NATURAL LIGHT SHINES THROUGH THIS 1910 GREEK COLONIAL WITH ORIGINAL TRIMWORK AND MODERN UPGRADES

It’s fair to say this is my most personal project, as it’s my own home! My husband and I purchased the upstairs unit in this 100+ year-old duplex apartment back in 2018. Originally, we were planning on purchasing a single-family home but when we walked up the stairs to this expansive unit, we couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. Opening the double doors onto the front balcony gives you the feeling of being in an apartment in Paris or Rome. Crazy high ceilings, tons of original craftsman trim work throughout, and a lot of special touches from the previous owner provided the ideal canvas for our imaginations to run wild. We had to paint every wall before moving in, including the exterior which was a lime green color when we toured it (hard pass). With so much dark stained wood everywhere, we needed to brighten the walls as much as possible while still keeping the character of the space, introducing a night sky blue to the kitchen cabinets, french grey to the dining room, and a coral color to the guest bedroom.

The first few months were focused more on decorating the space and finding that right combination of furniture that meets our modern aesthetic while honoring the integrity of the home’s architecture. Two years in, we did a bigger renovation to open up the wall from the kitchen to the hallway and transform an unusable back room into a proper primary bathroom. We inherited the gorgeous green marble tile in the guest bathroom, so it was important to me that I continue with the marble trend in the primary bathroom to make the whole apartment feel cohesive, and our contractors beautifully matched the cherrt wood accents throughout the home with our custom-built vanity.

In the height of the pandemic, the owner of the downstairs unit offered to sell his share to us off market, so we leaped at the opportunity to own the whole building, despite the financial stretch. It needed even more work than upstairs, but we hunkered down (with a newborn no less) to turn it into a more colorful and playful version of the upstairs unit that we could rent out to friends and family. So much of our furniture comes from Facebook Marketplace or other consignment finds. Lots of the light fixtures are handmade by small businesses on Etsy. Everything was done with the intention of bringing this gorgeous building back to life – blending function with style even with limited storage spaces and flex rooms. While this is not our forever home, it’ll forever be where we deepened our appreciation for how to properly restore a historic property.