After a decade of working in fashion, five years of owning a home goods store, and 18 months of running her own interior design, styling, and creative practice, Lauren Williams Russett has one major takeaway: “I’m good at making things look pretty, is what I’ve learned.” The truth to that statement is evident in the Studio Solenne founder’s 1850s Anglo-Italianate brownstone in Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill neighborhood, which she completely reimagined while keeping historical details intact. Fresh white oak flooring and millwork is juxtaposed with original plaster moldings and tin ceilings for a charming mix of new and old.
Lauren then layered colorful textiles and art to bring a cheerful, personal air to the six-level home—but, like a true designer, she’s always switching it up. “I’m constantly changing what we have,” she admits. “It’s the nature of being a creative person. Obviously, the good pieces are staying, but I’m still reupholstering some things and rearranging rooms.” She recently moved around all her furniture to stage her first group exhibit in the house, Echoes from Upstairs, which is on view by appointment until November 14. The show highlights fine crafts by talented women but also underscores the brownstone itself as a work of art.
Let’s take a tour.
Photography by Malcolm Brown.
Above: Lauren and her husband purchased their 175-year-old brownstone after attending its previous owners’ estate sale and sensing it would appear on the market soon thereafter. “Sure enough, a week later, we saw the listing come up,” she remembers. “We called our broker and put an offer in. We were already in contact with The Brooklyn Studio and immediately started with the plans.”
Above: A structural engineer determined that the entire rear facade needed to be demolished and rebuilt, which the team used as an opportunity to bring in much-needed natural light with a three-story window system that spans nearly the width of the building. The massive panes of glass connect interior gathering spaces with the backyard. In the street-level eat-in kitchen, pale green Calacatta Monet marble counters speak to the leafy trees outside.
Above: White oak cupboards are adorned with custom hand-blown glass knobs by Danish artist Nina Nørgaard, who the couple met while traveling in Copenhagen. “I gave her the palette of the seat upholstery and just asked for a good mix of colors that matched it,” Lauren says. “I thought that helped break up the monotony of all these cabinets going across the wall.” Ceramic flowers by Alison Owen hang above.
Above: A dramatic original staircase leads to the parlor floor.
Above: In the formal living room, vintage yellow armchairs, a crescent-shaped settee, and a wooden barrel chair surround a psychedelic recycled plastic Kooij coffee table. “I was pregnant for a lot of the construction, so I wanted to make sure I had round edges and durable things,” Lauren says. “It’s a safe table, but it’s also beautiful. It’s basically art.”
Above: A squiggly Michele Mirisola lamp stands beside a big Emma Rose Schwartz painting of a girl sitting on a couch.
Above: Across the herringbone landing (which Lauren chose because the old, crooked floor required a quarter-inch-thick parquet), the more casual family room features a curved Crate and Barrel sofa, a poppy red Moroccan rug, and geometric Yinka Ilori Ere Cushions.
Above: The cubbies of the built-in storage unit and the metal shades on the mid-century modern chandelier are painted in bold Copenhagen Roof by Farrow & Ball, which nods to the couple’s favorite city. “We love Copenhagen,” says Lauren. “We’ve been several times to go to Noma and just to visit. We’ve even gone for Christmastime, which is charming there.”
Above: What was once a utility closet is now a handy hidden bar. “Where we watch TV is not on the same level as the kitchen, so we thought it would be nice to have a little beverage and snack zone so we don’t need to go up and down the stairs we we’re watching a movie,” Lauren says.
Above: For the primary bedroom, Lauren kept it as calming as possible. “I wanted it to be neutral, but I’m not a totally neutral gal,” she says. “My husband really just likes white, so that was my version of white for our bedroom. You have a white coverlet, but it’s going to have colorful embroidery on it. It’s soothing.” A vintage Murano glass flush mount and ochre toile curtains from The Lawns complete the space.
Above: A luxurious splash zone defines the ensuite. “The window looks over the trees, so it’s very dreamy in there,” Lauren says. “The green tile just felt very peaceful. Our whole bedroom floor was meant to just feel very serene.” For more on the topic, see Remodeling 101: Everything You Need to Know About Wet Room-Style Bathrooms.
Above: Tucked away through the primary bedroom’s walk-in closet, Lauren’s office combines a Kelly green Marco Campardo for Hem Bullnose chair with a matching retro pendant.
Above: Lauren named her studio after her daughter Solenne, whose bedroom is papered in a whimsical Imaginary Landscape mural from Swedish brand Belarte Studio. “Her room, believe it or not, was the last one I decided on because I just I couldn’t figure out what I wanted my daughter’s room to look like,” she says. “But she can grow with that mural. The room can be any color she wants it to with that mural in there.”
Above: In the attic, Lauren’s husband’s office is his preferred white—but with character. “We picked a lot of textures to balance out all the white,” Lauren says. “There’s the zellige backsplash and the cabinets are just a whitewash, so you still get the grain of the wood. I didn’t want it to feel soulless up there despite being all white.”
Above: Lauren sourced the rustic flooring from The Hudson Company. “It’s just old barn wood, so you have nails and knots, there’s some red pieces and black pieces,” she says. “It was too expensive, but then they had this warehouse sale and if you just bought a random lot without looking at it, it was really cheap. So I did that and went through each plank and picked out the good ones.”
Above: The tripartite window system, which was coincidentally inspired by Denmark’s Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, is on full display in the garden.
Above: Lauren and her husband with their baby girl.
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