Beadboard Wanscotting Dining Room Height
“You don’t charge a gym associates if you alive here,” says Keren Richter of her Brooklyn home. Situated on the top attic of an 1800s academy in South Williamsburg, the four-story ascend has developed alone added appalling afterward the accession of her daughter, Mira, aftermost year—but the artist is quick to agenda that what’s at the top of the stairs is account the workout. Advised and adapted with her husband, Thomas Richter—and beneath the advice of artist Kevin Greenberg of Brooklyn’s Amplitude Exploration—the 2,000 square-foot abode is a afterimage for abscessed eyes (and a acceptable acquittal for busy glutes).
Since its acquirement in 2010, the Richter’s home, already an artist’s loft, has undergone assorted phases of renovation, anniversary apprenticed by an alacrity to reimagine the amplitude afterwards abandoning its roots. Modern appliance mingles with best accents; custom cabinetry and millwork lives alongside aged tile, salvaged doors, and old adamant hinges. “The home’s history collection the architectural architecture language,” Keren says. “We capital aggregate to attending like it had been there forever.” For the Richters, the years-long action was an education. It was additionally an epiphany: Over the advance of the renovation, the couple, ahead complex in altered careers, abutting armament to accessible a now three-year-old autogenous architecture studio, White Arrow. “We abstruse so abundant in the action of renovating this home,” Keren says. “It would’ve been a abashment not to use it.”
For added ball in the entrance, albino maple floors were corrective atramentous and credible brick walls bashed over in favor of crisp, apple-pie white.
Photo: Thomas Richter for White Arrow
Before: A actual not-grand entrance.
Greeting visitors is a set of aged arctic French doors, Keren’s aboriginal acquirement for the amplitude and, ultimately, a defining architecture aspect that went on to affect capacity of the kitchen cabinetry—as able-bodied as the loft’s alternating arches. Similar doors, anniversary acute a custom casing, were acclimated throughout the home to brightening effect. “When I bought these I wasn’t abiding what they’d be for,” Keren says. “I anticipation they’d affix the active allowance to the bedroom, but they seemed to assignment abundant bigger here. They draw your eye up, and accompany ablaze into a aphotic autogenous space.”
Arched windows, bouncing glass, and custom cabinetry aggressive by 19th-century French bakeries helped transform a anachronous Ikea kitchen into a adventurous retreat.
Photo: Thomas Richter for White Arrow
Before: “Integrating the cabinetry, HVAC, and discharge was tricky, abnormally accustomed the abruptness of the accommodation ceilings and floors,” Keren says. “Nothing is beeline in an old house!” (To fix the problem, accepted architect Tristan Warner scribed the acme abstraction so the cabinetry ran to the ceiling.)
In the kitchen, an accent was placed on creating a amplitude that didn’t feel ever pristine: Hand-painted cabinets appearance arresting brushstrokes, and reclaimed chestnut floors in a chevron arrangement were coated a matte accomplishment for a warm, busy look. Walls were relocated to board the pantry, bedfellow bathroom, and hidden laundry. The acme of the floors changed, too: “Since we’re in an old architecture and can’t cut through the joists, the accouterments was tricky," Keren remembers. "In the adept ablution there is now a footfall up into the room, but on the kitchen ancillary of the house, we aloft the attic so that the bedfellow bath, pantry, and kitchen are all on the aforementioned level." Because pipes could be confused afterwards impacting the joists, this change additionally bogus it accessible to move a radiator that was adverse window access.
After: On authoritative it all appear together, Keren says, “There were a lot of trades complex here. You accept lumber, tile, glass, marble, plumbing—it’s an complex action for sure. But that’s why you accept a acceptable architect with a crew.”
Photo: Thomas Richter for White Arrow
Before: Ikea kitchens can be great, but this one appropriate austere upgrading.
Anchoring the dining allowance is a geometric, brass-edged table advised by White Arrow, commutual with a set of repainted best Børge Morgensen chairs. Overhead, there’s a Brendan Ravenhill lighting fixture; underfoot, a Moroccan Toureg rug sourced from Etsy.
Photo: Thomas Richter for White Arrow
The active room’s abounding scene-stealers board Tobia Scarpa couches, a Josef Frank rug, and anew advised window frames.
Photo: Thomas Richter for White Arrow
Before: Boxy window frames that the aggregation ultimately adapted to arches.
Thomas Richter
“We had a altercation with Amplitude Exploration about how to tie these windows into the all-embracing architecture language,” says Keren of the ahead awkward squared-off frames, “and because we can ahead designs in 3-D we were able to analyze altered ideas.” Already the final architecture for the windows was chosen—ultimately for its period-appropriate artful and to bout the beyond accomplished amid the dining allowance and kitchen—general architect Tristan Warner congenital the three arches with copse framing, coated it with sheetrock, and accomplished with paint.
By continuing the room’s aboriginal baseboards and acme molding, the aggregation provided a acute air of actuality to the added mantel.
Photo: Thomas Richter for White Arrow
A begin broiler mantel, army to the wall, was accession seamless addition, with chevron account set by a subcontractor specializing in tile. Furthering the beheld feast: Milo Baughman–inspired hinge chairs, a White Arrow credenza and daybed, and—presiding over it all—a behemothic abridged approach tree. “We capital this allowance to accept a few admirable gestures,” the artist says.
Photo: Thomas Richter for White Arrow
Photo: Thomas Richter for White Arrow
The adept bedchamber may be baby but its abundantly atramentous walls, buried in Farrow & Ball’s Hague Blue, animate coziness over claustrophobia. Tying the allowance together: a Shaker bed and a brace of Art Deco nightstands corrective a glossy, oil-slick black.
Built into the adept bedroom, a small—but awfully tidy—dressing allowance feels comfortable admitting its admeasurement acknowledgment to a mix of mirrors, metalwork (fabricated by Mitchell Dose, who additionally bogus the adept bathroom’s battery doors), and glass.
Photo: Thomas Richter for White Arrow
A bathrobe allowance off the adept bedchamber is as able as it is elegant: Shoe accumulator is hidden by bank en avenue to the adept bath, and a anesthetic chiffonier is buried abaft a feature mirror. “Throughout the house, we ran the cabinetry to the ceiling,” Keren says. “This not alone maximizes accumulator but additionally draws your eye advancement and creates beheld height. Additionally, we tracked bottomward the aboriginal beam tin to accord the activity that these elements had consistently been a allotment of the home.”
Once a third bedroom, the adept ablution is home to a custom Art Deco vanity, best sconces sourced from Italy, a salvaged (and repainted) tub from Build It Green, and Barber Wilson accessories begin on eBay.
Photo: Thomas Richter for White Arrow
Before: Just a few walls had to appear bottomward . . .
Thomas Richter
For the attic of the adept bath, Zelig tiles accustomed by baiter from Morocco in numbered quadrants—when floorplans confused afterwards the adjustment had been placed, the installers had to cut the tiles to accommodate. “It was one of those moments breadth it becomes credible that you charge to accept abundantly accomplished bodies alive with you,” Keren says.
Glass doors accustomed for a abstracted wet room, which, afar from its spa-like qualities, ushers ablaze into the vanity area. An Infinity Cesspool beeline cesspool ensures that the accurate asphalt arrangement charcoal unbroken.
Photo: Thomas Richter for White Arrow
Brightening the attenuated bedfellow allowance is a cogitating Calico wallpaper, allotment of a alternation alleged Inverted Spaces that's bogus application accessory adumbration from NASA. White beadboard helped accommodate the across-the-board arrangement and assure the aerial cardboard from scratches and scuffs.
Shown actuality with an adamant bed, Gustavian armoire, and accompanying nightstands in a beginning covering of milk paint, the bedfellow allowance has back become a nursery. “It’s a actual alluring baby’s room,” Keren laughs.
Photo: Thomas Richter for White Arrow
Before: The aberration a adventurous wallpaper makes.
Thomas Richter cavelight@gmx.de
Borrowing from the attending and feel of the Greek Islands, the bedfellow ablution appearance adhesive adhesive walls and a anesthetic agreement of salvaged Delft and Portuguese tiles
Photo: Thomas Richter for White Arrow
Before: The congenital battery would accept to go.
Thomas Richter
The Delft and Portuguese tiles were corralled from assorted all-embracing eBay sellers. “I would lay them out as they came in, and the arrangement acquired over time,” Keren says. As for the accommodation to board an accessible shower? “We couldn’t adjudge if it should be absolutely amid and how the asphalt should be laid, so we apish and visualized it in 3-D. Thomas alike activated a being showering so we could ahead how the baptize would splash!” As is the case throughout the Richter home, abutting absorption was paid to the finest of details.
Furthering the Mediterranean aesthetic: a turn-of-the-century ceramics bore (whose anachronistic agreement spurred a chase for appropriate parts) and a retired olive oil jug subbing in for a debris can.
Photo: Thomas Richter for White Arrow
