Dwellings

One of our favorite things about the Dwellings Series is that it gives us the opportunity to put a home to the names and faces we’ve come to know so well. Irene and her husband Lars are long-time Furnish Green regulars and refreshingly lovely people. Their bright and colorful apartment is everything we hoped and imagined this couple’s dwelling to be.

After shopping with us for about 5 years, much of our furniture has found a place in their 2 homes, while they have managed to find a place in our hearts. Originally from New Zealand, Irene and Lars have been purchasing for both their Long Island City apartment and for their weekend home upstate.

We payed a visit to the LIC apartment and had the pleasure of experiencing their well-decorated home alongside their amazing view of Manhattan. LIC, being the first 7 train stop in Queens, has a bit more of that “neighborhoody” vibe and allows you to be extremely close to the city without being completely confined by the walls of the Concrete Jungle.

In the apartment, their black cat, Master (named for the Mikhail Bulgakov novel The Master and Margarita),  is a direct foil to their vibrant and punchy design style. Bright colors, clean white and shiny chrome mark the theme of the space, which Irene describes as late 60s sputnik.

As Irene explains, the decorating style of a space should be informed by the aesthetics of the space itself — which is apparent when noticing the seamless blending of architecture with furnishings found in their home.

Irene became obsessed with vintage American glassware when she moved to the US, and began collecting.

The design is also largely inspired by the couple’s first major furniture purchase in the States, a round white and chrome kitchen table with 4 yellow vinyl rolling dining chairs. They stored the set for awhile, and after finding an at least semi-permanent residence it came out of storage to become a central fixture in their new home.

Broyhill Brasilia Mid Century Credenza from FG

Their chosen light fixtures really shape the design of the apartment. Lots of chrome with white glass globes, and a focal Sputnik chandelier from Argentina that hangs above the kitchen table. Once a fixture in a bar, it was originally covered in a stubborn layer of nicotine and took some serious elbow grease to get it shining again. But boy, it’s a looker now!

This shiny metallic element carries you through their home, and is complemented by the warm reflections of their rich color scheme. The sculptural metal art pieces, like the very large Mid Century Curtis Jere piece (actually 2 separate wall hangings; featured above), reflect light and give the space a unique texture and 3-dimensionality.

The plenitude of color and green leafy plants combined with the abundance of natural light, makes the couple’s apartment feel like a sort of city oasis. Accompanied by the warm welcome and the utmost hospitality, we could have just stayed all day!

The lovely outdoor patio space at their LIC apartment.

Some photos from the couple’s home upstate; they’ve got a unique mix of Furnish Green items spread throughout the space .

We hope you enjoyed this installment of our Dwellings series! Stay tuned for future posts, and email us at furnishgreen@gmail.com for a chance to have your space featured!

As we continue to meander through the dwellings of our customers, we take you into the home of a couple of graphic designers currently residing in Jersey City. In August, Justin and Amanda moved from one neighborhood of Jersey City to a downtown location with a bit more charm. With charm, of course, comes smaller living quarters, forcing the couple to cut their possessions in half and learn how to optimize every inch of their new apartment. They were able to maintain their same style of design while purchasing pieces that were practical and served a very strategic purpose.

As artists, their home naturally reflects their tendency toward visual thinking. It is a well curated and “graphically designed” space.  From minutiae like well-thought-out lines and angles everywhere to color-coordinated books on a shelf and adorable knick knacks displayed in a rustic type drawer, it is clear that they both have a keen eye for detail.

For the couple, vintage furniture seems to be the natural choice in decorating their home. Both grew up surrounded by antiques and vintage and a familial affinity for old-world style. They share a common goal in acquiring items that have a history or prior life, and much of their decor has been handed down to them.

Justin and Amanda have been shopping with us for a year and a half now, and they have acquired a good mix of items that happen to mesh very well with their other vintage inspired home decor. Their space has a charming combination of colors and rustic making it feel fun and playful while maintaining a comfortable warmth. The presence of green leafy plants in every room makes the apartment feel lush and full of life. Amanda explains that, after growing up in South Jersey, she seems to just “want green stuff,” and you have to give her credit for managing to keep them all alive.  

Furnish Green has enabled them to populate their home with thoughtful pieces while helping them overcome the initial intimidation of working with a small space. We’re fully aware of how many of our customers are in need of space-saving (yet stylish) furniture. The FG team is happy to have been able to help the couple get comfortable in, and possibly even prefer, a small apartment.

For our most exciting Dwellings excursion yet, we take you to Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn. We stepped off the subway, turned the corner onto Stuyvesant Avenue and, as strangers to this part of BK, were surprised to find rows of beautiful brownstones! Our hosts explained to us that Bed-Stuy claims the highest concentration of pre-war brownstones in all of NYC. And the home of Byron and Bee definitely does this neighborhood justice.

Bed-Stuy is a historic Brooklyn neighborhood, and their house represents a unique history of its own. Built in 1891, it was first owned by a German family with the last name Fuehrer; they later changed their name to “something like Fulton” for obvious reasons. The second owners lived there from 1930-1997 at which point, the house was purchased by an artist and used primarily as a photography space. During Byron and Bee’s first viewing of the house, the place was overrun by half-naked male models and kittens; probably a selling point.

The house became theirs. Byron and Bee moved to Brooklyn, after spending 10 years in London where Bee worked as a writer and Byron as a research professor at the University College London. While they describe their London flat as much more modern, they wanted the items that would inhabit their new home to match the Victorian style of the space. There are original ornate details everywhere, including 5 fireplaces, original windows and accordion style shutters, narrow dark wood staircases, large door frames, beautiful floor-to-ceiling crown molding, hardwood flooring that is unique in each room and Lincrusta-covered walls—a beautiful textured paintable wall-covering that was very popular during the Victorian era.

Entering the four-floor brownstone is truly like stepping back in time. Byron and Bee, eager to maintain this time warp, are changing as little as possible of the home’s construction, while of course bringing things up to code, as demanded by the city.

Every room has its own unique identity, but there are a few that really stand out. Walk into the main bathroom of the house, and instantly feel like an entire day could be spent there. With the soft blue light, giant claw foot tub, and darling wall tiles with pastel floral details, it is simply lovely. Although Byron and Bee would have loved to keep the original bright blue (and probably lead-filled) paint on the walls, a good deal of work had to be done to this room to prevent a variety of code violations. Despite the changes, it’s a truly romantic space. 

Head downstairs to the kitchen where large windows face out to the backyard; the previous owner planted a perennial garden, making the room well-lit and serene. A bright red 1950s Chambers stove, restored to good working order by “Carlita the Stove Lady,” grabs your immediate attention. The couple’s favorite Furnish Green piece, a Hoosier kitchen cupboard from the turn of the century, also resides here. Made of oak wood, it has plentiful cabinet space and a built-in flour sifter, complementing the space and its vintage kitchen companions.

Byron and Bee certainly are educated home-owners, with a great knowledge of their home, the neighborhood and its inhabitants. They also provided a wealth of interesting asides to keep us enthralled for the entirety of our visit. It’s an amazing space so take a look at what’s going on in the rest of the house!