The Insider: Artful Live/Work in Williamsburg

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GREAT, RAW, OPEN SPACE, hefty wood columns and white brick walls make up this quintessential urban loft, converted to a home for two by Ensemble Architects of Brooklyn. Read all about it in my weekly column, The Insider, on Brownstoner.com.

The Insider: Farmhouse Feel in Fort Greene

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Today, my column on Brownstoner.com, the Brooklyn real-estate website, is another wreck transformed — this one by architect Elizabeth Roberts with uncommon smarts and taste. Above, the dining room in a new two-story addition, seamlessly integrated with the garden. Check out the full post, including a really great farmhouse kitchen, here.

The Insider: Updating a Brooklyn Heights Pre-War

WHAT IS, above. WHAT WAS, below.

From a fusty 1920s apartment, with closed-off rooms, a tight galley kitchen, and dropped ceilings, to a bright and open 1,500 square feet, designed by Elizabeth Roberts for the way people live today.

That’s the subject of my column today on Brownstoner.com. Go here to see the full transformation, with lots of “before” pics.

The Insider: Apartment to Loft in Brooklyn Heights

THIS WEEK, THE INSIDER, my regular Thursday column on Brownstoner.com, shows a duplex apartment in Brooklyn Heights, made loft-like by the judicious removal of walls and dropped ceilings.

Masterminded by Brooklyn-based designer Elizabeth Roberts, it employs two of my favorite decorating gambits: a monumental wall of bookshelves — in this case, wrapping around three tall windows in the main living space — and the use of strong color in a kitchen (Ralph Lauren’s Surrey).

To see the whole project, with lots of ‘befores’ and construction shots, click right on over here.

The Insider: Radical Reno in Red Hook

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THIS WEEK, “The Insider,” my Thursday interiors column for Brownstoner.com, visits out-of-the-way Red Hook, where a surprisingly open, bright, and modern interior hides behind a nondescript, vinyl-clad facade.

Architectural designer Elizabeth Roberts transformed the space, a formerly unfinished, unheated basement, to create a hip, modern home for Brandon Holley, the editor-in-chief of Lucky magazine, and her husband John Deley, a pianist and composer.

For many more photos and all the details, pop on over here.