These days Beastie Boy Mike D goes by Michael Diamond, and he and his wife Tamra Davis recently moved their two sons out of a Tribeca loft and into a Cobble Hill townhouse, which they decorated to the tune of $500,000. (An Upper West Side native, Diamond refers to Brooklyn as the 'burbs.) The Times goes inside the carefully, playfully, beautifully decorated 3,200-square-foot house, which is replete with stylish furniture, artistic light fixtures, and just the right amount of vintage flair peppered with touches of reclaimed wood and industrial-ish brass. Diamond describes it as "vernacular, sensitive, modern"?man, he's come a long way from those days when style consisted of an askew baseball hat and baggy jeans. Plus, many companies they patronized are based in Brooklyn, which is achingly trendy but also kinda neat.
Take wallpaper company Flavor Paper. Diamond helped design their Brooklyn Toile wallpaper, which lines the media/screening room. Meanwhile, Tord Boontje's blingy, branch-like Blossom chandelier hangs above a laid-back wooden kitchen table. In the living room, Patricia Urquiola's white- and red-flowered chaise (vibrant and geometric, like her other furniture) holds court; while up in a child's bedroom an eco-chic console by Iannone is decorated with silhouettes of a bird amid maple leaves.
But wait, there's more! In the spacious master bath, a generously-sized white tub serves as the centerpiece, overhung with one of Pelle's bubble chandeliers. In the ground floor office that Diamond and his wife share is a mid-century modern shelving unit a la Dieter Rams (similar to the one pictured below), surrounded by watercolor-esque wallpaper from Williamsburg-based Eskayel. Then, inside the kids' bathroom?lined with paint that turns the walls into a chalkboard on which the kids are encouraged to scribble?hangs another one of Boontje's fanciful chandeliered creations, this time from the Garland series.
And well, whew, it's a relief to hear that Mike D and his wife are just like the rest of us, shopping from Target?occasionally?from whence the Missoni pouf adorning their living room (from an affordable collaboration) comes. Also on the more accessible side of the spectrum lies their foyer fixture, Tom Dixon's silver pendant light, shaped like a mirrored orb.
Do click through to the Times' slideshow to see all these furnishings in place, including the brassy storage shelf over a kitchen island made by Brooklyn company ESP Metal Crafts, and, in their top-floor master bedroom, a specially commissioned crochet chandelier by New York-based knit artist extraordinaire Olek.
The couple's taste is both fun and funny?as reflected in their white living room cabinet speckled with bugs (painted on, of course) by Netherlands-based furniture company Studio Job. Refreshingly, it's not the kind of house that's so dolled up it feels like a museum. In one kid's room, for example, a virtually indestructible blue fixture from Design Within Reach is made of soft silicone rubber. Oh, their kids can break lights with their soccer balls, just like normal people's kids! But boys, be mindful of the Boontjes.
· Licensed to Grill: Mike D's Brooklyn Town House [NYT]
· Celebrity Real Estate archive [Curbed]
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