Custom built-ins and considered furnishings brought functionality and beauty to a previously worn and dated two-bedroom.
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It was mainly the convenient location of the two-bedroom prewar apartment that sold the new owners on the place, not its dated kitchen, pastel pink bath, doorless closets, or peeling parquet floor tiles. They lived in it for a year to let the apartment “reveal itself,” as one of the homeowners put it, before proceeding with a thoughtful, transformative renovation.
When they met Claire Hung of Brooklyn-based Claire Hung Design, they responded immediately to her vision. While studying architecture at Berkeley, Hung had been drawn to a Japanese aesthetic. But when an opportunity arose to study in Denmark, she took it. “Scandinavian design is a close sibling to Japanese design. They’re both about beauty in simplicity,” Hung said. The homeowners already had a number of good mid-century furniture pieces, so leaning on those influences seemed a natural fit.
The biggest challenge Hung faced, when she embarked on a gut renovation, was the ceilings. “The space was heavy with structural beams” throughout, she said. “We did probes to find places to hang pendants” in the hall, over the dining table, and elsewhere. “We put junction boxes on the sides of the beams and swagged the fixtures to get the lighting where we wanted.”
Other interior design elements, including new custom millwork, were designed to refocus the eye away from the busy ceilings. Hung removed only one wall, to open up the galley kitchen into the living space and expand its footprint with an elongated countertop/peninsula. The kitchen and two baths, which dated from the building’s 1980s conversion to co-ops, were redone in their entirety.
In order to make the north-facing space brighter, draw emphasis away from the ceilings, and bring attention to the furnishings, all walls were painted Decorator’s White by Benjamin Moore.
New wheat-colored oak flooring warms the space. The bespoke millwork is oak as well, with a dark chocolate stain.
Open shelving in the living room (top photo), built by the project’s general contractor, Guild Renovation, is made of heat- and scratch-resistant laminate for longevity. A soffit hides a projection screen; the projector is on a shelf above the sofa on the opposite wall.
The inviting sectional is new, from Leather Groups.
An odd little nook in the dining area became a small dry bar, using a leftover slab of marble from the kitchen backsplash.
In the kitchen, Hung took down a wall and extended the base cabinetry to create a marble-topped dining peninsula with a couple of stools. The ceilings had been dropped in the kitchen and baths to hide electrical wiring. Hung demo’d the ceilings to raise them again and came up with other lighting solutions. “In the kitchen, there’s under-cabinet lighting only on the sink side and wall sconces on the oven side,” she said.
A lot of function is hidden in the custom millwork, including a fridge and freezer drawer behind the tall wood cabinet and a dishwasher to the right of the sink. A drawer next to the dishwasher pulls out to reveal three trash/recycling bins.
Oak veneer clads the kitchen cabinetry, rift sawn for vertical lines, Hung explained, “so you don’t see ‘cathedrals.’” The marble countertop drops down before it reaches the window, so as not to cut off the window. The sill was treated to a slab of the same stone.
Colorful bed linens from Urban Outfitters enliven the daughter’s room.
Hung went minimalist with casing around the apartment’s new red oak veneer doors to save inches and also for a trim and tidy appearance. “I often find door trim to be unnecessary for contemporary projects,” she said. “Doing away with it allows small spaces to feel more expansive, and it’s a timeless look.” Her go-to for door hardware is Emtek.
The primary bath incorporates space from a former closet. Breccia Roma marble, which Hung calls “refined and luxurious,” was used on the floor and for the shelf that runs from shower to vanity.
Lime-washed walls in a custom color from Portola Paints distinguish the guest bath.
[Photos by Seth Caplan]
The Insider is Brownstoner’s weekly in-depth look at a notable interior design/renovation project, by design journalist Cara Greenberg. Find it here every Thursday morning.
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