Two Homebodies and Their “Heavenly” Brooklyn Apartment

Name: Wesley & John
Location: Carroll Gardens — Brooklyn, New York

We moved into this 1890s Brooklyn townhouse last summer. We were formerly living in separate windowless dumps in North Brooklyn and when we got engaged last year we decided it was time to grow up and move south, to the land of brownstones and strollers. The first three months of our life here were spent buried in boxes and chalk paint but we escaped from the pits of DIY hell to a beautiful, heavenly apartment we could not be more proud of.

We were drawn to this apartment’s pressed-tin ceilings, intact moldings, and intense sunlight. The landlords live upstairs and take great care of the building – it’s been in their family for generations. Our unit spans the entire 2nd floor – about 650 square feet split into 4 rooms: kitchen, a living room, an office, and a bedroom.

By using light colors (Benjamin Moore’s Cliffside Gray) in the front and back rooms, we were able to take advantage of the large windows to create bright, open rooms for dining and working. In contrast, we painted the central living room a rich dark blue (Benjamin Moore’s Champion Colbalt) to create a cozy library-like space for reading and movies. This is balanced by a pale grey couch from West Elm to connect with the adjacent rooms. This color-coding by room helped the single-axis apartment feel less like a long railroad car.

John collects artifacts from the 1939 New York World’s Fair, which are displayed in the center room, so the blue-and-orange color scheme of the fair informed the accent colors there. The centerpiece of this room is a Lindsey Adelman DIY brass chandelier, built by Wesley.

The bedroom is literally that – a nook entirely filled with a bed. It’s a tight fit, but moving it off the main axis freed up the front room for an office. The bedroom is cozy at night and fills with light in the mornings.

Our next improvement will be a custom bookshelf we’re designing and building this Fall, and we’re still on the hunt for the perfect dining table.

Because we homebodies at heart, and put so much of ourselves into this apartment, John and I decided to have our engagement photos taken here, our favorite place to be. This apartment is our first shared home, and we designed the space together as we planned our wedding – it’s a marriage of our tastes.

Thanks, Wesley!

Updated 9.12.16

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