Name: Bill and Maria
Location: Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
Size: 850 sqft.
Lived in: 3 years
Bill and Maria, founders of Uhuru Design shared their home with the design crowd at last week's meetup. Not only do Maria and Bill love their two cats, but they happen to be talented designers who have their own company and who make great stuff out of simple materials. So, almost all of their furniture and of course, the cat obstacle course, was made by their own hands.
During the meetup, they explained their development process for their 'Kittyloft'. They realized that cats enjoy viewing the scene from above and love having things to climb. They decided to wrap the cat track around half the living room and kitchen. Maria and Bill designed the stairs to be narrow so as to not intrude into the room too much; padded them with non-skid carpeting; and painted them yellow to incorporate the piece as a design element. Voila! The greatest cat entertainment/room accessory around!
At the end of the track, the cats have pillows atop the kitchen cabinets on which to rest. Then they jump down via the refrigerator and countertop to start the loop all over again. Maria and Bill said the cats loop the room at high speed with great repetition, without tiring of the course.
Maria, believe it or not, is allergic to cats. As a compromise, she and Bill's bedroom is off limits to the cats. Also, they have tried to create a home with surfaces that are easy to clean. It seems to work, and be incredibly visually striking at the same time.
AT Survey:
Style: Modern eclectic
Inspiration: Things we find on the street
Favorite Element: Keeping things modern and minimal but not cold and colorless.
Biggest Challenge: Controlling the kitty hair
What Friends Say:
Non-designer friends: "Can you help us design our space?"
Designer friends: "What a beautifully curated collection!"
Biggest Embarrassment: Being a furniture designer/builder and still having two particleboard Ikea dressers. But it’s a love hate relationship, Ikea has great kitchen stuff.
Proudest DIY: The Kittyloft
Biggest Indulgence: Eames chairs
Best Advice: Don’t put off making your home your favorite place to be and, PLANTS PLANTS PLANTS, gardening can be very theraputic, and it helps to blur the line between indoors and outdoors, especially during the long winter months.
Dream Source: Brimfield antique show
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Sweet. Again, it reminds me of Bob Walker's The Cats' House.
Their company needs to offer is this kind of thing in modules.
view whytephoenix's profile
I love this so much.
view Pixie's profile
Love the green!
Especially the giant canvas.
view art's profile
Love this place! They seem to have a lot of stuff yet it feels so spacious! I especially love that first picture - so sweet!
view OliviaTokyo's profile
I love, love, love the living room. That ginormous photo is so awesome. And, of course, the kittyloft!
view small clever rooms's profile
kitty loft is great, but I would be reluctant to give cats access to the area above my kitchen if I already am admittedly having a problem with hair control.
view amt230's profile
amt230, I was thinking the same thing.
view yogiluvzbaseball's profile
Very alive, electric yet comforting and suprising. The cat walk is great. I love see the inside of these older flats in Brooklyn.
view LoriSF's profile
The kitty loft is just brilliant, and congrats on incorporating it so winderfully into your home!
I also love the huge tree painting.
view Esther414's profile
Great place a beautiful lucky cats.
view hrhprincessfiona's profile
what are the white cabinets on the wall in the bedroom? they're great!! I especially love the silver pipes attaching them.
view kgenesius's profile
I also love the huge forest canvas. The tree pictures seem to be a theme. My favorite element is the contrast of the baroque frames with the industrial brick walls.
view Cool Breeze's profile
this cat walk is tasteful and clever and works really well with the whole room it is in. It would be so funny to see my cat walking along this all the time.
view poptart's profile
These hipster dooshbags contribute nothing to New York except to push REAL New Yorkers from their homes and neighborhoods.
view tylerdurden's profile
Tylerdurden,
Well, I'm going to have to disagree with your comment. These two people make stunning furniture from recycled materials (they help to prevent the build-up of trash in our dumps and that's not a positive contribution?!). Their work is beautiful and, frankly, quite admirable (imho). You might want to see what they contribute to New York City, by visiting their website:
http://www.uhurudesign.com/
I met these two people very briefly at the design meet-up and read their bios on their website. What I learned it that they have worked hard to make it in this tough city. They are indeed "REAL New Yorkers."
view Vanessa in New York's profile
I'm always enchanted by this kind of setup for cats. But cats do have a whole pet industry devoted to their scratching and climbing needs. I'm dying to find someone (or become that someone eventually) who creates something similar that works for rabbits, who shouldn't be climbing around more than a few feet off the ground and who need some tunnels and other enclosed spaces to scuttle through. Ideally the rabbit play structure would be modular and recombinant since rabbits like to have things rearranged from time to time. And it can't be painted because they're likely to chew on it.
view Spotsalots's profile
Spotsalots -
Ooh me too, me too! Let me know if you start a company (or find out about a good one).
view zhasmene's profile
Coincidentally, I ran across this while researching (Crypton) fabric which might, MIGHT work on a sofa or chair in my home with seven indoor cats. If it's not up-chucked furballs, it's claws, pee or poo...I'm not really complaining though, as I've been known to spill a drop or two of red wine!
view NankusWash's profile
Oops--I forgot to mention what I set out to say to you guys. I ADORE your kitty kat track and so would my clan! Oh, I'm allergic to cats also, and so is my husband!
view NankusWash's profile
Where can I find your two beds?
view amybell74's profile
Do you ever worry about the cats falling off? The run is bit on the narrow side. Cleaning could be a bit of a pain, but does anyone have any ideas for railings, or something like them, for these runs?
Now for "tylerburden": just what is a "real" New Yorker? I see from some of your other comments you seem not to like cats, among other things. But what I'm wondering is why comments like tylerburden's aren't screened out. So, here's one from me: I'll bet he has never even met Maria & Bill.
I like the big tree painting, too.
view dah-veed's profile
I love the bottom picture [not so much into cats]...The giant picture on the wall: my son's a photographer, so this will give him some GREAT ideas...And I like the 2 big square paintings, vertically placed/ no frames: THAT ALSO will be a great decorating idea for his photos. Thanks: I LOVE APARTMENT THERAPY AND KITCHN. you guys rock!
view marymother's profile