We are still waiting for some cat-owning genius to solve this. Dream Sources: Our travels around the world, and the artwork of our friends and family. The apartment ebbs between ever-accumulating heaps of books, and Jynne’s Virgo ferocity for cleanliness, minimalism and beauty. • Are you a designer/architect/decorator interested in sharing a residential project with Apartment Therapy readers? Follow Apartment Therapy’s board House Tours Apartment Therapy on Pinterest. Kitty litters and other household items are tucked away just past the desk; a clever way to keep the less sightly things hidden in a small space without any storage closets. Open Slideshow
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Our Style: Luis Barragán meets the Collyer Brothers. As two writers sharing the same space, they needed a work area to feel creative within. Together, this amazing literary couple have turned a small, odd duplex with a windowless basement into a colorful writers’ retreat. The basement receives no natural light, so they painted the walls an electric orange to liven the room up, also adding more attractive flooring with snap-and-click bamboo. Accent walls keep areas designated, and the spiral staircase splits the apartment into two floors. Louie and Jynne’s apartment shows us that if we put our minds to it, anything is possible; even clouds that glow at night. A Texas transplant, Louie Saletan taught Russian language to the first crew of NASA astronauts to fly on a joint Space Shuttle flight with their Russian cosmonaut counterparts. We both love bold colors and creative use of light, and we use a wide variety of lighting (neon, colored LED uplights, strings of bulbs, candles) to evoke different moods throughout day and night in the various spaces. (Image credits: Andrea Sparacio) Louie created an insulated structure that houses both the window AC and a pet door for their two cats, with kitty steps floating down the wall for easy cat access. Favorite Element: The salon wall! It’s such a rare treat to have a private backyard in city living. At minimum, it’s still a full year of your life! Biggest Challenge: As with everyone in Brooklyn, the storage situation is grim. Hidden color LED uplights in our stairwell that magically change the mood of a room. We got a medicine cabinet from Ikea to tuck behind the front door (just a few inches deep, it fits in a tight space but can still hold shoes, umbrellas, hats, gloves, etc.); and we must pay homage to Ikea’s Varde kitchen island – we don’t like relying too much on Ikea, but this one has been a lifesaver for its deep, layered drawers giving us much-needed pantry and cutlery storage. And the envy of every cat owner we know: the insulated window unit that Louie built to house both the AC unit and the cat door, with floating Luis Barragán-style cedar cat steps leading up to the exit. Updated daily with fresh tours full of photos for you to pin enjoy! Best Advice: Make it your own, even if you rent. And all our art from so many beloved family and friends. We painted all the walls, replaced all the chintzy chandeliers and sconces with our own lighting fixtures, and even refloored the basement with snap-and-click bamboo flooring (which was remarkably affordable, and transformed the space from dank and musty to warm and snug). A large hammock makes it a peaceful retreat away from the busy streets. Contact the editors through our House Tour Submission Form. Inspiration: Louie: Try to pare down thirty years’ accumulation of Texas-sized possessions into a Brooklyn apartment. Louie built custom planter boxes for the garden, which contain an engineered subirrigation system so the plants stay watered. In Brooklyn, he now teaches New Yorkers where their preconceptions of Texans get off track. The custom planter boxes he built for the garden contain a complex engineered subirrigation system so the plants stay watered. Jynne: Try telling a Texan he can no longer own seven pairs of scissors. The little office is just off the bedroom in the basement, surrounded by corkboard, photographs, and a polar bear mobile. Proudest DIY: All of Louie’s touches.
