If there’s one thing Brittany Albert believes to be true, it’s the quiet power of manifestation. After all, there’s nothing else that could explain how her Brooklyn apartment—the parlor floor of a brownstone—came to be, and how the stars aligned, if only momentarily, when the previous tenants moved out. “We were renting an apartment a few floors above in the same building, and had seen this unit with its outdoor space and beautiful bay windows. When it became available, we jumped at the chance,” says the New York–based interior stylist, referring to herself, her husband, Sanders Witkow, and their golden retriever, Kona. The decision wasn’t a hard one: The parlor floor was spacious and full of potential, with high ceilings, generous light, and good bones. What it lacked, however, was personality. “It had zero character,” Albert recalls. “But it was kind of perfect—a clean slate to make into our home.”
Albert might have tackled the entire project herself if not for one key detail: The layout needed a rethink. The plan was to make the apartment both a home and a workspace—half calm, half characterful, a balance between her minimalist sensibility and her love of layers. So, reason (and Instagram) led her to AD PRO Directory interior designer Augusta Hoffman, whose work she had admired for years and who she felt would be the perfect creative collaborator. Hoffman would handle the design, while Albert would focus on bringing the home to life in a way that reflects her keen eye for objects and art, and the signature calm she brings to her styling work. The pair collaborated with Renovation Partners for the execution.
Anyone who has visited Albert will tell you that if you picked up her apartment and dropped it somewhere in Paris, the house (and Albert) would feel right at home—at least on the inside. “I think the unique light and openness of the space really guided the design,” says Albert of the European-inspired interiors, framed by windows on three sides and bathed in a soft, dreamlike glow. To Hoffman—the founder and principal of her eponymous New York studio—the light wasn’t just illumination, it was a material in itself. “We wanted to use it as one of our textures,” she says, “to create something calm, layered, and warm.”
