When architect Jennifer Hanlin and her husband, designer Chris Cooper, needed to find more space within their 1,300-square-foot Brooklyn apartment to accommodate family life, they looked to a recent trip to Japan?specifically, highly-efficient Japanese Tansu chests. With the idea of “minimal furniture and maximal storage,” the couple sold more than half of their furniture and instead built shelving, drawers, and cabinets into the walls and stairs to keep clutter out of sight?and display favorite objects from their travels. Their Japanese-inspired approach “allows us to live in a small space and not have it feel small,” as Hanlin says. Join us for a look inside.
Photography by Eduard Hueber, except where noted.
Above: The generous ceiling height in Hanlin and Cooper’s living/dining space is thanks to the building’s history: “It’s one of 35 apartments located in a former Catholic schoolhouse on a residential block in Cobble Hill that was converted to condominiums in the 1980s,” Hanlin says. The couple removed the dropped ceiling, exposing concrete beams that they painted Benjamin Moore Decorator’s White in Eggshell, along with the walls. Photograph by Bruce Buck.

Above: An Akari Ceiling Lamp, Model L5, by Isamo Noguchi from the Noguchi Museum Store hangs above an antique Danish refectory style table that the couple found at Arenskjold Antiques Art in Hudson, NY. The extra long curtains were custom made b...