Golden accents around this Red Hook loft shimmer in the warm sunlight beaming through a large south-facing window. Healthy green plants cheerfully spread their leaves from corners, tabletops, and even the ceiling. A deep, soothing teal grounds the space. Ashley Taylor and Tymer Tilton’s home (@bluevelvet_brooklyn) is the very epitome of dreamy—and they DIYed it all themselves from what was essentially a raw space just a year-and-a-half ago.

But the loft’s inhabitants are just as inspiring as the interior: Ashley and Tymer are movers and shakers. He is the designer for the design and tech company Alpha Dominiche, which focuses on coffee and tea brewing, and which the couple designed the headquarters of, called the Extraction Lab. Ashley’s work in therapeutic yoga is bolstered by the apartment they’ve created; the rope walls with the gold skeletons are actually custom made for yoga.

Ashley—who’s also a “regenerative systems designer inserting long term perspective into digital infrastructure focusing on blockchain”—and Tymer aren’t finished with design, though. They’re venturing to build out another warehouse to create a community center to bring together neighbors to solve local problems. (They’ll also rent out the new space for weddings, events, and photo shoots.) It’s all a part of the design network they’ve created called Regenerative Resource Network, “an ecosystem incubator launching a first-of-its-kind community center for exploring how advanced digital technologies could be designed and implemented at the grassroots level.” It’s slated to open this August at 22 Commerce Street in Red Hook, and if Ashley and Tymer’s home is any indication, it’ll be an ultra dreamy and inspiring space, too.

Our Style: An urban sanctuary that is mysterious, functional, and playful. We built the yoga walls for Ashley to teach therapeutics yoga, and added the spine stencils so she could reference the anatomy during classes. We decided to make the eight-foot diameter astrology clock as a cryptic art piece that would also keep track of where the planets, sun, and moon are in the night sky.

Inspiration: Our inspiration is the design inherent in nature. Then, we bought this blue velvet couch with gold legs off Craigslist which went well with the warmth of the old wood floors and the green of the plants. We decided to stain the yoga walls dark blue, and use gold foil for the spine stencils. Then we did the same for the storage room and astrology clock. Over time we have kept adding gold and blue elements.

Favorite Element: It has to be the south-facing high-ceiling window wall.

Biggest Challenge: Living in an unfinished space (it had no stairs!) while we were building the elements we wanted. It took us four months to build out the kitchen, stairs, yoga walls, and the storage space. It took a lot of late weeknights and weekends to get it done.

What Friends Say: It has a soothing or healing energy, and they always joke they want us to design their next home.

Biggest Embarrassment: We have a constant battle with the flying creatures that love our plants also.

Proudest DIY: Our astrological clock, but really the whole space was DIY.

Biggest Indulgence: Our 60-inch TV on wheels that we hide in the closet.

Best Advice: Try and build things yourself. Not only will you feel accomplished, but you will feel more connected to your home as you learn and grow along the way.

Dream Sources: Ayahuascan hues.

LIVING ROOM
Blue Velvet Sofa — CB2, but resold from a Craigslist woman on Manhattan’s Upper East Side
Hammock — Doce Lar
Coffee table — Craigslist, but originally from ABC Carpet and Home
Ceiling lights — Leftover from the build out of Tymer’s cafe the Extraction Lab
Blue velvet bench — Handmade by someone on Craigslist
End tables — Craigslist
Golden pineapple — Mom
Pillow cushions on couch— Pakistan, from a store in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Pillow cushions on wicker chairs and hammock — A store in India
Tree branches — The park
Horse skull — Found
Other golden side tables — Overstock
Wicker chairs — IKEA
Yoga walls — Us
Stairs — Home Depot Aisle 4 (aka us)
Harp — Lyon & Healy

DINING ROOM
18th Century Chinese horse trough table with plate glass top — China Woods in Missoula Montana
Wooden bowl table centerpiece — Baba’s Big Bowls

KITCHEN
Shelves — Reclaimed wood from scrapyard near Smith/9th Street in Brooklyn
Plumbing fittings for shelves and counterttops — Carroll Gardens Plumbing Supply (they have free hot dogs and pizza)
Countertops — IKEA

BEDROOM
Bed — IKEA storage bed

BATHROOM
Shelves — Reclaimed wood
Forest-themed shower curtain — Etsy

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