New Apt Design: Phase One

We are finally settled into our new apartment in Brooklyn Heights. I haven’t moved in over five years, so I’d forgotten just how grueling the process is. Even after a few days of shuffling furniture between rooms our contractors had just finished, I didn’t feel the relief, accomplishment, or excitement I’d been hoping for. Quite the opposite, actually: I had a serious case of buyer’s remorse, panicking over every new noise, every inconvenience I hadn’t thought about (too much light, no curtains), every heat-wave-fueled worry (was the AC distributing evenly?). The list goes on.

It’s easy to fixate on the negative when your mind is already stressed. I anxiously texted my brother—a homeowner twice over—to pile on that our purchase was one! big! mistake! He wisely offered two things: that moving is one of the most stressful life events, second only to divorce (a gross exaggeration, I’m sure, but you get it), and that a new home is like bringing home a new baby—you have to get to know it. It takes time.

I’m happy to report that almost two weeks in, the dread has completely dissipated (aside: is everyone this dramatic?). Little things still go wrong pretty much daily, but I’m learning that home-owning is mostly rolling with the punches. The good news: the place is starting to feel like home, thanks to the work we did before moving in—a full paint job, wallpaper, and a few light fixtures we managed to sneak in. I’m breaking up the decorating into phases so I don’t lose my mind and/or bankrupt my family. Here are a few things from phase one that made a real difference on move-in day.

We officially closed on our apartment on July 6th, meaning we had a little over three weeks since being handed the keys to paint, wallpaper and swap out some of the lighting fixtures. I thought this would be the easy part. I was quickly proved wrong. I decided to phone a friend (thank you, Andrea!) and got a great recommendation for a Brooklyn-based interior designer, Meagan Camp Interiors, to help with the initial design process. Best decision I could have made, for two reasons. One: Meagan knew exactly where to source in-stock pieces. I wanted the apartment to feel halfway finished on move-in day, so that I didn’t feel like I had an insurmountable amount of work to get done, but instead like I had a blank canvas to work with. Two: she brought in vendors who could do things I didn't even know were possible. The result: a completely transformed apartment in under a month.

Our paint was all Benjamin Moore. I'd had my heart set on going exclusively Farrow & Ball, but when it came down to it, I just looked at the colors and stopped caring about the brand. The goal was to lighten up a space that had leaned heavily gray and blue (see some befores here). We swapped the cool tones for warm ones—mostly cream and beige for the main living spaces, a pop of olive green in the kitchen, and fun bursts of color in the bathrooms (peachy pink) and on the bedroom trims (muted green, orange-y pink). I love how it all turned out.

Medallions feel like an insider secret I should be gatekeeping. I first came across newly installed ones when I wrote this feature on Madison Snider Podpirka’s gorgeous Fewer Finer Townhouse in Williamsburg. I was immediately taken by the medallions in her space and assumed they were original to the building—but Maddie let me know she’d actually purchased and installed them herself. That opened up a whole new world for me.

After our first walkthrough, Meagan suggested we install similar ones as a way to bring back some historical character to our apartment, which was built in 1920. Shockingly, medallions turned out to be the cheapest line item in our entire budget—the smaller ones start at just $50 (!!). It’s the easiest, most affordable way to elevate a home. If you are on the fence about it, I’m telling you to do it.

I’ve already written about a lot of our wallpaper selections in moodboards 3+4, 5+6 and 7+8. We ordered every roll from Sandberg Wallpaper which is a Swedish wallpaper company with some of the most gorgeous designs. I had heard of Sandberg, but never really thought twice about using the prints in my own home preferring to go with Schumacher, Howe, Pierre Frey—in my mind, the design darlings of the wallpaper world. But unfortunately (or fortunately, in this case) my options were limited to brands with in-stock inventory, so I narrowed it down to a few Sandberg prints for the guest bathroom, guest bedrooms (here and here), primary bedroom, and nursery.

The Ottilia print in misty blue, in our bedroom, has been the showstopper of the whole apartment. It's also the one I was most on the fence about—and the actual reason our move got delayed, because I refused to give it the green light. A healthy combination of crowdsourcing opinions from friends and just getting sick of my own indecision finally got me to pull the trigger. And wow, it's absolutely stunning.

Lighting is still a work in progress. We’re currently living with a lot of hanging bulbs since most of the original lighting fixtures don’t fit with the medallions we hung in all the rooms. That and we hit our interior budget pretty quickly and lighting was the first thing to get cut from the list. Which is fine, honestly, because I’ve hit real decision fatigue at this point in the process, and choosing between a dozen lighting options is one of the last things I want to be doing right now. You know it’s time to step back when the thing you love starts to feel like a chore.

We did manage three lighting purchases before hitting pause: fixtures now up in the office, the primary bedroom, and (soon) the living room. All three came from in-stock options—Lulu and Georgia (sneaky good lighting!), Visual Comfort (the reigning lighting retailer), and Soho Home (another reliably good source).

So much more to come, but for now, we take a beat.

A quick rundown of things I <3 right now.

1. Staud Mateo Linen Pants — I’m so sick of summer dressing but I am thinking about pulling the trigger on this pair of linen pants which I feel like can easily transition from summer to fall. I love the rich brown color.

2. Bode Lasso Tee — I’m saving all my money for home things but if I were not…I’d be saving for things from the Bode fall collection.

3. Skall Gaby Jacket — LOL to me saying I’m not shopping right now, I’m really not! BUT I got an email from Skall yesterday announcing their new fall collection and had to take a peak. I have this jacket in black and I love it so much, it’s the perfect fall barn jacket. Obsessed with the new yellow and brown colors. The short style is great too.

4. Tehran — Friends recently recommended this show and my husband and I are hooked. If you love a good spy thriller, this one is for you.

5. Aerin Scallop Shower Curtain — I just bought this shower curtain to match the blue tiling in my daughter’s bathroom and this mirror. It’s adorable and the perfect thickness.