Lily Allen and David Harbour's Brooklyn Townhouse (Architectural Digest)

[Anonymous]

It's the Greenbrier

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is surprisingly ugly. All of it.

If this is ugly then what do you consider beautiful? I don't want this particular style for my interiors but calling it ugly is a real stretch. A lot of the decor is lovely. Just not for me.

[Anonymous]

His own apartment was great (AD did a tour of his place when he was single!

[Anonymous]

I like the green sitting room with the desk nook, and while I would not want it in my house, there is something fun about the all blue bathroom with the blue toilet and tub.

The rest of it doesn’t look right. The kitchen is a total miss— the checkered fabric with the oversized chandelier? Incongruous and not in a fun or interesting way. Agree the pink bedspread is awful. The mismatched textiles in that bathroom don’t work well together (even as intentionally mismatched).

I actually really enjoy English eclectic maximalism when done well, but this isn’t it.

[Anonymous]

The only thing that looked genuine and lived in was the water mark on the end of the kitchen island. Which I almost missed, staring at those huge loaves of bread directly on the counter and bowl of .... persimmons, was it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like the green sitting room with the desk nook, and while I would not want it in my house, there is something fun about the all blue bathroom with the blue toilet and tub.

The rest of it doesn’t look right. The kitchen is a total miss— the checkered fabric with the oversized chandelier? Incongruous and not in a fun or interesting way. Agree the pink bedspread is awful. The mismatched textiles in that bathroom don’t work well together (even as intentionally mismatched).

I actually really enjoy English eclectic maximalism when done well, but this isn’t it.

+1 on all of this. From reading the description, I thought I’d love it. I live in a very calm “beachy” house that I love, but I think I want my next house to be a riot of color.

I think the miss in the kitchen is the drab color of the checked fabric. If you’re going for color and gingham — really go for it!

I generally don’t mind the “not lived in” vibe. If I was getting my house ready for an AD spread, you could bet that it wouldn’t look “lived in,” although it currently does. Maybe it’s all the velvet that makes it look that way to me? I know there’s “performance velvet” these days but I have bad memories of my Grandma’s scratchy velvet couch and it just doesn’t read “comfortable” to me.

[Anonymous]

I hated the wallpaper in general.

I didn't mind the tiger striped room.

But that wall paper hurt my eyes.

I liked the double sided couch. I feel like that works well in those long NYC living rooms.

[Anonymous]

Oof. Definitely not my taste. Over-the-top British is not my cup of tea.

[Anonymous]

Wow, someone grew up envying the grand country homes and then wanted to recreate. Did she grow up on a council estate? Looks like a desperate need to recreate a childhood vision, which is totally misplaced and absurd in a Brooklyn townhome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, someone grew up envying the grand country homes and then wanted to recreate. Did she grow up on a council estate? Looks like a desperate need to recreate a childhood vision, which is totally misplaced and absurd in a Brooklyn townhome.

I think she just hired a bad decorator or was arrogant during the process and kept injecting her own ideas but they didn't work in the long run. Some people assume if they have decent taste, they can put together a house like that. It's actually very challenging and takes a specific kind of eye. These photos read as "kept arguing with designer until designer gave up and let her have her way" to me.

I looked at the photos from Harbour's apartment when he was single and it's not like revolutionary or anything but it's much, much better. He probably just had a better designer and gave them more control over the overall aesthetic. A really good designer can take your general preferences, as well as some specific ideas, and then turn out something gorgeous. But you have to let them. I'm betting Allen didn't want to give up creative control but lacked the skill to do it herself. Thus the weird incongruities in the design. It has this feel of being ambitious but missing the mark, which is a classic "I designed this myself" mistake. Big ideas but lack of experience and follow through.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, someone grew up envying the grand country homes and then wanted to recreate. Did she grow up on a council estate? Looks like a desperate need to recreate a childhood vision, which is totally misplaced and absurd in a Brooklyn townhome.

How can you know what a council estate is but not know that Allen is a nepo baby

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, someone grew up envying the grand country homes and then wanted to recreate. Did she grow up on a council estate? Looks like a desperate need to recreate a childhood vision, which is totally misplaced and absurd in a Brooklyn townhome.

How can you know what a council estate is but not know that Allen is a nepo baby

Lol to Allen growing up in a council estate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's the Greenbrier

The Greenbrier really works though. It’s cacophonous, but somehow the overall effect is uplifting. This just doesn’t get there for me. It’s really hard to get it right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, someone grew up envying the grand country homes and then wanted to recreate. Did she grow up on a council estate? Looks like a desperate need to recreate a childhood vision, which is totally misplaced and absurd in a Brooklyn townhome.

How can you know what a council estate is but not know that Allen is a nepo baby

Lol to Allen growing up in a council estate.

She’s straight outta the hood just like Chet Hanks lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s very UK House and Garden.

It doesn’t quite work for me. It feels like a copy of a copy of something for some reason. Maybe I’m being unfair.

Oh wow, I’m this PP and I have to say I love love other projects on the designer’s website, especially this one. So idk exactly why I hate the Lilly Allen house but it seems like it might be a rare miss.
https://billycotton.com/project/fall-clove