When architect Luki Anderson first walks through a potential client’s home, she looks for clues to learn about their aesthetic. By the time she reached the kitchen of this Clinton Hill duplex, the owners’ style had become pretty obvious. “I could see from all their textiles and art that they really like color,” she says. “Then in the kitchen, they had painted the cabinets themselves, and put red knobs on to make it a bit more who they were.”

Indeed, the owners, a couple with two children, had reached out to Anderson’s firm, Studio Officina, for a functional overhaul—they wanted to expand the kitchen and add a third room to the lower garden level—as well as a much-needed color fix.

After: The Foyer

“The kitchen was pretty worn out,” says Anderson. “They knew for sure that they wanted to renovate it.” While these narrow duplex plans frequently place the kitchen at the rear of the house, the owners didn’t want to do that, as they already had a generous living room at the back and liked its size. After working through several layout options, the architect found that the kitchen was too narrow for a central island, yet the distance between the counters was slightly too far.

Her ultimate solution was to install a U-shaped layout on one wall, keeping the sink and stove in place while adding a generous amount of counter space and cabinets via two peninsulas. The opposite wall, which was pushed back to co-opt an unnecessary hallway and streamline the circulation, hosts the pantry cabinets, refrigerator, and a coffee bar niche. “All the tall things are over on one wall, so that when you look through the space, you’re not overwhelmed by cabinetry,” says Anderson. “Then the niche is a surprise.”

Before: Kitchen

After: Kitchen

Before: Kitchen

After: Kitchen

Downstairs, there were two bedrooms and two bathrooms, and the couple wanted to carve out a third room that could serve as an office/guest bedroom, while also updating the predominantly beige finishes in the bathrooms. “Everything was just poorly laid out,” says Anderson. “Too much space in one area, then not enough in the other.”

The architect reconfigured the bathrooms, gave the primary suite a proper closet rather than a wall of wardrobes, and created the flex room with a wall of custom storage, a built-in desk, and a Murphy bed.

Before: Kids' Bathroom

After: Kids' Bathroom

After: Kids’ Bedroom

As for the palette, the clients asked to bring more color in—especially their favorite blue and green hues. “I did a project a couple of years ago that was in the New York Times, and it’s incredibly colorful, so I think a lot of people come to me now because they like color,” says Anderson. “It’s funny, because my own home is predominantly white,” she adds with a laugh—although she does have a lot of colorful furnishings.

Anderson and the clients chose several cheerful tones, from the bright blue on the kitchen cabinets, to the wavy tile fronting the tub in the kids’ bathroom, to the fiery orange floor in the foyer.

“I think a lot of people like color but are scared to use it—they’re worried that it will be too outlandish, or crazy, or they’ll choose the wrong hue and have to live with it,” says Anderson. “But this family was excited to use color. It’s kind of like free joy.”

Before: Primary Suite

After: Primary Suite

Before: Primary Suite

After: Office/Guestroom

More Before & After stories:

Ann Edgerton Takes the ’80s Out of Her Texas Ranch House

You’d Never Know This Maryland Cottage Nearly Doubled in Size

Color Blocking Saves the Day for a Dark Singapore Terrace House

Project Credits:

Architecture: Studio Officina Architecture / @studioofficina

Builder: Sync Construction LLC

Structural Engineer: Erald Mici, P.E.

MEP Engineer: Wells Engineering PLLC