Table of contents:
- Focus on dining table
- Kitchen counter artfully staged
- Heirloom, junk, cheap furniture
- Surfboard meets living room
- Opulent mix of styles
- Objectively rested
- This is how Brooklyn lives

Video: Furnish: Wonderful living ideas from New York

The New Yorkers and especially the Brooklyners are considered rebellious and unconventional. They don't follow a fashion trend, but do their own thing - and the result is very smart apartments. A new illustrated book shows great living ideas made in Brooklyn.
Brookyln is one of the five boroughs of New York City and is located in the southwest of Long Island. Founded by the Dutch in the 17th century, Brooklyn has always been an immigrant catchment basin. Today, parts of Brooklyn are an absolute hotspot again - with their cute brick houses and old factories that house loft-like apartments. Architectural and ethnic contrasts attract artists and stressed Manhattanians who want to live a bit more normal and relaxed. This nonchalance, which is consciously directed against the mainstream, is also evident in the facilities of the residents, which are presented in the picture book "Brooklyn Interior - Living in the coolest place in the world" (Knesebeck Verlag):
Focus on dining table
Agnethe Glatved & Matthew Septimus (designer) live in the Ditmas Park district:
The residents rely on simple cheerfulness: First they dot the walls in white and now combine simple furniture with subtle color accents - through fruit still life, dishes in pastel shades, works of art. The pictures all come from friends of friends or from our own workshop. A flower vase with almond blossoms, a basket with orange-colored pompoms, two red chairs - liveliness draws in and the cozy family table is inviting. A simple lampshade dangles from the top, as can also be bought from Ikea.

The two photographs on the bookshelf were taken in India. Two red armchairs stand between the "Y Chairs" by designer Hans Wegner.
Photo: Knesebeck
Kitchen counter artfully staged
Paola & Chicco Citterio (restaurant operator) lives in the Bedford-Stuyvesant district:
Chaotic and yet tidy - the colorful enamel pots ensure vitality and give this rather reserved kitchen counter made of steel a very special spirit. The couple from Italy, who now live in Bedford Stuyvesant and run several restaurants in New York, demonstrate: We are spontaneous, we are artists (not just in the kitchen) - and we like it reduced.

The two kept the colorful enamel dishes for their kitchen when they sold one of their restaurants.
Photo: Knesebeck
Heirloom, junk, cheap furniture
Robert Highsmith & Stefanie Brechbuehler (interior designers) live in the Cobble Hill district:
This furniture combination of Eames armchair (a family heirloom), coffee table, a sawn-off sewing table from the street and a simple Ikea sofa is wonderfully incorrect. Tall windows bring brightness to this small space. The simple ambience is deceptive. The residents need a lot of discipline to make the rooms appear cozy and spacious. Reduction is the concept here and is only loosened up by the three potted plants and the inconspicuous sofa cushions.

Here vintage and new are skilfully combined - despite the small area
Photo: Knesebeck
Surfboard meets living room
Maura McEvoy (photographer) lives in the Dumbo district:
The surfboard is an old family memorial and is nonchalantly a piece of furniture in the living room. The resident travels a lot and places her souvenirs from all over the world or flea market finds on the small chest of drawers. The former factory building gives the simply structured space a modern, casual setting.

An old surfboard, owned by the family for decades, makes the corner of the living room an eye-catcher.
Photo: Knesebeck
Opulent mix of styles
Juliana Merz & Harry Cushing (artist couple) live in the Dumbo district:
This is really opulent: carpet, hand-blown chandelier from Italy, modern art, dining / work table with simple bistro chairs - contrasting and full of tension, different styles are naturally combined to form a skilful overall picture.

The mouth-blown chandelier in the living room used to decorate a cinema in the Tuscan town of Lucca.
Photo: Knesebeck
Objectively rested
Quy Nguyen (Creative Consultant) lives here in the Fort Greene district:
Reduced and yet cozy, with almost artistically staged silence and objectivity, this bedroom welcomes you. In the showcase right next to the bed there are stones from the Taino, an extinct tribe in the Antilles, which have been decorated with constellations. The art print above the bed comes from the Cuban artist Félix González Torres.

The cozy wooden bed with linen linen and fluffy blanket joins the resident's art collection almost unnoticed.
Photo: Knesebeck
This is how Brooklyn lives
For "Brooklyn Interior - Living in the coolest place in the world" Kathleen Hackett & Matthew Williams (photos) visited 24 individualists, including fashion designers, filmmakers, photographers, authors and actors in the typical Brooklyn brownstones, lofts and coach houses. With their furnishing ideas, the residents create an unmistakable retreat from the hustle and bustle of New York. The book has 240 pages, was published by Knesebeck and costs 34.95 euros. You can order the book here.

Book cover Brooklyn Interior
Photo: Knesebeck