Spring Cleaning

Behind the stately facade of 126 Pierrepont St., in Brooklyn, a whirlwind of home improvement is underway. Next week its doors will open to dozens of visitors as one of five historic Brooklyn Heights homes featured in the annual Brooklyn Landmarks House and Garden Tour. But before then, there is still carpet to lay and paint to strip, as well as shrubs to plant, sofas to switch, and a staircase to stain.Most homeowners would be getting hysterical, but Kathryn Scott, who has lived in the brownstone for 19 years and runs her award-winning interior design studio from its upper floor, appears unfazed by the tasks ahead. “I wish I could say things are crazy because we’re preparing for the tour,” she said, leaning her petite frame against a 500-pound, hand-carved ivory marble tabletop that had just arrived from China. “But this happens every year. It’s the interior designer’s version of spring cleaning.”Ms. Scott’s 1899 home has been part of the House and Garden Tour three times during her two decades of residence, and each occasion has brought a new look to the space. “It’s the curse of the designer, I suppose, to think things can always be better, always improved, always more in balance,” she said. When Ms. Scott, a native of Dallas, first moved into the home in 1986, the building had been partitioned into a three-family co-op. Her upper duplex became her first solo design project, and she oversaw not only the interior decoration of the space, but also worked alongside the tileman, the contractor, and the carpenters. As the centerpiece of the apartment, Ms. Scott created an intricate, floral, Arts and Crafts-style staircase railing, with iron stems spiraling gently between the two floors. “It was an incredible experience that influenced everything I’ve done since,” she said. “I learned how things are put together, how things can go wrong, and how painful it can be when a project is more expensive than it needs to be.”Along with the cosmetic adjustments Ms. Scott has made to her home – including removing dingy wallpaper, installing custom cabinetry, antique light fixtures, moldings, and hardware – over the years other, more elemental, changes have come to the space. As neighbors moved out, Ms. Scott and her husband, the successful Chinese artist Wenda Gu, offered to buy out their co-ops, gradually expanding their share of the building. It was only last November, when the final tenant left, that the building became a one-family home again. Much of the work since then has focused on updating the old hallways and unifying spaces that were, until now, separate apartments.While she has been lucky to acquire more square footage as her household has grown to include both her mother and a young daughter, Ms. Scott resolves to be both imaginative and practical when planning out designs. “I’ve lived in New York long enough to know that space is too precious not to have a use,” she said. When she was still living in the duplex, one of her early projects was a room length bank of cabinets that would blend invisibly into the wall, concealing a surplus of storage space. Now Ms. Scott’s current dining room is dominated by floor-to-ceiling handmade walnut hutches, styled after antique library shelving. It includes a rolling wooden ladder that aides access to the upper reaches. “People think that you need a lot of money to have a beautiful home, and it helps, certainly, to buy nice things,” she said. “But really all good design requires is that you be able to put things away – to simplify and balance a room.”Though she has been mindful of the original details in her historic home, Ms. Scott is not slavish to period styles. “I made a choice when restoring the house not to use full Victorian details, because personally, I favor designs with more classic neutrality,” she said. “I’ve done some picking and choosing, but I measure my success by the degree to which the architecture feels cohesive – you shouldn’t have a sense of what survived and what’s been added.”Ms. Scott’s style has been influenced by both her husband’s Chinese heritage and her own family history, and that amalgam is apparent in the many rooms that include both Asian art and selections from Ms. Scott’s grandmother’s sizeable collection of American antiques. Rather than appearing fragmented, the mix gives the home a personal charm, and the overall aesthetic finds balance between dramatic, oversized pieces and intimate, one-of-a-kind details.While visiting the Breakers in Newport, R.I., Ms. Scott noticed that each bathroom boasted engraved switch plates and toggle light switches; though they had not been produced since the 1920s, she was determined to have them for her own home. After months of searching, she tracked down the only remaining stock, purchased the entire lot, and had them fitted in her own guest bath.In Ms. Scott’s master bathroom, gauzy curtains and a whimsical faucet fashioned from a salvaged frog gargoyle set off a simple antique tub. Downstairs in the living room, Mr. Gu’s monumental ink-wash paintings provide the backdrop for two squat, red, upholstered chairs of Ms. Scott’s design and a life-size, freestanding glass vase filled with spring boughs. A pair of riotously colored Brazilian feather masks from Ms. Scott’s mother’s primitive art collection greet visitors to the foyer.There may be little more than a week to go before the Brooklyn House and Garden Tour, but Ms. Scott is cool, calm, and armed with a sketchbook and a smile. “People forget that this should be fun. Life is difficult,” she said, “but good design can give you security, control, and comfort.”For more information about Kathryn Scott Design Studio Ltd., call 718-935-0425 or visit www.kathrynscott.com.The Brooklyn Landmarks House and Garden Tour will take place, rain or shine, Saturday, May 7, 1-5 p.m., and includes a tea reception in the garden of the Orange Street Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims, 3-5 p.m. Children under 13, except for infants in front packs, are not permitted. Tickets are $30 a person and tax deductible. Call 718-858-9193 or visit www.brooklynheightsassociation.org for reservations. Tickets may also be purchased on the day of the tour at the Brooklyn Historical Society, 128 Pierrepont St.

Spring Cleaning

Spring Cleaning

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