1800s Brownstone Home Tour - Where Contemporary Meets Historic Design

Welcome to Tesori Home. Today we are bringing you our next episode in our series Design Within Reach, where we tour everyday people's homes to show you that you can create a home you love within your means. Today I'm so excited to share our friend Greta and Aiden's beautiful apartment here in Jersey City with you. It's a gorgeous brownstone, has so much character, was built in the 1800s and they have made it so unique and personal to them. So let's go inside and see what Greta and Aiden are up to. If you enjoyed today's video and you want to see more, including deleted scenes and extended interviews, join us over on Patreon. Just scan the QR code on the screen and you'll get exclusive behind-the-scenes access to everything we do here at Tesori Home. Now sit back, relax and enjoy. Hey. Hey guys. Come on in. Welcome to our house. Thanks for having me. Thank you guys for having us here. It is so beautiful and I'm so excited to hear about how this all came about. I know Aiden, you found this apartment. Yeah, so I actually drove by the apartment and it was for rent by owner and I got in contact with the owner and we scheduled a tour and when we first came up here I opened up and this was the view and I knew this was the apartment. I was still kind of like designing things even when I didn't live here and then when I officially moved in I was like okay this goes this goes this stays like but we both definitely have like a very distinct style and we also love spending time together and thrifting. We're both hunter-gatherers I would say and so cultivating this space has been something that we've done together and something that we really enjoy doing together. Since we're in your kitchen I would love for you guys to talk about this space. This is original to the building like this is built in that's from what the 1800s. Wow and the rest of the cabinets are to look like that yeah this was like one of the original ones that they left. It's helpful that we've both been collecting glassware and we both make ceramics yeah so it's like okay I guess we'll just put it all on display. And you guys made you said you make ceramics so like these over here are yours? Yeah those are mine these plates are mine these are mine and then these are Aiden's so we have like fairly different styles. I love it though yeah you guys are really good. Thanks. Ceramics shout out. Yes we'll link it below make sure to check out Ceramics. Yeah and this was the first thing that came into this apartment. We got this together from a thrift store in Jersey City and this it feels very right that it's sitting on the mantle and it's the first thing you see when you walk in because this was the very very very first thing that we got together. And we were even thinking about hanging it but it looks a lot I think it looks better yeah yeah. We spend a lot of time in the kitchen and the dining room but this is kind of like the heart of I feel like the apartment when people come over yeah for sure everyone gravitates towards the kitchen so and you I love that you guys have this sitting area too because if you're spending a lot of time like cooking in the kitchen it's nice to have it in the little nook. I originally had a table there and Greta was like we have to get like just like a side table well it was yeah I guess it was like get that out of the kitchen. But Greta came up with the idea and I found one on Facebook marketplace and it's perfect yeah it's literally I love it breakfast now it fits so well. I said that the kitchen was the heart of the apartment this is really this is where the magic happens this is where we spend like all of our time actually. I can see why. Yeah we love to host so this table is we have dinner parties all the time we're constantly like shifting the coffee table over here putting up more tables we've had parties where we've sat like 25 people for sit down dinner so well this is this is what's so awesome about your space when I first walked in was like the fact that the dining room is right here the living room like people want to be eating and chatting and something I feel like it's just so conducive to gathering yeah yeah so and it has a good flow too yes yeah and I love these columns too and the molding up there yeah you guys really yeah the owners did a really good job they actually they own both this building and the one next door okay um and the owner is obsessed with kind of keeping it original so all the floors are original the brick wall and all the crown molding as well the chandelier yeah and the fireplace like it's oh yeah the fact that you can use this fireplace I know like usually I walk into home and it's like this old fireplace that's not working yeah this is it had to get redone like maybe 20 or 30 years ago but he uh the owner Mariana wanted to make sure that everyone could use it wow I know unbelievable amazing we love it I see so much cool art in your throughout your whole apartment and so I would love to hear a bit about where you found them what inspires you when it comes to art my grandpa was an artist and so a lot of the art in here I've actually just been able to take from my parents they have a room in their basement with just tons of canvases some are framed some aren't this is probably my favorite thing in our apartment it's probably my favorite thing that I own this is your grandpa's yeah he made this in 78 it's kind of uh it's falling apart and I've used scotch tape to just stick it back on the frame but um yeah whenever I have like terrible thoughts of having a house fire this is the one thing that I'm like okay if anything ever happens take the yellow painting it's my most treasured thing um beautiful I love it and I just I feel like it warms up the space I love it against the brick um and his art is kind of everywhere like these two paintings are also his wow art is like what I think I gravitate towards the most so everywhere you look there's art on the floor there's art on the walls there's art everywhere yeah and I see throughout too you guys have not just art pieces but whether it's fabric hanging or like we'll see later in your office you have like a framed sweater and yeah it's so like it's so unique yeah and not something that I think a lot of people would think to do I think a house is personal to you when it's like a clear collection of the things that you're drawn to so like this is the first piece of artwork that I ever spent money on I think I was 14 and I collected like all my babysitting money from the summer which was not that much maybe like $500 that's a lot for a 14 year old so I've always like loved investing in art whatever scale wait so you were 14 years old and you spent $500 on that yeah that's crazy that is so really bad I'm not no I actually love that because I feel like usually 14 year olds like they're like oh let me go get coffee with my friends but you were like at such a young age investing in beauty I think my mom has also like instilled in me that when you see something that speaks to you like follow the thread of why and I don't know before I even knew why I liked this so much later in life I worked in textiles I studied textiles I traveled and this just feels like kind of like a culmination of all those things like it's all beads it's so intricate and I don't know when I was 14 I was obsessed with it so it's like you just have to trust why you're obsessed with certain things you know what I mean yes yeah the fact that you bought this at 14 and you still love it and are in your home that just shows that you have very um deep sense of knowing who you are and what you love because I think about my room at 14 years old and oh my there's nothing crazy no yeah but like to have something that stood the test of time like that's timeless design yeah to me is like what knowing who you are what you love and like that lasting to now in your 20s yeah I've never thought about it like that wow yeah I like that I like it even more now so why don't you guys show us your bedroom next okay sure let's do it first I'd love you have like lanterns in every room you love lantern we do this came in a pack of three from Amazon so Amazon this room gets one that other room gets one what are they called there it's a rice paper lamp I love that little my mom got that for me I think I don't know if I was on a trip or something but she calls me her dear one her dearest and so it had a little note that's like you can take me everywhere and so cute it's kind of had like a permanent fixture on the bed so sweet um yeah I love it I love it so much and I like the scale too like this room is really quite small I mean it's a good size for the city but there's something about this tiny little miniature deer that makes me feel like oh my god this room is actually huge so I like having that there so fun yeah oh and I love that you guys put curtains up we did that well for two reasons one because this house is so old there's actually like an old door that's just in the middle of the room and there's outlets that hang like on the center of the wall okay so this was partially to hide all of that but also it adds a really nice like coziness and it kind of feels like a hotel and this piece of art is this also your no this is not your grandfather's is it no this is from an artist named Alison Cher um I did some work for her and this was a painting that I was always obsessed with and for my birthday she actually gifted me this wow um yeah and it's such a big wall it's such a big space so I feel like it's just a fun pop of color I love I love this painting so much and I love waking up and seeing it yeah yeah so I need to know Aiden what was like before Greta came in and put her little touches like what was wait this wasn't even your bedroom no I was in this I was in the little small one in the back oh okay and now we're here this one uh everything all the walls were gray like a light gray and as soon as I moved in I painted the entire house white okay uh my roommate at the time had this room kept it gray and when Greta moved in last year uh we did the entire thing white it's so nice light in here too it is nice it's much better all right well let's go check out your office so this is what used to be Aiden's bedroom yes it's tiny it only fit a full-size bed which was kind of like the the size of this couch this way wow and then basically to this desk so the room was the bed it was basically the bed yeah there was one tiny little nightstand and that was it wow yeah and I was like dude you should get some shelves in here so these are the shelves that used to be in the bedroom and now we've converted into an office Aiden made this table another one of Aiden's projects very nice um and yeah so this is kind of just where we work and also this pulls out into a bed this this is the craziest I've ever gone on an auction I usually cap at like 300 I fell in love with this while I was fighting for it and I spent quite a bit of money but the frame alone I mean it weighs so much and the frame alone is probably like a thousand dollars yeah I feel like everybody has certain things that are important to them that they'll they're willing to spend more on yeah it seems that for you is that art it's definitely art yeah and I love textiles as I've said as you can see all over my apartment this one is so special I don't know the history of it it seems like maybe this is like a Peruvian medicine bag but then there's these gray feathers so it wouldn't be from it wouldn't be from a place I don't know I don't know where it's from but so amazing I love it and then I have this tiny little felted textile I think that they're really funny next to each other it's like the mother and or the grandmother maybe and the baby I love that and yeah I got that in Mexico City I saw it on the side of the street and I'm like I have to have this and it's funny because it's like such a nothing thing but but you like you said earlier it's like what you knew like it was speaking to you in some way and so you needed it and now you have it yeah I never think about where things will go I think that's how I like get myself dressed how I shop for clothes for home I never think about like the context of things where it'll go how it'll fit it's just like I love it I have to have it you'll find a spot yeah it'll work because if it's all if your house is filled with things that you love and that are authentic to you I think when you surround yourself with those things the house like just has so much character and contrast and it works well that's definitely true of your home every room it has so much personality I would love to go and sit and chat a little bit more okay let's do it yeah okay well thank you guys for taking us through your beautiful home I feel like so inspired by seeing just your creativity Greta and I feel like Aiden when you're talking about just walking into the space immediately knowing like this is my home and seeing how you guys have kind of meshed that together one more question that I have for you Greta is you talk a lot about how like you approach home kind of the way you get dressed and how that's kind of like seamless and I know that fashion is such a big thing of what you do so can you talk to me a bit about how those interweave and what you do okay I'm a fashion stylist by trade so much like in the home I search for pieces for clothing whether I'm working with a client and they have their own like clothes and I'm creating an outfit to go with that or styling a person from scratch it's all about like the hunting gathering finding that one great piece and then like contextualizing it and making it make sense with all other pieces that's so so is that what you would do like in a space like this I feel like that's a really great point like starting with maybe something that really inspires you and then building off of that is that kind of how you totally yeah yeah I love that so where could people find you if they want to find your work they can find me on my instagram or my website my website is gretashackstudio.com that's my whole portfolio and then if they want to connect on instagram they could find me at greta5 underscores something I should probably change that but um i love it greta5 underscore something so if you guys want to connect with um I'm sure none of you will want to connect with Aiden so we won't even he's private he's private um no thank you guys so much this has been so fun and if you guys want to catch more of Aiden and Greta's home we share all of our deleted scenes and extended interview on our patreon so make sure to check that out guys we did it you can that was so fun do you guys want separate the way they're dancing too all right I think I'm gonna blow up