Mel’s Brooklyn Apartment With A Private Urban Jungle

Name: Mel
Location: Carroll Gardens — Brooklyn, New York

My boyfriend Shant and I moved into our one bedroom apartment a year ago after living separately in two very different spaces. He was in a two bedroom (same building as we live in now), and I was in a one bedroom in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. After some serious discussions about living together and the financial demands of Shant’s start up, I decided to make the move to Carroll Gardens and Shant decided to move three floors down into a one bedroom, which we now call home. With all of the turbulence that could have come with cohabitation, a conflict in taste was not one of them; Shant and I shared the same vision of what we wanted our home to be. The challenge was making something special out of an apartment that was smaller and had considerably less light.

The apartment itself is a typically square walled space devoid of the natural charm typically found in older brownstones in the area. However the apartment came with a 500 square foot terrace. Carroll Gardens is one of the greenest neighborhoods in Brooklyn, so we decided to expand that bit of nature onto our outdoor space. At first the lifeless concrete terrace seemed a mere space convenience. Now with over 30 potted plants, flowers, two trees, yellow picnic table, multicolored rug, and a grill, we have transformed the terrace into, quite literally an urban jungle. It is definitely the most lively “room” of our apartment.

In contrast to the eclecticism of the garden, the interior is minimally designed. For us that meant not having any clutter or unnecessary distractions- yet important to have warmth of natural materials and soft colors.

Our apartment reflects our mutual appreciation for art and design. Shant is the founder of a contemporary lighting and furniture manufacturing company in Brooklyn, and I am the Architectural & Design director for a NYC based tile company. Since we both work in the design industry, it was essential that the lighting, furniture, and artwork come from an original place. There is a story behind how every piece found its way into our home; from a DIY shelf, a wicker chair bartered from a Spanish designer, art collected over two decades, a poof from a lucky raffle win, and Shant’s forever-present purple sheepskin rug. Despite the vastly different origins of every piece of the apartment we feel there is a calming cohesion throughout our home. And a little slice of calm in the city is just what we wanted.

We love our home, the only grievance being…no pets allowed.

Thanks, Mel!

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