My Houzz: Clean Style Perks Up an Open Brooklyn Apartment
Hits of vivid color against an all-white backdrop shine in this cozy and inviting space
Kalita and her mother, Sherry Korsgaard, own Common Bond Design. She loves her Cobble Hill neighborhood because of the easy access to great places to shop for food within a 10-block stretch. “There’s a fish market, a cheese shop, an array of bakeries, a produce market, two fantastic butcher shops and an Italian specialty store with fresh pasta and mozzarella,” she says. “That’s how my dad always shopped when I was growing up — instead of one-stop shopping, he would travel to the best local source for each respective item on his grocery list.”
Kalita added shelves to this narrow niche between the door and a plumbing chase to accommodate her growing book collection. She and her former roommate are in a book club that reads a book a month. “That adds up to too many books fast,” she says.
The vintage chair belonged to Kalita’s great-uncle. “It was his officer chair when he was in the U.S. Navy in World War II,” she says.
Mixed-media collage: Tara Zabor
The vintage chair belonged to Kalita’s great-uncle. “It was his officer chair when he was in the U.S. Navy in World War II,” she says.
Mixed-media collage: Tara Zabor
One thing Kalita loves about her home is the openness of the living space as it flows through the entry, living room and kitchen. “I like how a single sunny rectangle meets a slate of diverse functional and aesthetic needs,” she says. “The living room feels cozy thanks to the cotton rug in a traditional ticking motif. I sprung for a super plush rug pad from ecorugpads.com so that the floor would be an inviting place to lounge, in spite of the hard surface underneath. There’s a lot of sprawling on the floor when friends come over.”
The daybed is a hand-me-down from a family friend, re-covered in Knoll Textiles’ Hourglass in Gull. The pine coffee table is from Kalita’s parents. “They bought it before I was born — and it was old even then! I like not having to worry about using a coaster on a table that’s already so thoroughly marked,” she says. The leather pouf also came from her parents’ house and was purchased in Brazil.
The pink alpaca blanket is a souvenir from a trip to Salta and Jujuy in Argentina. Kalita bought the portrait painting for $25 at a thrift store.
The daybed is a hand-me-down from a family friend, re-covered in Knoll Textiles’ Hourglass in Gull. The pine coffee table is from Kalita’s parents. “They bought it before I was born — and it was old even then! I like not having to worry about using a coaster on a table that’s already so thoroughly marked,” she says. The leather pouf also came from her parents’ house and was purchased in Brazil.
The pink alpaca blanket is a souvenir from a trip to Salta and Jujuy in Argentina. Kalita bought the portrait painting for $25 at a thrift store.
Kalita created three distinct spaces out of one large room: a living area, a dining area and a kitchen. Alternating the orientation of the zones was key to making the spaces feel separate. “The living room’s defining pieces ran perpendicular to the space, with the rug stripes really hammering home that directionality,” Kalita says. “The long, continuous butcher block fills the same function in the kitchen, so I placed the dining area’s credenza parallel to the length of the space to carve it out as a distinct visual ‘room.’ A round dining table kept the whole space feeling open with clear sight lines.”
The vintage baluch rug eases the transition from living to dining area. “Striped rugs are especially good for giving a narrow space the illusion of depth,” the designer says.
The String Pocket wall shelves were a gift from Swedish friends who brought them from Stockholm to New York in their suitcase.
The vintage baluch rug eases the transition from living to dining area. “Striped rugs are especially good for giving a narrow space the illusion of depth,” the designer says.
The String Pocket wall shelves were a gift from Swedish friends who brought them from Stockholm to New York in their suitcase.
“My most contented domestic moment at home is when I’m preparing dinner for my friends,” Kalita says. “I guess the contentment starts even before they come over, when I’m listening to a podcast or bossa nova, experimenting with table settings, in the weeds of the food prep, anticipating the night ahead. I like the adjacency of the kitchen and dining spaces then, because I can multitask without missing podcast snippets moving from room to room.”
Credenza: Organic Modernism (no longer available); floor lamp: vintage Panthella by Verner Panton, Craigslist
Credenza: Organic Modernism (no longer available); floor lamp: vintage Panthella by Verner Panton, Craigslist
“My appreciation kicks up a notch when my friends are all gathered around my dining table, drinking a glass of wine, catching up as I cook,” Kalita says. “The openness facilitates those happy evenings.”
The base of the dining table is vintage Eames for Herman Miller, bought on eBay, and Kalita added a round formica tabletop she found in her parents’ basement. The pine chairs are vintage and also from her parents’ home.
The two colorful framed paintings, Bathers by Gustavo Rosa, were purchased in Brazil.
The base of the dining table is vintage Eames for Herman Miller, bought on eBay, and Kalita added a round formica tabletop she found in her parents’ basement. The pine chairs are vintage and also from her parents’ home.
The two colorful framed paintings, Bathers by Gustavo Rosa, were purchased in Brazil.
Kalita also loves the broiler in her kitchen. “That sounds silly, but the oven my landlords installed has a fantastic broiler. Like a lot of Ikea products, it doesn’t have words — only barely decipherable symbols — so it took me a while to figure out the functions. But once I did, I could actually char a salmon fillet without the whole apartment smelling like fish,” she says. “This is a very big deal for a city girl who enjoys a nice hunk of blackened salmon from time to time.”
The designer added a DIY removable backsplash behind the stove — there was only drywall when she moved in — and put in a small shelf above the sink for dish soap and a vegetable brush. The tiles in the backsplash are from Fajalauza ceramics in Granada, Spain. “Even though the tile pattern is intended for a more traditional application, I introduced some randomness to create an Anni Albers-inspired motif,” Kalita says.
The designer added a DIY removable backsplash behind the stove — there was only drywall when she moved in — and put in a small shelf above the sink for dish soap and a vegetable brush. The tiles in the backsplash are from Fajalauza ceramics in Granada, Spain. “Even though the tile pattern is intended for a more traditional application, I introduced some randomness to create an Anni Albers-inspired motif,” Kalita says.
Kalita’s bedroom is a crisp and clean oasis with a quiet and neutral aesthetic. “When I first moved, I was high on this aesthetically vivid and inspiring vacation I took with my then-boyfriend to Austin,” she says. “We fell hard for this minimalist hotel, the Hotel San José. Since my new place had concrete floors just like the hotel, I tried to replicate the look with a block-print duvet I purchased from the gift shop, pulling vibrant greens and reds out of it for decor. Mistake! I loved it for about two weeks. Once I transitioned from vacation mode, I appreciated that I require a much quieter aesthetic in my bedroom. It’s been white sheets and neutral accents since then. I sleep better.”
The pine desk and wall lamp are both vintage and came from Kalita’s family.
The sketch on paper taped above the bed is by Nicholas Weber.
Sheets: Restoration Hardware; linen pillowcases in Natural: Pottery Barn; wall sconce: Pottery Barn; bed: West Elm
The sketch on paper taped above the bed is by Nicholas Weber.
Sheets: Restoration Hardware; linen pillowcases in Natural: Pottery Barn; wall sconce: Pottery Barn; bed: West Elm
The vintage blanket belonged to Kalita’s grandfather when he was in the Navy.
Photograph by Tommy Kwak; dresser: West Elm (no longer available); butterfly chair: Calma Chicha; lamp with burlap shade: Ballard Designs; rug: WS Home (no longer available); find more area rugs
Photograph by Tommy Kwak; dresser: West Elm (no longer available); butterfly chair: Calma Chicha; lamp with burlap shade: Ballard Designs; rug: WS Home (no longer available); find more area rugs
A wood vanity from Ikea complements the concrete floors in this bathroom. “I added a shelf, also from Ikea, to augment surface area and artwork that teased out the wood tone,” Kalita says. “I like that the bathroom style is clean, bordering on sterile, but with some warmth and softness.”
See more of this home
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
Browse more homes by style: Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
See more of this home
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
Browse more homes by style: Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
Who lives here: Alex Kalita
Location: Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York
Size: 900 square feet (83.6 square meters); two bedrooms, two bathrooms
Interior designer Alex Kalita and her former roommate and friend of 20-plus years started with a fresh white canvas when moving into their newly renovated rental apartment in Brooklyn in 2011. “The building owners’ gut renovation of the rental units wrapped up just days before we moved in, so everything from the appliances to the flooring to the drywall was brand-new,” Kalita says. “I’m instinctually a ‘fixer,’ but the work was so thoughtful that I was at a loss for what to fix.”
When her friend moved in 2015, Kalita took over the lease. For the past six years, she’s spent time placing each furniture piece with careful consideration as to where exactly the afternoon sun was strongest and where guests tended to congregate.
Rug: Dash and Albert; pillow: Knoll Textiles Sherman in Earth; floor pillows: Knoll Textiles Diamond Days in Sapphire; wall lamp: Workstead; find wall sconces