This isn’t the first time Hilary and Anthony’s home has appeared on Apartment Therapy. Way back in 2008, they were the winners of our fourth Small Cool Contest, with this 460 square foot Brooklyn studio featuring a very stylish and smart lofted bed. It’s ten years later, and they’ve moved into a bigger home, this time in Jersey City. The couple, who have since welcomed a daughter, have turned a modestly sized, one-story building into a beautiful, modern family home.

Anthony and Hilary, architects and founders of pHdesign, spent two years renovating this one-story space, formerly a commercial building. Although it’s just slightly more than 1,000 square feet, the home feels very spacious. The living room, dining room and kitchen all adjoin an interior courtyard, which lets light into the rooms in the center of the building. The overall feel of the home is both stylish and relaxed. The palette is mostly neutral, with a few colorful elements—the yellow dining chairs, the red womb chair—that grab the eye and add energy to the space. This is the good kind of minimal: a tasteful, thoughtfully designed space that provides plenty to look at while also leaving room for the imagination.

Our Style: Modern/Minimal

Favorite Element: Our courtyard and the main living spaces that lead to a central axis through the house to the backyard.

Biggest Challenge: Completing the project on a tight budget, and handling issues that arose after the first contractor walked off the job.

What Friends Say: “I had no idea this was a house!”

Biggest Embarrassment: After moving in after nearly two years of construction, our daughter cried because she wanted our house to have more stairs.

Proudest DIY: Laying all of the in-floor radiant tubing and wood siding.

Biggest Indulgence: Central air conditioning.

Best Advice: There will be problems—especially ones you can’t anticipate—but keep going!

Dream Sources: Dornbracht, Zola Windows

PAINT & COLORS
Benjamin Moore — Decorator’s White

LIVING ROOM
Case Study Day Bed — Modernica
Womb Chair — DWR
P’Kolino Klick Children’s Desk — Yard sale
Cabinets — Ikea (custom fronts coming later)
Figure Drawings — Hilary Padget

DINING ROOM
Table — DWR
Chairs — Ikea
Cabinets — Ikea (custom fronts coming later)
Stools — Covey

KITCHEN
Cabinets — Ikea (custom fronts coming later)
Refrigerator — Liebherr (Craigslist)
Range — Viking (client)
Dishwasher — Miele (client)
Microwave — GE Profile (client)
Light — Thin Linear Suspension Light from Viso

MASTER BEDROOM
Case Study V-Leg Bed — Modernica
Side Lamps — Ikea
Light — Castore Suspension from Artemide

BEDROOM
Loft bed — Ikea
Credenza — Ikea
Light — Ikea
Diptych photographs — Brendan Mulcahy

BATHROOMS
Bathtub — Duravit
Vanities — Walnut custom built (BIG Reuse)
Medicine cabinets, mirrors, and lights — Ikea
Faucets — Hansgrohe
Shower — Hansgrohe
Toilet — Toto
Accessories — Trinsic Delta

⇒ House Tour & House Call Submission Form

See More:
⇒ Recent House Tours
⇒ House Tours on Pinterest