different from a lot of people's homes. It's certainly not in hoarder territory! Good grief. It looks like a well loved, lived-in home. Is it great design? I don't think it really matters. It's more a collection of cherished items in a very comfortable, sunny setting.
The terrace, however, deserves it's own paragraph. It's absolutely dreamy! What a gorgeous outdoor city space!!!
Good to see that even a house furnished almost entirely from Crate and Barrel still has an Eames chair.
Thank you Gregory for pictures of the whole house. I like the balance of long shots and close ups. Good work.
The effect is very good, but would go mad if I lived there. Which I don't, so clearly there is no problem!
I don't know about cleaning things up a bit to show off its "potential", that just makes it sound like you think the owners have gone the wrong way about developing their home. I mean, screw potential, this is the space as it is.
Does the PacMan thing work? Oh, I guess it is on... but it doesn't seem so accessible where it is. :( Initially I thought it was a glass-topped accent/side table, and wanted to know where you got it. XD
Jeebus people, lighten up! It's wonderfully lived-in and tastefully done too. That said, I guess my only gripe would be the vacuum cleaner out in full view. LOL!
I collect kiwi and red le creuset too.
wow, amazing outdoors. That looks so peaceful.
And I don't mind people having a lot of stuff, here it just looks mostly disheveled and piled on. Things just randomly dumped on any shelf.
I mean, if the biggest embarrassment is the piled shelves, then I don't understand why not just put a bunch of the stuff in a box. Not everything needs to be on display and out at once.
If it weren't for the shelves and the crooked frames, then I'd really like the space.
What a mess.
some of us can't find things if they're in boxes. Just sayin
"I like to move it move it, you like to move it move it, she likes to move it move it... MOVE IT!"
Sorry, the Madagascar Pez, it just starts to come out.
Honestly, I couldn't get past all the clutter to appreciate the apartment. I did love your dinning room table and your balcony is to die for.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE state your source for the Hungry Caterpillar quilt you have. I MUST HAVE ONE! Love it!
"Good to see that even a house furnished almost entirely from Crate and Barrel still has an Eames chair."
Except it's a Saarinen Chair...
Love your cluttered study...so cozy.
Nice to come home to.
@bepsf, I love you: you keep us honest.
Love the DVD storage, it looks amazing.
@MonkeyMomma, I've seen the fabric to make the Hungry Caterpillar quilts but never the completed thing. It seems to be a Makower fabric (I think it's a British company). You can definitely buy the fabrics here: http://www.cottonpatch.co.uk/acatalog/Very_Hungry_Caterpillar.html
but they seem to be out of the complete kit at the moment. There's probably a US company that would stock it too.
I'm about to renovate my small bathroom and your bathroom sink is just what I'm looking for. I would love to know what brand of sink and toilet you have.
Thanks!
Love the style and look, minus the clutter.
i can't get over the DVD collection and display -- it's gorgeous and alphabetized markers are genius. you've got old school nintendo, pez and ms. pac man! and a person-shaped garden :) i love the playfulness. it's styled so well and is so welcoming.
I am thinking of heading over to the water park area you can't quite see in the last photo.
This place is just way too cluttered for me. You have only been in this place for a year, how will it look in 10? I have three kids and don't have that many toys laying around.
On the plus side, I do love the vintage tabletop Ms. Pacman and the terrace is a great outdoor space...nearly as big as my apartment. Oh, and I like the VW van turned menorah.
I just don't get it. Sure people can have clutter and this is no different than most peoples' homes, but is that the design criteria for doing a tour on this site "Hey, not any worse than anyone's else's house?"
I mean, what are we supposed to be looking at? I don't see any design aesthetic here. In which case you could show ANY home on here and there are no design criteria. Like I said, I don't get it.
Love all the visual quips.
One person's clutter is another's creative potential.
Some people cant stand open spaces, they have to fill it. It's cluttered but at least all of the clutter has its own place. It would make me a little claustrophobic. But if you really want to get rid of the kitsch, i love the little sitting lady, in Hawaiian (?) dress, and the wooden turtle in photo 5. Oh, I love the giant pencil too, where in the world did you find that?
I really like the open space. Walls and hallways take up too much space. I like your use of deco and plants.
Greg: This is an excellent blog on this beautiful place that you're writing about.
The so called "clutter" shows the love and enjoyment that the occupants share. This is a home that is comfortable and you look forward coming home to.
If I could, I would indeed like to live in an attractive and 'homey' place like that. No beaches but what the heck, the view and environment compensates for that. Keep up the good work.