Chango & Co

Jul 2015

The most beautiful part of working with a client for the third time is that they’re very likely to hand you the keys to their new home and say "We trust you... have fun". The tricky part is having "fun" designing a giant five bedroom beach house that needs a major overhaul (and a lot of minor construction) on a ten-week timeline. So with complete creative freedom, but very little time, we set out to design a home that would serve as an escape from the city and the restraints of apartment living for this young couple and their three beautiful (and very playful) children. From the front porch, this home looks like any other house in the quiet family neighborhood that surrounds it. When the door you enter reveals a banana yellow interior, the foyer leads to a formal dining room with pineapple patterned walls, then into a candy-colored kitchen... you know you're in the midst of people who know how to have fun. Each room was crafted around the vividly colorful personalities in the family to encourage as much unrestrained joy & unconfined playtime as possible and the end result is a celebration of whimsy & lightness of spirit… a true playhouse for kids, big and small alike. See the project on Chango.co: http://chango.co/portfolio/westhampton-beach-house/:

Westhampton Beach, NY

Nov 2014

Some people are stopped in their tracks by the beauty of a classic automobile. Remembering that it's not polite to stare, they carry on, but they linger past slowly, studying the thing intently, daydreaming a bit and and savoring the chance encounter. At Chango & Co., we walk slowly past brownstones. When we happen upon a modernized, neglected, subdivided or worn down brownstone townhouse, we daydream about giving back the personality, charm and dignity that was lost along the way. When we encounter a brownstone that's been lovingly and painstakingly restored to its former glory, down to the last precise detail, we feel that our city is remembering itself, permitting itself to live grandly, one home at a time. This was a beautiful townhouse on a beautiful street in one of New Yorks most beautiful neighborhoods, but it had been recently renovated by a builder to sell quickly, which left us with a lot of room for improvement. The family who lived here had everything the homes interior seemed to lack - lots of personality and a classic, refined style that didnt fit and couldnt feel at home in these plain surroundings. They also had a three year old girl, and little girls have lots of stuff, acres of stuff, and this house had very little storage space to neatly contain it all. With all of their needs in mind, we set out to help this family finally feel at home. Acting as architect, construction administrator and interior designer, we designed, built and installed over 60 linear feet of built-ins throughout the home, adorned the walls with paneling that arched and ascended up the stairwells, curved through the hallways and into the bedrooms. We then unfurled a meticulous plan of finely detailed furniture, warm lighting fixtures and bold artwork that covered the entire home, magnified the grand scale of the high ceilings broad archways and added the finishing touches to what is now a fitting, beautiful and comfortable home that permits those who dwell within to live grandly.

Brooklyn, NY

Oct 2014

The sleepy town of Grandview-on-Hudson is little more than a narrow strip of homes nestled deep in the Hudson Valley between the high hills of the Palisades and the Hudson Rivers western bank. Walking down the footpath from River Road and entering the front door of this home feels much like stepping from a dock and boarding a ship. Upon entering, your eyes are met with huge bay windows filled from edge to edge with the deep blue of the river and the sky above, interrupted only by the sails and mast of the occasional passing ship and the thin green sliver of the distant shore, three miles to the east. As unique as the location and house itself is the lovely family who had recently relocated there from Manhattan. Clients with such an intimate knowledge and deep admiration of our work aren't as rare as a blue moon, but they don't cross our path every day. Many years of experience have taught us that when there's a healthy dose of mutual trust and respect between everyone involved, anything is possible... so when they asked us to come on board as their design team, we jumped at the opportunity. With the knowledge that we had creative freedom & their complete trust, and that we were designing a home that would be cherished and filled with love and laughter for many years to come, we set off to create the perfect family home with a singular mission: to use rich finishes, lush furnishings, a heaping spoonful of personality and a lot of love to create an interior design plan that exemplified the beauty we saw in the homeowners and allowed them to finally feel at home. Interior design, interior architecture, custom millwork & furniture design and art curation by Chango & Co. Photography by Ball & Albanese Featured on: Houzz: http://goo.gl/F9dynYFacebook: https://goo.gl/UjFdLy Instagram: http://instagram.com/susana.chango

Nyack, NY

Jun 2014

In a previous life it was a beach cottage... When we entered the house, we saw beyond the ochre walls, the olive drab interior and exterior trim, the dark yellow wood and heavy brown tile that covered the floors, and the windows and French doors occluded by thick and dusty quilt-patterned drapes. We could see the potential and we had a simple plan... Fling open the doors, let some sun and ocean air in, peel away the layers of heavy winter clothing and slip into some light and colorful summer attire. On our way back to the office after our first visit to the property, we took a detour to East Hamptons Main Beach to take stroll along the shore. In the distance we saw a woman staring out at the horizon wearing a traditional navy and white sailor stripe shirt. Susana felt compelled to photograph the scene, she knew she'd just captured all the inspiration she needed for this new project. A beach is a land of stripes, a succession of one horizontal strand after another. One golden strip of sand, the etched lines of faded waves, a thin white foamy shoreline that traces each receding blue wave, the incoming white caps that dwindle into the widest deepening gradient of a vague horizon line which connects the sea to a sliver of deep blue sky striped with airplane vapor trails and thin, wispy clouds. The uninterrupted width, depth and color of these lines somehow instill a sense of calm in the beach dweller and are present everywhere you look in maritime regions from sails, flags, painted hulls and sailor suits to surfboards, bikinis and beach blankets. It was these stripes that would awaken and connect the spaces in this home and give it a new sense of character and purpose. A serene and natural foundation of shimmering grasscloth wallpaper, bleached hardwood floors and wide loom sisal rugs were wrapped around the walls and floors like a sandy floor surrounded by dunes. Layer upon layer of white sheer fabrics filter the sunlight like an umbrella and pick up on the faintest of breezes, as a sail would. The repeated use of bold patterns in shades of blue, sand and white, a surfboard in the stairwell, a downright daring selection of wallpapers and a dreamy master bedroom transform what was a homely home into a buoyant and sparkling oasis, an idyllically peaceful and decidedly playful getaway whose undertone reads: You are now at the beach, take off your shoes, turn off your phone and relax". Interior design, custom furniture design & art curation by Chango & Co. Photography by Ball & Albanese - http://www.ballandalbanese.com/

East Hampton, NY

Apr 2014

When we first walked through the double doors of this charming Dutch Colonial home and met our client, we became certain that this would be an exercise in nostalgia, both for the client (a native of Coral Gables, Florida) and the projects lead designer, Susana Simonpietri (who is well-versed in the language of colonial architecture spoken in her Caribbean home-island of Puerto Rico). With the firm belief in hand that a home is composed more of memories than materials, and surroundings that reflect our origins are what truly makes a house a home - we set off to design a space that channeled the warmth, texture and inherited European influence of the tropics purposefully into this peninsular Long Island home. A thorough renovation of the homes interior allowed for a redesigned kitchen, the inclusion of extensive paneling and millwork, and the final interior design elements were introduced as bold shocks of character, color and pattern on the finished architectural canvas. An irreverent mix of fabrics transforms otherwise formal spaces, seldom used in a previous life, into playful & inviting areas that ask to be taken in but not taken too seriously. Caning, bamboo, raffia and grasscloth hearken back to a bygone era, but play nicely with modern polished nickels, Lucite details and easy-wear floor coverings, and each element create a home which is both easy to care for and easy to feel at home in. Interior design, custom furniture design & art curation by Chango & Co. Interior Architecture by Frank J. Capone

Plandome, NY

Oct 2013

Upon first meeting a new client who had just purchased this late-1800s three-story home in the heart of a brownstone-lined street in one of Brooklyns most charming neighborhoods, we knew we were in for a colorful journey. Well-traveled, well-read and fluent in many languages (to our delight) the client surprised us at each meeting with tailored outfits in bright & dreamy solid oranges, yellows, blues and greens... so we knew our design queues had to come from her wardrobe. And so it was that blues and reds were selected as the base notes of our color scheme, with shades of mustard and faint yellow interspersed throughout the home. Pattern and texture find their way in through the weaves of area rugs, pillows and simple bands of fabric on the tall draperies lining the sun-filled windows facing the street and private garden. We had two primary objectives for this project: First, by creating a collage of art, objects & furniture from around the world, we hoped to create a home that felt as if it had evolved over time and reflected our clients many years of traveling. Our second objective was to create a vibrant mix of color in an attempt to capture her fun & unique personality. We think we've accomplished our mission, and come through with flying colors. Completed October 2013 Interior design, art curation, audiovisual design, decorating & custom furniture design by Chango & Co. Construction by Tatra Renovation Photography by Jacob Snavely

Brooklyn, NY

Jul 2013

When a former client asked us to design this residence in the iconic 55 Central Park West building, the aim was to completely revamp the space while honoring its historical integrity. The existing structure was stripped of its belongings and the walls lined with custom built-in millwork to maximize storage and conserve as much living space as possible. A long and narrow living room was conscientiously re-arranged into distinct nooks for reading and lounging that can be used as a gathering place for a large group. An oversized hallway was converted into an efficient dining room. Custom built-ins were incorporated to the new dining area to house an upholstered banquette flanked by an illuminated bar and a 200 bottle wine cellar. Introducing crisp white sheer window treatments helped to make use of every drop of natural light while diffusing and illuminating the newly painted powdery grey walls. Light backgrounds are coupled with deep blues to establish a sense of visual hierarchy, while men's suiting fabrics are juxtaposed against white cable-knit cashmeres and embroidered silks providing hints of unruffled masculinity, and an ambience reminiscent of an English clubhouse. The result was a home which is at once comfortable, elegant and timeless. Completed July 2013 Interior architecture, interior design, art curation, audiovisual design, decorating & custom furniture design by Chango & Co. Construction by Fox Force Five Millwork fabrication by Mason Woodworks Photography by Jacob Snavely

New York, NY

Jun 2013

This seven room, 2,300 square foot Pre-war apartment located in front of Riverside Park in the Upper West Side of Manhattan was charming from the get-go, and luckily for us, so was the family who had just recently taken up residence there. Our approach was to create a cooperative family space, a functional, playful province for the three children and an eclectic, sophisticated sanctuary for the adults, all at once. The home combines elements typical of Pre-war New York apartments; traditional English furniture, unlacquered antique brass fixtures and large patterned wallpapers but reinterpreted with the ease and whimsy that personifies this family's approach to life. Classic elements and furnishings infused with a color palate of blues, salmon-coral and chartreuse greens, all deliberately picked to complement the architectural era of the home & the strawberry-blonde hair of those who lived within it. Custom built-ins help contain the abundant collection of books & belongings throughout several rooms, while providing yet another opportunity for color through the use of cool blue cabinet backdrops and carefully curated artwork & sculptures. The dining room is flanked by two mirroring book-lined rooms, one a craft room and study for the children, the other, a lounge and library for the adults. The master bedroom provides a vibrant yet tranquil refuge the parents can retreat to, while the children knock about in playful quarters decked out with vivid stripes of chalkboard paint and wall-tied ladder libraries. Here, no one is excluded, everyone can intermingle or inhabit their own space. The parents can live like grown-ups, and the kids are not forced to grow up too quickly. Interior architecture, interior design, art curation, decorating & custom furniture design by Chango & Co. Construction by Reece Restoration Photography by Jacob Snavely

New York, NY

Apr 2013

The Irish poet James Stephens once said Originality does not consist in saying what no one has ever said before, but in saying exactly what you think yourself. Upon first meeting the young couple who were to inhabit this stately home in the village of Old Westbury, it was evident that our style and personalities were very much aligned, and this set the course for a project guided by complete trust & independence to express ourselves freely. When faced with the prospect of designing the interior of a very formal & classically-built home for clients with a fondness for the eclectic, our first instinct was to nod in respect to the lines of the neo-classical structure, then inject bold clashes of absolute irreverence for the style everywhere. The deliberate tension between the two dialogues inadvertently created a genuine style of its own. Interior architecture, interior design, art curation, decorating and custom furniture design by Chango & Co. Construction by Miller-Ostler. Photography by Jacob Snavely

Old Westbury, NY