Location: Park Slope
Favorite element: the colored vellum on her french doors cast in an evening glow
Diana moved to New York from San Francisco over a year ago and wonders what took her so long. She loves it here.
Taking a quick look around only offers a glimpse of the richness of her abode. The best part is in the details. This apartment is not just the culmination of a few challenging months of renovation, but a home and showcase for Diana’s bounty after years of collecting, building, and designing.
As a graphic designer, and city planner, Diana wanted to express her style while being sensitive to issues of historic preservation.
She would have loved to find a huge industrial loft, but instead is the proud owner of a small one-bedroom on a beautiful tree-lined, sun drenched street. She quelled her initial desire to rip out all of the late 19th century wall moldings and instead tried to “squash a warehouse artist loft feel into a cutesy brownstone look.”
Aside from a limited budget, and this somewhat compromised design vision, Diana felt pressure to conform slightly. She explains trying to strike a balance between her own design needs and desires, and the resale potential of the apartment. She knows she isn’t going to live there forever so, when making certain long-term renovation decisions like her choice of bathroom tiles, she kept a future buyer in mind and went a little conservative.
Diana has built many of the objects in her home - from the great maple desk to the multi-purpose and compact audio/visual cabinet to the innovative litter box.
The former were built with rather rudimentary woodworking tools and very strong programming goals, while the latter was the result of exasperation. Once Diana accepted that her rather large and getting-on-in-years cat was not going to change, she worked around her. She put charcoal litter that doesn’t dissolve into the tile caulking in an extra large tub, and she added a small step stool next to her bed to facilitate the cat’s civilized ascensions and descensions. J Sleuth Slater
(If you want an audio/visual cabinet that moves where you move, or a desk for every occasion, contact Diana at zucchero@mindspring.com)
Veronica & Keith's Handmade Chic 
Before & After: A Bathroom Goes From Pinky Peach to Sleek and Chic
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Hunslet Dinner Plate
A Beginner's Guide to Superb Stir-Fry: Quick, Healthy Meals from a Wok
Easy Pitcher Cocktail Recipe: Strawberry Basil Margaritas
Comments (24)
whoa. how did she get her bike all the way up by her ceiling? is that off-season storage only?
I really like this! (I was about to vote, and then realized it's not an entry.)
Where is the innovative litter box? Sounds interesting, but I must have missed it.
This is super-cute. It should be in the contest--unless it's too large. I am so impressed that she can build stuff herself. Diana is my idol, since I secretly wish I could do woodworking.
Diana is the best!
don't forget to check out her 19th century skirts when you have time.
Thanks for all the praise! This place is only 350 s.f. The bike is my super-light road bike, & it's very easy to stand on the bed & lift it up on the top of the stand ( which is from nashbar.com). I removed the cat box from the bathroom photo b/c it's so ugly, but it's a huge contraption of a box within a box that takes care of the problem of my old cat occasionally peeing over the side!
...and what a cute haircut (love the bangs).
diana needs to come over and turn my charming studio into a warehouse loft! do you make house calls?
Diana- I love your place!!! You did a great job- now it's time to show everyone what a great job you do with your skirt designs! She's a great clothing designer, too!
This is wonderful, so much more preferable than homeowners suffering from the momastore-complex, striving towards an unlived-in uniformity. This apt.'s imaginative, modern, warm -- like it's been put together by a fairy godmother who's also a kickass engineer. Cheers for Diana.
Very well done. Love the self made furniture. My kind of woman. Email me Diana!!!!
Great job! I missed this yesterday but, I've been looking for just that color in the bedroom, pale blue with a bit of an aqua cast. If you read this Diana, could you let me know the color and brand?
Marry me?
The blue paint in the bedroom is Benjamin Moore's Palladian Blue. If I could be bothered to do it over again, I'd have picked the next darker shade. But I do love it. Thanks!
diana, diana! what a GREAT place! i'd love to know more about the chairs in the living room area (looked like dark wood with orange upholstery). they're fantastic -- any details that you can provide?
Where did you get the day bed?
Diana, this should definitely be in the contest. . .
The day bed is from ikea, only $350 or something. the orange / wood chairs in the living room were a thrift store find from baltimore several years ago -- that city was a great place for inexpensive cool 2nd hand stuff!
The day bed is from ikea, only $350 or something. the orange / wood chairs in the living room were a thrift store find from baltimore several years ago -- that city was a great place for inexpensive cool 2nd hand stuff!
I assumed i could not enter the contest because of a conflict of interest or something, since i am already profiled on the site .... hmmm, would love to though!
I love what you did with the kitchen -- please replicate it in my Cambridge condo!!!! Talented Diana!!!
Happy Birthday last week Diana!! So glad we could finally see your place from afar!
Hi!
I have similiar french doors and wanted to also put up color vellum and was wondering how you put it up? Where did you buy the color vellum?
Thanks,
Esther
Hi Esther,
The vellum is by chromatica and i got it at pearl paint on canal street. you can get it in large sheets there, 24 x 36 or larger. they were not all in stock though & i had to bug them forever to order me some sheets. you can buy small 8.5x11 sheets at kate's paperie, or at least they used to carry it. i used double-sided tape to stick it up - not very elegant! i would love something like vinyl colorforms (those kids toy things) if someone made them translucent -- they stick by static electricity. someone needs to make them!
Hi Diana. I see this post is a few years old, but I have a small living room and want to keep it light and airy, but I do want color on the walls. I am trying to find a tan paint that is not flesh-toned, but is very light colored. I love that paint in your living room! What color is that?