For their latest project, Jeremy Floto and Josh Farley of WRK Design didn’t have to travel far. Based in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, they both have witnessed the community grow and change. “The architecture here is really interesting and different from what you see in the rest of New York,” says Floto, who, with his business partner, Farley, runs the design firm. “There’s a lot of new life coming out here. You can find a hipster restaurant right next to the Caribbean 99-cent store. It’s eclectic and keeps it interesting.”
So when homeowners Zack Rubenstein and his wife, Miriam Tauber, reached out to Floto and Farley to overhaul their circa-1900 Queen Anne–style brownstone in the same neighborhood, the team was excited to design close to home.
“We’re not formally trained designers,” Floto says, noting that most of the work they do comes from instinct. “There is a kind of a freedom that comes along with that, and we try to take advantage if it.”
During his first walk-through, Floto noticed the intricate original molding. “It was a natural honey color that wasn’t very nice. When we decided to paint it white, there was a little pushback, but in the end, the white really took the home to another level,” he says. From there, the home seemed to naturally unfold into its own design scheme.
When it came to furniture, Rubenstein and Tauber didn’t have much and essentially started from scratch. The first floor of the home is an open-plan layout so the team wanted to include their signature mix of design elements but also have the spaces play off one another to achieve spacial harmony.
“We try to stay away from anything too trendy,” says Floto. “If we like it, it goes in. It’s as simple as that.”
For such a simple approach, the team’s designs are colorfully complex. The living room, intended for entertaining and for family time for the couple and their two young sons, has layers of vintage and modern and high and low. An IKEA sofa and B&B Italia cocktail table sit atop a vintage rug that the team found at Brimfield Antique Show in Massachusetts. “The mix and the hunt is the fun part about what we do,” says Floto. In the dining room, the original fireplace is surrounded by a gray scale leaf-print wallpaper by Cole and Son. “They have a really strong vision of what the space is going to look like,” Rubenstein says about collaborating with Floto and Foley. “They were shepherding us as opposed to dragging us, and we really responded to that.”
The kitchen is more subdued than the other rooms but still reflects the team’s aesthetic. Black soapstone countertops will patina beautifully over the years and juxtapose nicely against the patterned cement-tile backsplash. But it’s flow that Rubenstein and Tauber say is the best asset of the new configuration. “The parlor floor was originally divided into three separate spaces,” says Rubenstein. “When we opened it up, it really came together. The light shines through and fills the space, and when the kids are in the living room, we can be in the kitchen. We’re together but separate and not on top of each other.”
The master bedroom was appointed a soft look, and one of the boys’ rooms was all about bright colors and playful patterns. “We love pattern and texture, and we decided to give both spaces a hit of wallpaper to keep things interesting,” says Floto. The CB2 brass bed was another design decision that both Rubenstein and Tauber initially questioned but were ultimately convinced. “Once we saw the bed in the space, it was game over. We loved it and it makes sense to be in there,” Rubenstein says.
Overall, just like their funky and rapidly changing neighborhood, the home that Floto and Farley designed manages to blend in with this unique place while also carving a niche for their organic and modern design.
Original article and pictures take www.architecturaldigest.com site
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