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The bench used for reading, watching tv, and putting shoes on before heading out the door opens to hold storage within.

The parlor features a white oak window seat that receives eastern morning light.

The bedroom is raised several steps above the living/dining area “to make it independent from the rest of the house, reinforcing the idea of the studiolo,” says Eduardo.

Floor plan of Book Nook by Spot Lab

A custom media console in the living room creates yet another space-saving solution to maximize the unit’s small footprint.

In the updated kitchen, custom refrigerator and dishwasher panels by Spot Lab complement the new built-in banquette and birch-plywood cabinets that weave throughout the apartment.

The hall workspace features a pegboard wall and a built-in bench with storage, in addition to open shelving. For the desk chair, Spot Lab refurbished and reupholstered a vintage chair that had been left on the street.

Design-build firm Spot Lab re-imagined a 980-square-foot apartment in a Brooklyn cooperative building for programmer Eric Tsai, research collection manager Audrey Christensen-Tsai, and their eight-year-old son, August.

A built-in couch sits against birch plywood walls.

The great room in the new addition. “Every day walking into that big room, you just have that, ‘Oh, wow,’ moment,” says Marlatt.

The round window brings in a bit of daylight into the breakfast nook—all the better to illuminate the rich tones of the wallpaper from Little Greene. “The wallpaper was an opportunity for us to nod to the earthy elements of the palette,” says designer Greer Shively.

Oak lines the interior for a tactile surprise, and the marble counter echoes the marble on the island and perimeter counters.