During her 2023 apartment search, New York City native and interior designer Kate McElhiney craved a character-filled unit that she and her husband could call their own—and she wasn’t willing to settle for a so-so space in the process. “It started to seem like all rental landlords were in cahoots to make each apartment more boring than the next,” McElhiney reflects. However, when touring her current place—a 750-square-foot unit located on one of Brooklyn Heights’ famed “fruit streets”—she immediately saw potential in the exposed wood beams and lofted duplex layout.
“The floor plan is a little bit squirrely, so it was trickier than normal to figure out furniture for the downstairs space,” shares McElhiney, who has spent the last year making the fourth-floor walk-up feel like home. Though the designer was hesitant to spend too much money transforming a rental, she was eager to customize her unit using her many existing decorative items, without picking up so much as a paintbrush in the process. “I had amassed a good collection of lamps, textiles, and artwork in the years before we moved in, so it was a joy to finally be able to use all my pieces and see them come together so easily,” explains McElhiney, who worked for Kari McCabe, the founder of Kari McCabe Inc., for four years after college. “She taught me everything and imparted her love of Scandinavian design on me too,” McElhiney says. “She also introduced me to my now husband, who was working for her husband at the time.”
McElhiney’s next role was working for AD100 talent Peter Pennoyer. “His in-house interior design team was led by Alice Engel, who is still a great friend,” she shares. “At PPA, I learned how to stretch my imagination as Peter and Alice knew artisans and craftspeople who could make anything we could dream up—a creative’s dream.”
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