Nomadic Nest: Merging Two Apartments into a Flexible, Light-Filled Home for Two Dancers
“The best feature of the apartment is just being able to come home at the end of the day, and enter an oasis of well designed and decorated peace and tranquility.” - Nomadic Nest Clients
Introduction
For two professional dancers based in New York City, home needed to be more than a resting place. It had to adapt. Their lives moved between performance, travel, and recovery. The space had to offer light, flexibility, and the ability to retreat without feeling closed off.
In Brooklyn Heights, they purchased two adjacent apartments with the goal of combining them into one cohesive, fluid home. The challenge was more than circulation or aesthetics. It was about creating new functionality—rooms within rooms, light where none existed, and privacy without isolation.
This case study shows how we shaped a highly tailored apartment that feels calm, generous, and responsive to real life, all within 850 square feet.
Project Snapshot
Project Type: Legal combination of two apartments
Client Goals: Flexible layout for two dancers who travel often, light-filled interiors, private zones without fixed walls
Biggest Challenges: Tight overall footprint, landmark restrictions, creating new uses and rooms without expanding
Standout Features: Convertible bedroom with corner pocket doors, sculpted skylights, new wet room, deep blue cabinetry with concealed appliances
Location: Brooklyn Heights, New York City
Before the Renovation: Cramped, Disconnected, and Inefficient
The two apartments were disjointed in both layout and purpose. Narrow hallways, heavy partition walls, and outdated finishes gave the space a segmented and inefficient feel. The flow between rooms was unclear and visual openness was limited.
BEFORE Plan - A jumbled intersection of narrow apartments
AFTER Plan - Free flowing
The building’s landmark status added another layer of complexity. Any modification to the street-facing façade would require approval and exacting standards.
Design Strategy: Creating Space Without Adding Square Footage
The project began with a full layout reorganization. Rather than treat the combined apartments as a set of adjacent rooms, we stripped the layout down to essentials and rebuilt it around light, flexibility, and embedded purpose.
One of the most transformative moves was the creation of a convertible bedroom. Using corner pocket doors that disappear completely when open, the room acts as part of the living space by day and closes off for privacy at night. This dual use preserved openness without sacrificing function.
We also carved out a new wet room that did not previously exist—an elegant solution that gave the clients a true bathing space without demanding major expansion. This added both livability and luxury to the compact plan.
To bring in light and scale, we reshaped the ceilings to reveal two existing skylights, which had been visually lost. Sculpted with angled soffits, these now wash the living space with daylight and draw the eye upward, giving the apartment a sense of height and clarity well beyond its size.
The kitchen and entry were unified through a single architectural gesture: a wall of deep blue cabinetry that conceals full-height appliances and storage. There is no island. Instead, the cabinetry acts as a backdrop, allowing furniture and movement to define how the space is used from moment to moment.
Landmark compliance was another layer of precision. A former window on the street-facing façade was reopened and reconstructed as real wood French doors, per LPC requirements. This added both daylight and architectural integrity—while requiring custom fabrication and coordination.
Ensuite office space with the infamous wood french door in the background.
Throughout the apartment, materials and transitions were simplified to emphasize continuity. Storage is integrated, details are minimal, and each room holds more than one role. The result is a space that feels larger than its square footage and more open than its boundaries suggest.
Results: A Space That Shifts With Its Owners
The final result is a home that moves as gracefully as its owners. At just 850 square feet, the apartment holds flexible living zones, a private sleeping area, a full wet room, a concealed office, and expansive daylight.
Rather than locking in a static layout, the design responds to how the clients live: part-time residents, full-time creators, and people who value stillness after movement.
When asked for their reaction at the completion of the project:
“It was disbelief. We couldn’t believe that it was finally a place we could live in, and not just a construction site we would visit and be stressed out about. The completed apartment is absolutely stunning and a dream manifested.”
The project was featured in a Houzz Tour for its careful attention to detail and flexibility within a small footprint. As the article noted, "The aim was to combine two apartments with different layouts to create a beautiful and functional space with good flow. The result is a serene home that cleverly balances openness with purpose.”
Project Budget
“Honestly, we’re happiest that we were able to afford everything we wanted. Leveling the floors with gorgeous walnut, the new windows and bedroom door, and the mini-splits to free the windows up visually and keep us cool in the summer.”
This full combination and interior renovation was completed in 2020 for approximately $350,000. While budgets and permitting complexity have shifted since then, the principles behind this project remain timely. Clear priorities, well-integrated features, and thoughtful sequencing allowed us to deliver quality and functionality in a compact envelope.
Our tiles came all the way from Morocco, but the Tadelakt installer ended up living next door. Go figure.
A portion of the budget was dedicated to landmark compliance. This included the reconstruction of a street-facing window using custom wood French doors, an essential detail to maintain approval within the West Village historic district.
Let’s Talk About What’s Possible
You’ve now seen how two small apartments became a fluid, functional retreat—without expanding square footage or overcomplicating the plan. Whether your goal is to unify a space, rethink a layout, or bring quiet refinement to a small footprint, the process starts with clarity.
Good design does not require excess. It requires focus, thoughtful restraint, and a team that knows how to balance beauty with constraint.
If your space could be working harder—or feeling calmer—I’d be glad to talk about what’s possible.