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How do you create a home that makes it easy for a busy New York City family to enjoy their time together and also lets each person get some much needed alone time? That was the question put to New York-based designer Young Huh when she started work on a recent Brooklyn townhouse project.
“I think we’re seeing more and more of his-and-hers spaces,” Huh says. “People have such intense careers and travel schedules. One of the common questions we get is ‘How do we be together, but I have a 4 AM flight and she’s a night owl?’”
The solution for Huh, whose new book, A Mood, A Thought, A Feeling: Interiors, is out March 17, was perhaps a first: Separate bedrooms that meet in the middle with a shower.
Jacob Snavely
The wallcovering in the wife’s bedroom is by Holland & Sherry.
“His bedroom is masculine and hers is feminine and they share a shower in between, which I think is very sexy,” Huh says. “It’s a shower for two.”
Huh, who is known for her colorful interiors, chose greens, pinks, and blues for the wife’s bedroom and wrapped the walls in a custom Venetian plaster wallcovering by Holland & Sherry. The custom bed and sofa are covered in lush velvets. His room is dominated by darker shades of grey, while elements like skimmed concrete and wood paneling were used on the walls.
On the top floor, the husband and wife each have their own office, as well. Hers is wrapped in a Cowtan and Tout print, and his includes a custom wood shelf built around a wood panel artwork that has been in his family for generations.
Jacob Snavely
The marble and patterned tiles give a more masculine look to his part of the bathroom. The shared double shower connects the two private spaces.
Jacob Snavely
Lily mosaic wall tiles give a soft and elegant feeling to her bathroom.
Downstairs, the focus was on creating a space where the couple and their young kids would be together. What was previously a small entry vestibule and two separate seating areas became an open living area, dining room, and kitchen. “They are very stylish, they love color, they love modern with a touch of tradition, and they wanted to incorporate their heritage,” Huh says of her clients.
To accentuate the high ceilings, the clients asked for a glossy look. Ordinarily Huh might have lacquered the space, but it was too large and would have been prone to cracking. “The solution was to use this Phillip Jeffries paper that gives you that lacquered look and none of the cracks,” Huh says.
Jacob Snavely
A table from Lorin Marsh is surrounded with dining chairs by Dennis Miller. The chandelier is from John Pomp and the artwork is by Paul Michael Graves.
The dining room was made more intimate with the addition of a partial wall, which was wrapped in Broad Strokes Blended Blue wallpaper by Phillip Jeffries. The new wall also cleverly allowed the team to add storage closets for coats and other items.
The husband and wife weren’t the only ones with design requests. Huh also worked with their young daughter to create her bedroom. Says Huh, “She came into the office for design meetings and picked the pink colors and which backs of the shelves should be painted.”
Look Inside This Brooklyn Family Townhouse
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