The proverb “a place for everything, and everything in its place” precisely sums up what this Cobble Hill loft needed when its newest owners picked up the keys. After surveying the space, they reached out to Solk Architecture to make some changes: namely, adding a full bathroom, creating useful storage, and instilling a more cohesive look throughout.

Before: Living and Dining Room

Set in Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill neighborhood, the loft lies within a beautiful brick building that was built to be a school in 1889 and converted to co-op apartments in 1984. “The original plans of the building are like a crazy game of 3D Tetris,” says the firm’s founder, Leah Solk. “The renovation architect did a really nice job of converting it into very functional, usable spaces.”

Unfortunately, this unit had seen some interventions in the years since—including an incongruous staircase, a triangular coat closet by the entry, and subpar storage in the living room. “I think mess is often generated not necessarily by messy people, but by lack of storage,” says Solk. “Stuff is out because you don’t have anywhere to put it—that was the main gist of this project.”

After: Living and Dining Room

Solk opted to retain the loft’s best features—like the exposed brick wall and the wood floors, which she refinished to a lighter tone. “Loft spaces lend themselves really well to a modern aesthetic because there’s so much air and light, so we really embraced that,” says Solk. She juxtaposed those original elements against a suite of new millwork, and designed a pared-back staircase to anchor the floor plan.

Before: Staircase

After: Staircase

“We reconfigured all of the storage in the apartment,” says Solk. Now, a feature wall in the living room has a reworked fireplace facade, ensconced by floor-to-ceiling cupboards and a bar niche for easy entertaining.

Solk installed a large concealed closet under the stairs that’s deep enough for bulky, hard-to-store items, and defined by white oak slats, with one mitered for a discreet finger pull.

Before: Under-Stair Storage

After: Under-Stair Storage

New shelving climbs the top of the white oak stairs, and more slats partition off the loft space—for continuity with the closet face below, and to provide separation for the office located there. “Using woods and other kind of natural materials set against a very clean white background was the key to bringing the space together,” says Solk.

After: Bathroom

It can be tricky navigating the permit process when installing a new bathroom in an older, multiunit building like this. But Solk reworked the main-level bathroom to be a comfortable, ADA-compliant en suite, and she fit a second, more compact bathroom on the mezzanine level. The latter is located in a deep former closet, and it features a shower with a useful niche that doubles as a bench.

“The clients were very worried about losing storage, and I was like, ‘We’re not making less storage—it’s just different storage,’” says Solk. “Storage can be twice as effective if it’s designed better; that was a pleasant surprise for them.”

More Before & After Stories:

14 Row Houses and Brownstones “Before & After” Their Much-Needed Makeovers

A Super-Skinny Home in Brooklyn Gets an Airy, Loftlike Makeover

Project Credits:

Architecture: Solk Architecture / @solkarchitecture

Builder: Hakka Contracting

Lighting Design: Solk Architecture

Interior Design: Solk Architecture

Cabinetry: Design by architect; fabrication by E Wood Kitchen Cabinet & Closet

MEP Engineer: Charles G. Michel Engineering, PC

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