{"id":3319,"date":"2025-01-01T10:20:53","date_gmt":"2025-01-01T02:20:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/2025\/01\/01\/designer-lena-corwin-at-home-in-fort-greene\/"},"modified":"2025-01-01T10:20:53","modified_gmt":"2025-01-01T02:20:53","slug":"designer-lena-corwin-at-home-in-fort-greene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/it\/designer-lena-corwin-at-home-in-fort-greene\/","title":{"rendered":"La designer Lena Corwin a casa sua a Fort Greene"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Lena Corwin and Josh Dreier were leaving Manhattan for Brooklyn, they were drawn to Fort Greene for its character and history. \u201cThe neighborhood is filled with artists and is flanked by The Brooklyn Academy of Music to the south and Pratt Art Institute to the east,\u201d says Lena. \u201cFor years it was a predominately African-American neighborhood and it\u2019s very mixed culturally.\u201d Lena\u2019s name may sound familiar: she\u2019s a<\/span> well-known textile designer, craft teacher, and author of the DIY books <\/span>Printing by Hand <\/em>e Made by Hand<\/em>. Josh is a web developer and drummer, and they have a young son, Eli. The couple fell for their Italianate brownstone thanks to, says Lena, \u201cits obvious beauty, and the fact that it was, amazingly, in our price range.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Built some time between 1860 and 1890 likely as a second home for Manhattan families, the house was converted into three apartment units in the 1980s. After purchasing the building in 2005, Lena and Josh lived in the bottom duplex and rented out two apartments, but kept the top floor to use as a studio\u2013it became the setting for classes taught by Lena and other expert crafters, which is what led to her books.<\/p>\n

Recently, the family sold their house and relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area (where Lena grew up). Their departure inspired us to ask Lena to guide us through her beloved old brownstone.  <\/p>\n

Photography by Brian Ferry.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Above: \u201cWe wanted to use wallpaper in the living room, but worried it would make the room feel too closed in,\u201d Lena remembers. As a solution, they painted three walls with Farrow & Ball colors (Dove Tale is the lighter shade; Mouse\u2019s Back is the dark) and wallpapered a single wall. \u201cI usually don\u2019t like accent walls, but because this one is so subtle, I\u2019ve never tired of it over the years.\u201d The sofa is from Montauk Sofa, the trio of driftwood lamps are from French company, and the chandelier is vintage.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Above: \u201cWe painted our banister in Benjamin Moore\u2019s Black Beauty, a black I love because of its softness (it\u2019s mixed with white so it\u2019s not a pure black) and it feels appropriate for an old house.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Above: Lena kept the bedroom pared back: a simple wood-framed bed, a bedside stool, a midcentury armoire, and a single houseplant. The room\u2019s original marble mantel adds a lot to its charm.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Above: The mantel displays a collection of artwork, including an antique still life of fruit and a framed photograph taken by Lena.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Above: Lena and Josh restored the old basket-weave patterned tiles common in Brooklyn brownstones and likely installed in the early 1900s\u2013the house was built without bathrooms or electricity. Lena and Josh added cream-colored square wall tiles with gray grout and a shower over the bathtub. \u201cI searched high and low for a shower knob plate that wasn\u2019t plastic,\u201d she says, \u201cand finally found one from Pottery Barn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Above: The east\/west facing-house receives plenty of sunlight. The black and white print on the wall was purchased at the New York Art Book Fair, artist unknown.<\/p>\n

Above: The 250-square-foot kitchen required a few inexpensive renovations to make it functional for a family. Il <\/span>stainless steel island came from Bowery Restaurant Supply. <\/span>The couple added the <\/span>Two Shelf Le Classique Kitchen Table from John Boos, shown at left, <\/span>and Ikea cabinets above and below the sink. A carpenter friend built out the sink countertop in Baltic birch ply and Italian white laminate. \u201cI would happily use the materials again in a renovation,\u201d says Lena. A framed print by <\/span>Clare Nereim and pale pink Ikea rug accent the otherwise minimal room.<\/span><\/p>\n

Above: \u201cThe rug and pillow corner in our bedroom was a comfortable spot for playing with Eli. The pillows are by designer friends of mine\u2013Muny, Enhabiten, and Mociun\u2013and the rug is from a great dealer in Bethlehem, New Hampshire, called Flying Carpet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Above: Lena and Eli, who will be three at the end of December, with their dachshund, Gus.<\/p>\n

Above: \u201cOur son\u2019s room was unusually large so we had room for a couch, which was wonderful since we often spent time in there with friends and family.\u201d A South American Arpillera, a vintage three-dimensional textile, hangs above the crib; the wooden fish mobile is by Flensted.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Above: \u201cThe thin shelf in Eli\u2019s room was left over from the kitchen renovation. The silver cup was his grandfather\u2019s baby cup and the Dachshund Bookends are Jonathan Adler, a gift from his uncle.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Above: Lena at work on a dyed textile. Her new craft book, Made by Hand, <\/em>details favorite craft projects taught in her studio over the years; it includes 26 step-by-step lessons involving dyeing, sewing, weaving, crocheting, and jewelry making.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Above: A collection of coiled bowls, a project from Lena\u2019s new book, made from clothes line cord and colored twine.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Above: Corwin screen prints geometric patterns onto cotton for sewing and upholstery projects. <\/p>\n

Above: \u201cOver the years, we put a lot of work into the house, including a new roof. There was always something to improve.\u201d For more on Lena Corwin and her books, Printing by Hand <\/em>e Made by Hand<\/em>, go to Lena Corwin.com.<\/p>\n

See our previous post on Lena\u2019s friend designer Caitilin Mociun: A Design Nomad Sets Up Shop in Williamsburg. And for more house tours, visit the House Call posts in our archive.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Lena Corwin and Josh Dreier were leaving Manhattan for Brooklyn, they were drawn to Fort Greene for its character and history. \u201cThe neighborhood is filled with artists and is flanked by The Brooklyn Academy of Music to the south and Pratt Art Institute to the east,\u201d says Lena. \u201cFor years it was a predominately […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3320,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diy-projects"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}