The elegant coziness of the 2024 Brooklyn Heights Designer Showhouse

Showhouses are all about design immersion, offering designers a chance to showcase their skills and give visitors a sense of what a home might look like if every corner reflected detailed design thinking. Sometimes, this can feel overwhelming—like a carnival barker vying for passersby’s attention. A showhouse can feel more like an amusement park than someplace you could see yourself living in (which, some might argue, is kind of the point). But this year’s Brooklyn Heights Designer Showhouse felt like being wrapped in a warm blanket as you moved from room to room. On a misty morning in Brooklyn, I spoke with other visitors who used words like “sweet” and “cozy” to describe their experience of the showhouse and echoed the common refrain: “I could see myself living here.” 

Here are the highlights from the designers whose rooms best exemplified that warm, immersive feeling:

The Front Parlour design by Allegra O. Eifler | Photo by Tim Lenz

The walls of the Front Parlour by Brooklyn native Allegra O. Eifler are bathed in terracotta evoking the warm formality of Italianate architecture and provide the backdrop for collected 19th Century furniture pieces and for, what the designer calls, “playful modernist” accents.

The Back Parlour design by Steven Walsh | Photo by Regan Wood

The Back Parlour design by Steven Walsh is inspired by late 70s Parisian fashion, specifically Mr. Givenchy’s Paris apartment. Walsh wanted his curated space to be suited for the modern tastemaker.

The Brooklyn Heights Designer Showhouse kitchen was designed by Ingui Studio + BIA Architecture and overlooks the garden space by Project Plant.

To honor the space’s connection to the exterior, they refreshed the kitchen with intense color and soft, natural materials that mirror the textures and colors seen through through the expansive, new 15-foot wide sliding doors.
Garden space design by Project Plant, who has worked on the home’s landscaping in various iterations for over a decade. | Photo by Tori Sikkema

Created to evoke the feeling of Japananese shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, a custom silk wall mural by Eskayel wraps up the three stories of the brownstone, beginning in the entry way designed by J Morris Design.

Entry, staircase and landing by J Morris Design, which she describes as her “love letter to Brooklyn—its parks, promenades, lush gardens, and tree-lined streets.”

Wedgwood Jasperware-inspired whimsical plaster florals climb up the walls of the primary bedroom, designed in collaboration with Brooklyn-based plaster artists, Arkada Plus, and were imagined during a summer drive in the Cotswolds.

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Landed Interiors’ Primary Bedroom also features an industrial linked-leather headboard designed in collaboration with Jim Zivic, and Landed-designed custom furnishings, antiques from the Arts & Crafts and Viennese Secessionist eras, with today’s next collectibles.

Midnight Study design by JAM | Photo by Gieves Anderson

Complete with a hidden speakeasy, the Midnight Study designed by JAM stays true to their motto to “keep the best of what’s old and thoughtfully introduce the new,” including elements from the Art Deco and Viennese Secession movements mixed with edgy, new collectibles.

Batliboi’s moody minimal basement media lounge takes inspiration from the crimson interior of Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre, with thoughtfully integrated lighting and a Bang and Olufsen design-forward sound system.

About the Brooklyn Heights Designer Showhouse

The 2024 Brooklyn Heights Designer Showhouse is sponsored by aspire magazine, and co-chaired by Ellen Hamilton and Erika Belsey Worth, and honorary chair AD100 and ELLE Decor A-list designer Leyden Lewis. Proceeds benefit the Brooklyn Heights Association, dedicated to preserving the architectural heritage of the historic Brooklyn Heights neighborhood, and is open to the public now through November 3rd. Visit here for ticketing information.

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