A couple preparing for their children's departure to college made a bold lifestyle change by selling their Park Slope brownstone and purchasing two adjacent high-floor apartments in a brand new riverfront tower in Dumbo. They then enlisted The Brooklyn Home Company (TBHCo.), an established architectural design studio operating since 2007, to combine the separate units into a unified, functional living space spanning nearly 4,000 square feet with five bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms that maximizes the spectacular panoramic river and skyline views.
The homeowners opted for a strategic renovation approach rather than a complete overhaul of the existing floor plan. "They didn't want to do a complete gut," explained Eva Dornstreich, TBHCo.'s design director, who collaborated with Style Director Holly Waterfield on the project. "Our strategy was to break through the laundry area of the smaller apartment to create a pass-through between the two units," she added, describing their method for seamlessly connecting the separate spaces.
The design team creatively repurposed spaces within the smaller apartment to enhance the overall functionality of the combined home. The former kitchen and living room were transformed into a family and media room featuring a wet bar at one end of the newly enlarged space. Two existing bedrooms were connected by an anteroom to create an expansive primary suite, with the bathroom from one of the original bedrooms converted into a walk-in closet. "This building is all about the views, so common spaces are big and breathtaking, with smaller bedrooms," Dornstreich noted.
TBHCo. made several key architectural modifications to optimize the space, including enlarging and centering the kitchen island, adding a fireplace, and installing custom built-ins throughout the apartment. The comprehensive interior design strategy focused on warming the space with carefully selected colors, textures, and finishes that reflect the subtle blues, greens, and corals visible in the scenery outside the expansive windows.
The building's unique architectural features presented both challenges and opportunities for the design team. "Hefty diagonal structural columns in the main living spaces were a challenge to furnish around," Dornstreich explained. "The building is shaped like a sail, with angled walls and no orthogonal lines." However, this unconventional architecture ultimately guided their furniture selection in a positive direction, lending itself to the use of organic shapes like the serpentine caramel-colored sofa from Restoration Hardware that elegantly skirts the living room's angled column.
The designers made deliberate choices to soften the building's stark contemporary elements while maintaining harmony with the architecture. "The distinctive window walls, with their wide black frames, are integral to the architecture and very graphic," Dornstreich observed. "We wanted to soften them with our choice of furnishings, to make the spaces feel more intimate, but still in conversation with the architecture." This approach led them to select upholstered pieces crafted from warm woods, including a pair of deep-seated Sula armchairs from Brooklyn-based furniture company Moving Mountains and a rounded daybed from Lawson-Fenning.
Very few pieces from the clients' ornate brownstone worked in the strikingly contemporary space, requiring careful curation of existing items. "We incorporated them where it made sense," said Dornstreich, finding appropriate places for beloved items like a small silver leaf side table positioned next to the sofa. A showstopping Lindsay Adelman light fixture featuring jagged metal fringe and opal glass globes creates a dramatic focal point that "feels almost one with the skyline," according to Dornstreich.
The kitchen renovation focused on expanding functionality while maintaining the original layout's integrity. TBHCo. retained the original kitchen in the larger apartment but expanded it along the wall to gain additional pantry space, designed a new marble island with an extended countertop for seating, and replaced the cabinet fronts. While the plumbing remained in its original location, the range was upgraded to a striking blue model from La Cornue. The dining area features a custom table sourced from Philadelphia-based maker BDDW paired with chairs from Design Within Reach.
Personal touches throughout the home reflect the owners' history and preferences, including custom artwork by local artist Ellen Korbonski in the powder room. The artist painted the walls with motifs very personal to the homeowners, including the Flatiron Building near where they had their first date and other iconic New York City landmarks. The family room anchors around a Kelston sectional sofa from Design Within Reach, while the blue wet bar (formerly the smaller apartment's kitchen) and a mirrored disco ball create an entertaining-focused atmosphere.
The primary suite transformation represents one of the project's most successful spatial reorganizations. Two small bedrooms separated by a structural wall were combined into a luxurious primary suite accessed through its own foyer, which is defined by a carved wood mirror from Sawkille in Rhinebeck, New York. One half of the suite serves as the main bedroom, elevated by elegant pink De Gournay wallpaper, while the other half functions as a reading room and home office, providing the couple with both private retreat space and functional work areas that take full advantage of the building's exceptional views.
