Molly Torres Portnof, the founder of DATE Interiors in Brooklyn, used the exposed brick above this living room fireplace as a jumping off point when selecting other materials for the space. “Exposed brick naturally adds texture, warmth, and dimension to a space,” she says. Consequently, Torres Portnof selected natural materials—including wool, wood, velvet, leather, rattan, and marble—and opted for a deep, saturated color palette alongside muted neutrals.
Illustrate a division between old and new
In her home city of Lexington, Kentucky, Isabel Ladd artfully combined white-painted exposed brick as well as brick in its natural state within a stairwell. “We wanted a line of demarcation where the historic home meets the new addition,” explains the founder of Isabel Ladd Interiors, noting that the red brick is reflective of the latter. “Leaving it two-toned pays homage to both the old and the new.” Ladd designed the statement lighting out of wooden vases she sourced at an antique store while at High Point Market. “Clustering them together and hanging them at different heights adds some fun to this stairwell,” she says.
Paint brick blue
