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Colorful Ceramica Vogue tile steals the show on the home’s expanded upper level.

The kitchen has an induction cooktop from Jenn-Air, a work station sink, and a dark granite countertop.

The view from the kitchen towards the bedroom and bathroom.

"Where the house sits, it’s sandwiched between these two structures," says Garry. This made accessing good natural light and views a challenge. A breakthrough move in the design consisted of installing windows on the north wall with glass-backed cabinets over them, thereby admitting natural light into the house, but not giving less-than-ideal views of surrounding buildings too much visual weight.

The built-in hardware is one of Simon's favorite elements of the kitchen. "We liked the idea of not having a lot of jewelry in this room," she says. The pendant lights are from Shades of Light, the bar stools from Interlude Home, the wall sconces from Cedar and Moss, and the accessories are from Everything But the House, an online auction house.

This open kitchen is fitted with black granite counters, a ceramic backsplash, and melamine cabinetry, which is a type of laminate.

Tile from Bedrosians Tile and Stone makes up this backsplash, which plays against the dark, masculine countertops.

Guests enter the home by walking through the kitchen, following the same layout that existed when architect David Webber arrived on the scene; however, the sophisticated materials and warm lighting make the space much more inviting than it was before.

Colored wall cabinets and a kitchen island structure the open-plan cooking area. White-painted bricks and a large skylight keep the space bright.

Upstairs, the duo built more custom furniture. The shelves were designed by Emily and the side table by Wu, who made both.

Much of the home’s furniture was designed by Wu, Emily, or their artistic community. The kitchen island was fabricated by Wu and the curtain panels by friend Meg Callahan. That’s not to say the whole home was handmade—a Muuto pendant hangs in the middle of the room.

The new dining area takes shape via a pair of IKEA floating shelves installed below the glass block window, which Xu and Becker painted blue along with the other window sills. "Once the blue paint was on, it really made the frame glow with natural light,

In another child’s room, Woodland Chorus wallpaper from Sanderson is combined with Batik paint from Benjamin Moore.

Lighting and wallpaper were budget splurges that bring the entire house's design together, says Kara. Here, House of Hackney wallpaper joins Farrow & Ball Calke Green paint.

Farrow & Ball French Gray covers the kitchen cabinetry, fabricated by Toulouse St. Millwork, walls, ceiling, and stove hood. The counters are Arabescato honed marble.

The office features ample storage for books and reference materials. “We have a lot of things that could take over the space,” says Maciagowski. “It’s important to have storage so that everything looks clean and colorful and you don’t have the visual noise of stuff being everywhere.”

The curtain in the back covers up a door that leads to an exit stairway that’s going to be renovated in the future: a stylish makeshift solution.