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Step inside a sophisticated-cool family home in New York

In Brooklyn, designer Kesha Franklin intuitively taps into the desires of a young family to create a home that is both classic and characterful

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By Piet Smedy | March 22, 2022 | Interiors

There’s a scene in The First Wives Club (yes, the 1996 divorcée-revenge comedy) where Dame Maggie Smith’s character, New York society doyenne Gunilla Garson Goldeberg, is advising Sarah Jessica Parker’s ingénue, Shelly Stewart, on the value of finding the perfect decorator. ‘See, your house is your calling card. It has to be perfected.’ And while in the film, this might be more for the purposes of deception than decor, the sentiment still holds truth, both in the Big Apple and everywhere else.

Photography by David A. Land

This particular project, however, is very much in New York – Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, to be exact. ‘It’s a real melting pot, as New York City is, but Brooklyn in particular marches to the beat of its own drum, and there’s a rich culture to it,’ says designer and Halden Interiors founder Kesha Franklin, who oversaw the installation of this both timeless yet modern interior for a young family. ‘Over the last decade or more, though, Brooklyn has had an urban feel to it, and we wanted to bring that in here, with an added level of sophistication. It needed to strike a chord between being comfortable and liveable but, at the same time, was something that offered a more grown-up experience.“

As with all of her work, Kesha’s first step is getting an understanding of her clients – their needs, their lifestyle, what really makes them tick – after all, as she puts it, “I see the design process as a partnership,“ with the objective being interiors that represent the client. For Kesha, who makes no secret of her love for streamlined, modern homes, the key is to incorporate rich, earthy textures and colours.

Photography by David A. Land

‘The organic elements like stone, timber and brass bring the outside in and establish a natural sense of balance. They have this warm, liveable element that I feel completes the story,’ she says.‘To me, what tells you who a person really is – much more than the clothes they wear or the car they drive – is their home. It’s a picture into who they are, it’s the character revealing moment that strips away the external by showing the internal.’ And Gunilla Garson Goldeberg would almost certainly agree.

Photography by David A. Land
Photography by David A. Land
Photography by David A. Land
Photography by David A. Land
Photography by David A. Land

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