This Brooklyn Rental Has Boutique Hotel Vibes
This Brooklyn Rental Has Boutique Hotel Vibes
Name: Grace Atwood and her Persian cat Tyrion Lannister Creampuff
Location: Williamsburg — Brooklyn
Size: 1,300 square feet
Years lived in: 1 year, renting
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Textile Designer Rebecca Atwood isn’t the only one with talent in her family. Her sister, Grace Atwood, started (and runs full time) a blog called The Stripe as a “source of inspiration for the modern woman” eight years ago, covering all sorts of topics like DIY, beauty, fashion, travel, design, and more. Grace recently made the move from a small studio apartment in Manhattan to a roomy rental in Williamsburg, and she’s spent the last year designing a space as bold and inspiring as her blog.
Upsizing from a studio into a one-bedroom—while great for more space—can be a challenge when it comes time to fill a larger space with few existing furniture pieces. But Grace didn’t want to rush to fill her new home with cookie-cutter furniture from just one brand; her aim was to get creative to craft a space that is unique to her personality.
Patterned wallpaper and fabric is a vibrant accent in nearly every room, and she painted the floor of the the living and dining areas in a large-scale, energizing green-and-white checkered design. Partnered with storage solutions and small space designs, her home is a great example of how to design a truly unique space.
And yes, her sister Rebecca’s designs can be seen in Grace’s home; Rebecca’s first permanent bedding collection launched earlier this year, and the master bed’s covered in soft selections. Rebecca’s curtain and fabric designs can be seen in the living room. And her wallpaper designs enliven the bedroom and bathroom’s walls. The whole rental apartment is truly a reflection of two talented sisters!
Apartment Therapy Survey:
My Style: Colorful, eclectic, mid-century.
Inspiration: The Beverly Hills Hotel
Favorite Element: My floors—I painted them myself! Besides those, I absolutely love my bed—it’s my happy place. Big and fluffy with lots of cozy bedding from my sister Rebecca Atwood’s line.
Biggest Challenge: The floors—they were painted an ugly grey color. When I moved in, the space felt so cold and harsh—like the Shore Club in Miami (nothing wrong with that, just not my aesthetic). I asked my landlord to finish them and she didn’t want to; so she gave me permission to paint them.
What Friends Say: They call it The Stripe Hotel (a play on my blog and the fact that I like my home to feel like a hotel.)
Biggest Embarrassment: I like color, maybe a bit too much. I realized quickly that I needed to chill on the color and add more neutral items to my space to keep from looking like a lunatic.
Proudest DIY: Probably the floors… but I love how the bathroom and bedroom wallpaper turned out, too!
Biggest Indulgence: My Hermès blanket (which my cat has totally taken over), and art! I love art and have started a (very small) art collection—I have an original Hunt Slonem bunny painting in my bedroom, a Catherine Howe art piece in my kitchen, and one of my best friends Aly Harte painted me The Beverly Hills Hotel.
Best Advice: If you’re a renter, don’t be afraid to experiment and ask your landlord if you can change things up. Especially in New York, where moving is expensive and we tend to stay in our rentals a while. I got permission to paint my floors but also did removable wallpaper in my bedroom and bathroom. I also swapped out all of the hardware on the kitchen cabinets. There’s a lot you can do that can easily be un-done later.
Dream Sources: ABC Home for everything.
Resources:
PAINT & COLORS
Wallpaper is listed below – I actually didn’t paint my walls.
For the floors, my how-to tutorial is here.
The colors I used were Behr Satin Finish in Garden Cucumber and Swiss Coffee!)
Kitchen:
- Kitchen runner is a vintage Turkish rug which came from this shop.
- We replaced cabinet knobs with these. (Such an easy upgrade for my fellow renters; just swap them back out when you move.)
- Large Pink Artwork: Paule Marrot Feathers (textile print; I opted for the clear acrylic frame)
- Smaller Yellow/Gold Artwork: Catherine Howe (original)
- NEST Hearth Diffuser (smells so good!)
- MUD Australia Vase
- Palo Santo Incense
- IKEA Kitchen Islands (small + large)
- CB2 Bar Stools
Bedroom:
- Hunt Slonem Bunny Painting (original)
- Rebecca Atwood Bedding
- West Elm Bed
- West Elm Nightstands (on sale!)
- West Elm Curtain Rods (also in kitchen)
- White Jewelry Armoire (I have two!)
- West Elm Hexagon Mirror
- Curtains from Suite 33 Charleston
- Rebecca Atwood Wallpaper
- PB Teen Palm Tree Lamps (I like these so much better; if I had seen them before I would have done them instead).
- Aly Harte Painting (original but she has an amazing print shop!)
- IKEA Cabinets (this is two of them, pushed together!)
- Very Troubled Child Bag
Dining Area:
- Ottmar Horl Gnome
- F*CK Snow Globe
- Slim Aarons Monacled Miss (this is the first piece of nice art I ever bought!)
- Vintage Cabinet
- Hunt Slonem Wallpaper (had it framed)
- Vintage Skull Stool
- Alexander Calder Lithograph (print – this is similar)
- Kure Lucas Sideboard
- Everyone’s a Dumb Whore Needlepoint
- West Elm Dining Table
- West Elm Dining Chairs
- Byredo Ambre Japonais Candle
- Linus Bike
Living Area:
- Society Social Bar Cart
- Swing Chair with stand: Similar options (a really affordable one, this, love the shape of this one, and this one). Note that all of these (including mine) are meant for outside but you can still use it inside.
- Rugs USA Sisal Rugs
- St. Frank Day of the Dead Skull
- Room + Board Couches
- Banana Leaf Pillows
- Rebecca Atwood Curtains
- Rebecca Atwood Pillows
- Velvet Throw Pillows
- Geometric Throw Blanket
- Marble Coffee Table
- Hermes Blanket
- CB2 Media Console
- Middle Finger Sculpture (similar)
- Design Within Reach Mobile (looks like a Calder!)
- Gravity Blanket
- Bookshelves (they aren’t piles of books)
- Tommy Bahama Banana Leaf Fabric (had curtains made from it)
Thanks, Grace!
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