(Welcome to Leah, one of the finalists in our San Francisco Blogger search. Comment away!)
Name: Lena Corwin
Location: Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York
Size: 1,800 sq. ft.
Years lived in: Almost 3
Personal style doesn't fall too far from the tree. We recently featured Lena Corwin's childhood home and it left us wanting to know about this former SF girl's current digs.
Lena probably needs no introduction to most of you. The textile artists designs have made the blog rounds and her personal blog is a source of inspiration for many.
A classic Brooklyn brownstone is where Lena and her husband Josh call home. Sure, a beautiful apartment doesn't hurt-- but it's Lena's placement of diverse patterns, vintage furnishings and found objects that star here.
In her own words...
My/our style: Colorful, evolving
The inspiration for my home: Scandinavian design, our neighborhood and its history, images from books and magazines.
Favorite element: The old details of the house itself-- the moldings, the beautiful marble fireplaces... it was built in the late 1800s.
Biggest challenge in designing my home: being content. I always want to change things!
What friends say about my home: It's very colorful! And that we're lucky to have a good amount of space in the city.
Biggest embarrassment in my home: The practically-neon orange color that I painted the kitchen cabinets. I've been meaning to paint over it for 2 years! Update: I painted it this week!
Proudest DIY: The slate patio in our back yard.
Biggest indulgence with respect to my home: Our Crate & Barrel bed. almost everything else in our home was from relatives, ebay, or thrift stores.
Best advice given or received: Never say no to antique furniture from relatives. Well, not really never because sometimes you just don't have the space. But even if you don't love the style of something, a piece can still be really nice mixed in with your other furniture.
Dream source for stuff: ABC Carpet & Home
Resources:
Hardware:
We buy antique hardware from salvage shops
Furniture:
Our couch is from ebay-- recovered in Hable Construction fabric.
The credenza is from ebay
Vintage chair recovered in fabric by Elizabeth Eakins
Accessories:
Owls canisters and plates are vintage, acquired form thrift stores mostly
Most of the pillows are vintage, many from my grandmother
Red pillow on chair is my design
bedroom sheets are vintage from my grandmother
crocheted quilt on the couch was a handmade wedding present
Lighting:
Drift wood lamps are “Tropique” from Blue Nature
Paint:
Living room paint is Farrow and Ball
Bedroom paint is Ralph Lauren
Rugs and Carpets:
Wool rug from IKEA
Window Treatments:
blinds are from Smith & Noble
Beds:
Bed is “Elan” style from Crate and Barrel
Artwork:
Large painting over couch is by Elizabeth Schuppe
Two paintings between the windows in living room are by John Jeho (top) and Timothy Berry (bottom)
Other:
Wallpaper is “woods” by Cole & Sons
Thanks, Lena!
(Editor's reminder:
When leaving comments about the home, play nice or you'll be asked to leave the sandbox.)
-leah
The new San Francisco blogger who lives in Brooklyn?
view DKinNY's profile
Lena vs. Leah. I get it now.
view DKinNY's profile
I love Lena's house! The pictures are beautiful. Great find!
view emiliana's profile
Didn't get to see much of the house...
view petworthdc's profile
A SF House Tour of a Brooklyn Brownstone...makes total sense.
view Leslie2's profile
Nicely done and I love the dog!
Dachshounds are a breed unto themselves and this one's postures is so them!
view ciddyguy's profile
an example of the living space packed with wit and charm! so unique and seemingly effortless. Love, love the stacks of miss-matched vintage plates and mugs against the brick wall! Are those three floor lamps self made? awesome! Love the darker strip of paint high at the ceiling, the eye has no choice but follow it up to the detailed plaster work. Your home is a great expression of the character and style!
view Astrid Vladi's profile
I loved everything that I saw! Cool place. And the couch is spot on.
view NYS's profile
Fabulous place and now I miss my childhood dachshund.
The painting and the sofa are terrific together and the living room paint job is beautiful.
view Jean's profile
The coffee table! The beautiful coffee table! Where is it from?
view Alexis R.'s profile
I think it's awesome that this comfy, stylish home was created from hand-me-downs and thrift-store finds. It reaffirms my belief/hope that to make a house look nice, personal style is more important than money. Love it.
view gray lady's profile
makes me miss my fort greene brownstone apartment terribly...although our floors were not as lovely and wide as yours. beautiful!
view universal mod's profile
I must say this is loveliest apartment I've ever seen posted on AT. It has such personal style, and the dog is a nice touch. Beautifully photographed vignettes.
view Snoozy's profile
God, I just love that wallpaper. LOVE.
view meg_ues's profile
Seems like a great apartment. Just wish there were more shots of it, rather than such narrow shots of the vignettes. They're pretty too, but I would have loved pictures showing how each fits into the greater space.
view J's profile
I agree with J regarding the tight shots. I would also like to see a shot of Lena's 'proudest DIY moment'. Otherwise, lovely post.
view wig3000's profile
I have to "third" J comment. Not to mention the whole first half seemed to focus soley on one room, unless I just can't tell from the upclose pictures. What about showing more of the 1800 square feet, or at the least the DYI patio? I know it's the dead of winter but still.
view buffalogirl's profile
I agree with J as well. Its a shame because this really looks like a lovely home but I can't get a sense of it. I really wish the photographer had taken photos of the apartment itself to add to the vignettes and get a sense of the architecture.
view saradc's profile
I don't find this to be a complelling space at all, and agree with the other readers that you can't really see the apt....
view suzygirl's profile
I remember seeing this apartment in a makeover section of Glamour magazine.
view emerson's profile
What a sweet puppy...you just want to bury your nose in that soft neck.
view kuroneko's profile
Great apartment. I love the dresser in the last shot, where did you get it?
view vinylcollectors's profile
hi everyone
thanks for the comments!
the dresser in my bedroom is vintage, from a great store in my neighborhood called repop.
the coffee table is by umbra.
i wish i could have shared more photos, and i understand those who commented that they're weren't enough pulled back room photos. unfortunately i was too busy to take new photos and had to choose from the photos i already had.
i think leah did a wonderful job pulling it all together, and "curating" the tour". thanks again leah!
view lena's profile
Wow! What an amazing design sense you have! Your place looks so warm and put-together. Uncluttered, but not stark. Just lovely!
view Harley's profile
leah, thanks so much for giving us a peek at lovely lena's home! to reply to leslie2's comment, it actually does make sense to do a san francisco post about a brooklyn home being that lena grew up in san francisco. i think that once you live in san francisco, you bring the city's spirit with you no matter where you live and this is a great example of that. thanks!
view kristinjeannette's profile
beautiful glimpses of great style!
view jess p's profile
Lena's home is inspiration to us all to be a litter cuter, a little more creative and a little more relaxed. Love it.
view fanya77's profile
That's great. But uhmmm, seriously, our new blogger should at least be from the Bay Area. Heck, how about just Nor Cal?
view AlexPDL's profile