Brewster House: Baths & Living Room Reimagined in Scarsdale

What Our Client Wanted - After buying the home and living in it for several years, the homeowners began to see it more clearly—both for what it was and what it could be. Although the kitchen was newly renovated, the bathrooms were already twenty years old, they strongly disliked the existing fireplace surround, and they had a large sectional sofa they could never quite make work. “The bathrooms were dated, the fireplace felt wrong for the room, and we just couldn’t figure out how to arrange the space,” Mimi explains. The goal became to update the most problematic areas while bringing better function and cohesion to the main living spaces.

Mimi began by completely gutting and reworking both the primary and family bathrooms, with the primary bath receiving the most dramatic transformation. By eliminating a door to an unfinished patio and using pocket doors to the primary bedroom, she was able to reclaim valuable square footage. This made room for a generous double vanity, a large linen closet with tilt-out laundry bins, and a separate water closet—turning a cramped, inefficient space into a comfortable and highly functional retreat. The family bath was also fully renovated, bringing it up to date with new finishes and a layout better suited to everyday use.

In the family room, the challenges were as much about function as they were about feeling. With two doors leading into an adjacent sunroom, the room sorely lacked wall space and storage for the children’s toys and books, and the layout always felt unsettled. The clients had even gone searching for an area rug on their own, visiting a local rug store but leaving empty-handed, unable to find anything they both loved. Mimi returned to the same store, selected a different rug from the collection, had it delivered there, and brought the clients back for a second look. This time, the reaction was immediate. “We’ve been here already and didn’t find anything,” the husband said, “I’m amazed you can show us something we both love.” They purchased it on the spot—and it became the anchor for the entire room.

With the direction set, the living space came together around both comfort and practicality. New furnishings were introduced, including a custom pop-up coffee table with concealed storage, and the awkward fireplace was transformed into a true focal point with a redesigned surround and a new glass fireplace screen. Built-in storage helped tame everyday clutter, and the room finally felt balanced, welcoming, and truly usable for family life.