Quantcast
Channel: Shelterpop
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 1501

Happy Homes Make Happy People: Rachel Doriss

$
0
0

Filed under: , , ,

A textile designer makes room for baby in her Brooklyn apartment, and it's nothing but sweet, sweet style.

Rachel Doriss, a textile designer for Pollack, moved to her Brooklyn building back in 2004. Over the last seven years, she and her husband Joel Hamilton, a record producer and musician, have watched the surrounding Clinton Hill/Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood grow and change. And in 2009, Doriss and Hamilton welcomed their own change: Their daughter Coco. Faced with a third member in their household, they had to figure out how to reconfigure their space.

Rachel Doriss


After brainstorming ways to make their 500-square-foot apartment work for three, Doriss and Hamilton realized their best option was to move. However, they didn't go far: The couple rented out their ninth floor apartment and moved into a roomier unit on the seventh floor with a terrace. While the new pad is bigger, it's still a one-bedroom -- leaving the pair to figure out how to fit a nursery into the apartment.

Their solution was to cordon off a portion of their large bedroom for Coco without putting up any permanent walls -- it is a rental, after all. Instead, the couple purchased a bookshelf from IKEA to act as the base of the "wall" and then had a handy friend create a drywall box -- a sort of temporary soffit -- to sit on top of the bookcase. Moldings and paint make the makeshift wall look like it's actually built into the room. And floor to ceiling curtains made from a Pollack fabric make the space into a cozy cocoon for Coco to sleep.

Throughout the rest of the house, Doriss and Hamilton made minor changes to make way for Coco, but they didn't change much. Their mid-century furnishings stayed, including a dresser that was topped with a changing pad for Coco instead of the usual changing table. With unlimited access to Pollack fabric, Doriss has many pillows made from beautiful textiles (sewn by her crafty grandmother!), but she decided to opt for a relatively inexpensive and easy-to-clean sofa for her living room when she knew Coco was on the way.

Doriss and Hamilton have managed to fit a baby into a one-bedroom apartment, but their space remains sophisticated and chic. "You constantly have to edit," says Doriss. "I think you need to limit the number of toys and have good places to put them away," A lesson that any new parent can learn from.

Shall we take a tour of Doriss and Hamilton's family-friendly Brooklyn pad?

http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,localizationConfig,entry&id=964386&pid=964385&uts=1294689138
http://www.aolcdn.com/ke/media_gallery/v1/ke_media_gallery_wrapper.swf

Happy Homes Make Happy People: Rachel Doriss

Rachel Dorriss and Joel Hamilton had to rethink their home to make room for their daughter Coco.

Happy Homes Make Happy People: Rachel Doriss

Doriss and Hamilton's apartment is filled with art, including several works by Doriss's best friend from college, artist Molly Smith. Smith created the top left painting shown here. The sea coral was collected in Puerto Rico from a beach near Hamilton's mother's home.

Happy Homes Make Happy People: Rachel Doriss

Dorriss found this vintage lamp at a junk sale for just a few dollars and had it re-wired. "It's a great spot to hold all my earrings on a bedside table -- out of Coco's reach!" says Dorriss.

Happy Homes Make Happy People: Rachel Doriss

The accordion-style photo collage was made as a surprise for the couple by friends in their wedding party; HAMILDORISS is a mash-up of the two names.

Happy Homes Make Happy People: Rachel Doriss

Coco's nursery is tucked into a corner of the couple's bedroom. While it looks like a permanent wall, the nursery is actually contained by a bookcase and a removable dry-walled box.

Happy Homes Make Happy People: Rachel Doriss

The bookcase has open slots for books and closed compartments for necessities like diapers. The red squares open to the inside of the nursery, while the white doors open out in to the main room.

Happy Homes Make Happy People: Rachel Doriss

The living room is flanked by many windows and opens onto a patio. "Because you have such a deep view, it feels really open and airy," notes Dorriss.

Happy Homes Make Happy People: Rachel Doriss

Dorriss found the daybed on Craigslist and re-upholstered it in a Pollack pattern. A smart solution for a petite pad, this day bed also functions as a place for overnight guests to lay their head.

Happy Homes Make Happy People: Rachel Doriss

Hamilton bought the John Robshaw bedding for Dorriss as a birthday gift. "I never would have picked it out myself," Dorriss confesses, "But it works really nicely because the walls are a purple-gray, and I love that the pattern's a hear-shape." (Heart bedding from your hubbie, how sweet is that?)

Happy Homes Make Happy People: Rachel Doriss

The kitchen is open to the living room, meaning light can reach the space for an open feel. A bookshelf hold baskets for Coco's toys.

Happy Homes Make Happy People: Rachel Doriss


Read more great ShelterPop stories:
Wallpaper Trends 2011: What's Fresh, New and Fun
Pattern of the Year 2011: Honeycomb!
Decor That Says Something
Fashion-Inspired Rooms

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 1501

Trending Articles