This Brooklyn Reno Proves Penny Tile Can Do Big Things for Your Kitchen Walls
At first glance, Julie Dickson’s bedroom walls look white. But the longer you stare at them, the hue almost appears to be blue. Keep your eyes on them a little longer and you’ll finally realize it’s actually pale purple. “With her profession and her knowledge of color, she knew what would be pretty against skin tones,” says Kate McCann, Dickson’s interior designer and longtime friend. Dickson, the owner of a Manhattan hair salon called Joon Drop, knows that nailing the right shade is everything.
After coming out of the pandemic, when she feared she might lose her business, Dickson, newly divorced, bought a fixer-upper apartment in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, and—because you can’t embrace too many life changes at once—adopted a dog. She called up McCann, the founder of Grey Dove Design, to help her put her own stamp on the space. Luckily, McCann had a good grip on Dickson’s style after having worked on her salon. Over the years, though, she had witnessed her friend’s personal aesthetic change. “She didn’t want a home that felt too trendy, and she still wanted a healthy dose of eclecticism,” explains McCann.
The home renovation took close to three years, as they had to carefully navigate the two rental units also located in McCann’s building. Ahead, the designer walks us through some of the biggest updates they made.
The Kitchen Cabinet Switch-Up
The initial vision for the new parlor-level kitchen was classic English: painted cabinetry and Shaker-style doors. But things changed once McCann received the quote for the custom millwork. As a cost-effective alternative, she suggested Dickson take a look at semi-custom cabinets from Danish brand Reform. “I thought they might be too modern for her liking, but she loved them,” says McCann. Still, the designer worried that the cabinets (they went with the brand’s Frame line in dark oak) would clash with the traditional Davoli faucet she had already ordered from California Faucets. Fortunately, all of the molding in the room and penny round backsplash tile helped bridge the gap.
The Unexpected Use of Penny Tile
Wrapping the vent hood and wall behind the oven in penny tile was an easy decision—selecting the grout color for it was not. “It’s one of my least favorite things to do,” says McCann. The tile, much like other details in the apartment, isn't pure white (it actually has a hint of blue with a brown edge).
McCann didn’t want the detail to get overlooked, so at first she chose a light gray grout, but then her contractor convinced her to go darker: Any imperfections would be less noticeable that way.
The Trendy Exception
While Dickson specifically asked for nothing too trendy, both she and her designer agreed on swathing at least one room in limewash paint. “It just added so much depth to the living room,” says McCann. Having never applied the treatment, it took the contractor a few coats—met with a healthy dose of frustration—to get it just right in the living-slash-dining room. But in the end, he loved it so much he told McCann that he was going to do it in his own home.
The Budget-Friendly Rug Fix
Finding a rug that would fit in the long yet narrow parlor area was arguably trickier. A fully custom piece would have cost a small fortune, so McCann turned her attention to Rush House. The company sells both individual jute rug squares and a variety of rug sizes, all of which can be trimmed, cut, and sewn to fit your exact dimensions. The designer ended up attaching two 9-by-12 rugs together and trimmed one row and cut it around the fireplace hearth. “It looks great and didn’t break the bank,” she says.
The Flattering Bathroom Colors
There’s no second-guessing what colors they used in the bathrooms—they’re that bold. “We decided to have fun,” admits McCann. In the primary space, the designer combined 12 hues of Fireclay’s triangle tile on the floor. Keeping her client’s request for timelessness in mind, McCann stuck with a traditional vanity and sink from Stoffer Home Cabinetry and Waterworks fixtures, as well as 4-by-4 white ceramic wall tile in the shower.
In the guest bathroom, she opted for a primarily green and pink combo with slip-resistant black and white floor tiles. To help the soothing colors glow a bit more, they painted the ceiling in a high-gloss finish and the walls in eggshell. “Julie is acutely aware of how the color on the walls can affect complexions,” notes McCann. Everyone looks good in there.
