August 2019

apartment therapy

Name: Christine Stucker Veal and James Veal
Location: Clinton Hill — Brooklyn, New York
Size: 2100 square feet
Years Lived In: 3 1/2 years, owned

Original wood beams and brick walls mix with modern designs in this Brooklyn townhouse, built in 1890. It’s the home of husband and wife Christine Stucker Veal and James Veal, the founders of Stewart-Schafer. They are responsible not only for many of the architectural updates to the home, but also many of the furniture pieces, including their bed, the concrete tables in the living room, and a luxurious blackened steel dining table. But they also have an impressive collection of mid-century pieces from designers like Arne Norell, Paul McCobb and Herman Miller.

The couple are also travelers, so they’ve added home accessories from countries like Iceland, Wales, Italy and France to the mix.

My Style: Understated, elegant, minimal

Inspiration: Carlo Scarpa, Christian Liaigre, Victor Pasmore

Biggest Challenge: Our biggest challenge is to make sure we don’t add too many items to a room! We have a large collection of furniture and art and we despise clutter so we are constantly curating each room and vetting every object that goes into each space.

Biggest Embarrassment: Our kitchen floor is currently a work in process. The floor is a painted concrete that is chipping. We are replacing it with a gorgeous custom terrazzo flooring.

Proudest DIY: Building all the light fixtures in our home

Biggest Indulgence: B&B Italia sectional

Best Advice: When it comes to designing your own home, you don’t have to do everything at once. It is important to plan your space and know the direction you want to go in. We suggest being picky and only buying pieces that you love. Start with one iconic piece that really grounds the space and build from there.