lofty living, cottages & bungalows
DESCRIPTION
Historic Providence, Rhode Island home with industrial-modern edgeTRANSCRIPT
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Opposite: The dining chairs are a melange of styles, from midcentury to workshopto schoolhouse, that the couple tied together by painting them all in high-gloss red.
BY MARGIE MONIN
DOMBROWSKI
PHOTOGRAPHY BY NAT REA.
• NDUSTRIAL STYLE AND COZY,
casual living can coexist-if you
have the right combination of
mid-century pieces, salvaged
furniture, retro art posters and
antique-tool displays. Carving out
distinct living and working spaces
were vital to making this Providence,
Rhode Island, carriage house, which
once housed horses, feel more like a
home and less like a stable.
Lisa and Victor Russo, owners of the
design services company Two Russos,
and their 11-year-old daughter, Cecily,
live in this former 1890s "garage," Its
july/august 2012 35
three floors of wide open spaces are separated
into conversation, entertaining and sleeping
quarters by mid-century furniture pieces
updated with recycled fabrics. Filled with
eclectic art and antique collections, the home
has a modern loft-like edge, and a warm and
welcoming vibe. Here's how Lisa and Victor's
home balances different period styles and
live/work functions:
DIVIDE AND CONQUER SPACEAlthough they escaped to New England after
living and working in New York City, the couple
brought the urban-loft aesthetic with them,
merging it with a casual cottage style. The
challenge was adding warmth (literally) and
defining specific areas in the open space. On the-
first floor, they erected insulated walls, installed
radiant-heated concrete flooring and repurposed
the horse stalls as their design studio, while
the living space on the second floor is com-
partmentalized into smaller areas for dining and
entertaining (the third is for the bedrooms).
For example, the bar featuring beer taps is
where Victor brews small batches of Belgian-
style craft beers, wines and meads for friends
and family on occasion. Creating nearby
"seating clusters" with a '60s-era sofa they
bought at a flea market and reupholstered in
orange fabric, mod barstools and a mid-'50s
bent plywood chair by Danish designer Ib
Kofod-Larsen (one of their favorite flea-market
finds) provides comfortable conversation
areas. "We're always looking for pieces that can
stand alone in the middle ofthe room or 'float'
because you can see it from all sides;' Lisa says.
RECYCLE, REUSE, REPURPOSEThe running theme is how the Russos
creatively repurpose antique furniture and
touch it up for a modern setting. Their dining
table, which was "frankensteined" together
from multiple pieces of different tables, is one
example. Its vintage wood chairs, all found at
flea markets and yard sales, were lacquered in
Lisa and Victor create their own furniturefrom salvaged materials for a personaltouch. The dining table top at left was froma 1950s table they purchased at a fleamarket and stripped off its legs. "Our friendhas a wood shop. We went over andcreated a base for [the table], then addednew legs," Lisa says.
36 cottages & bungalows
bright-red paint for unity. "They're all different
periods and styles: one from the '30s, an
Eames .chair, an old schoolhouse chair and
one from an old mill building," Lisa says. Other
chairs are upholstered with fabric from a
recycling center, where manufacturers unload
unused ends offabric bolts.
DESIGN OF ALL KINDSAs designers, Lisa and Victor require a
stimulating environment, and the entire space
is dotted with unique pieces of art. The
artwork and furnishings are always changing,
but you'll often find their own projects on
display as well as many other artists' works.
From heirloom nude drawings by Victor's
grandfather to funky letterpress posters for
concerts, and from farmers markets to New
York subway maps spray-painted with an
Empire State Building, art is everywhere and
adds to the loft feel.
MAN-MADE, INDUSTRIAL STYLEVarious tools in the space double as art,
giving the space a masculine side and a nod to
the industrial age, when live/work spaces
originated. A collection of Kirby wrenches used
on trains, found at New England flea markets,
adorn the fireplace. The wrenches are just one
of the many items the Russos collect. "We're
always trying to make collections of like
things," Lisa says.
Although the vintage letterpresses Lisa and
Victor use for work are there for a utilitarian
purpose, they're an unintentional part of
the decor. Sometimes the homeowners will
entertain in the work space, even while
working on a poster for their business. "All
our friends are artists, so everyone likes to eat
and drink around design;' Lisa says. [!lJ
SEE RESOURCES, PAGE 94
The Russos cluster seating together forinformal conversation areas whenever theyentertain guests. At left is a wooden churchpew and camel saddle used as a footstool.The tea cart in the foreground is from Lisa'sfamily house in Boston. "It somehow madeits way here for a party: Lisa says. Afterfinding out it could be worth something.they decided to fix it up and keep it.
38 cottages & bungalows
•..
I
july/august 2012 39
"We/re always looking for pieces that.can stand alone in the middle of the room or
'float' beca-use you can see itfrom all sides," Lisa says.
DECOR BASICS: HOW TODISPLAY ART
Take a few tips from the Russos on how to select and displayunique art in your space for an eclectic, casual style.
COMMON INTERESTS
There's strength in numbers.When you have a prized collec-tion or are frequently drawn toa certain object, collect severaland display them together for astunning effect.
UNEXPECTED ART
Wall art doesn't have to be meantfor a frame. Lisa and Victor findand frame art posters from farmersmarkets and concerts with excit-ing designs. Decorate with whatintrigues and inspires you.
ANTIQUE TOOLS
Tools of yesteryear are sculpturesunto themselves. Anantique sewingmachine, iron, camera or stove--whether or not they work-canbecome part of the scenery in yourhome.The older they are the better,even if your aesthetic tends to bemore modern.
COLOR FOR COMPLEMENT
It's hard to go wrong whenchoosing a color palette that willgo with the room: It's easiest tofollow the two extremes: Choose apiece that unites all the colors inthe room or find one with a palettethat stands opposite on the colorwheel of your room's hues for aperfectly contrasted pop.
Opposite: The closet doors at leftare salvaged barn board from thefirst floor. The hardwood floors arecenter-cut pine and are original tothe carriage house. "Pine isn'tavailable in this region anymore,"Lisa says.
•••
:.. --&"$YII
july/august 2012 41
42 cottaqesS bungalows
Remnants from the barn doorsshow up elsewhere in the home,including the bar. Below, the Kirbywrench collection becomessculptural fireplace decor. Thedesign studio at left wasrepurposed from the barn's originalhorse stalls. "We repurposedeverything," Lisa says. "Now, it'snice and warm and cozy."
july/august 2012 43