USA Houzz: A Fashion-Forward Urban Home
Minimalist style with an industrial edge make this designer's apartment in Brooklyn, New York, an urban dream
Hillary Taymour, the fashion designer behind New York-based women’s boutique Collina Strada, has always had big ideas about design. At the age of 10 she was already planning the elaborate makeover of her bedroom that included an acrylic floor with sand beneath it, fish-tank walls, a bed shaped like a boat and lights built into the floor so you could see the underwater design at night.
She applied the same kind of creativity in 2014 when she began the renovation of her small New York apartment, so it fit her simple and modern aesthetic.
She applied the same kind of creativity in 2014 when she began the renovation of her small New York apartment, so it fit her simple and modern aesthetic.
“The amount of natural light that came into the space was incredible despite it being on the ground floor,” Taymour says of her apartment before the revamp. As the founder of women’s clothing line Collina Strada, she is always travelling for fashion shows and other events. The apartment has high ceilings, and she instantly saw the potential of them for luggage and equipment.
One of the biggest design decisions Taymour made was to knock down the wall to the second bathroom, to create more living space. “I wanted the kitchen to be very involved with the living room, to feel more open and light,” she says. “It was a big but necessary decision.”
Taymour also uses the kitchen island as a work space to plan concepts, hold meetings and sort out last-minute flight arrangements.
Taymour also uses the kitchen island as a work space to plan concepts, hold meetings and sort out last-minute flight arrangements.
One of her favourite design choices is the exposed brickwork, especially here in the bathroom. “It’s so subtle, but it adds an interesting element that makes the room feel so beautiful and special,” she says.
Air plants: Hibiscus Flowershop
Air plants: Hibiscus Flowershop
Overall, the apartment was a step down in size from Taymour’s previous home in Los Angeles, which had an entire room dedicated to her clothes. “To avoid making my bedroom too small, I ended up taking 30 centimetres out of the bathroom to allow for a walk-in wardrobe,” she says. “When it came down to it, literally every bit counted.” Taymour went with mosaic tiles for the floor and subway tiles for the shower area.
For Taymour, interior design is an extension of fashion design, and she has her own interiors range, Social+Studies. “It’s always been what inspires me and has been a fun, creative process for me to clear my mind of the fast-paced world of fashion,” she says. She designed the full-length mirror, called Object B, in her living room and it’s a fitting example of her sensibility to make art functional.
Taymour describes her style as “modern minimalism with a cosy New Age approach”. Her bedroom, with warm brick walls that offset the clean palette of the bedding, exemplifies that vision.
Wall hanging: Julie Thevenot
Wall hanging: Julie Thevenot
Another one of Taymour’s mirrors for Social+Studies, Object D, is displayed in an alcove in her bedroom.
Connections dining chair: Overstock; Fado lamp: Ikea
Connections dining chair: Overstock; Fado lamp: Ikea
Powwow sits in front of three conceptual stools Taymour designed.
Object E stools: Social+Studies; ‘Private Parts: 2’ rug: Cold Picnic
Object E stools: Social+Studies; ‘Private Parts: 2’ rug: Cold Picnic
Everything from Social+Studies is made in New York. The marble and glass are cut in Williamsburg, and the wood is fashioned in Bushwick, another area of Brooklyn.
Painting on the left: Gail Stoicheff
Painting on the left: Gail Stoicheff
“I love my apartment, but I dream big,” says Taymour. “I have two dream spaces: one being a minimal, large white room with white floors and a white work table that disappears into the distance. It’s a home that’s so sterile, I can just be alone, draw and create, with zero distractions from design or any other influences,” Taymour says.
“My second dream space would be a large, open, modern structure upstate or maybe the desert somewhere. I want to live in a beautiful modern home, maybe next to a waterfall or a hot spring.”
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What do you think of this striking New York apartment? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
“My second dream space would be a large, open, modern structure upstate or maybe the desert somewhere. I want to live in a beautiful modern home, maybe next to a waterfall or a hot spring.”
TELL US
What do you think of this striking New York apartment? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
Who lives here: Hillary Taymour and her pomeranian, Powwow
Location: Brooklyn, New York City, USA
Size: 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom