In This Greenpoint Apartment, Mirrors Double As Art | Architectural Digest

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One year ago, Jeffrey Renz launched Ready to Hang, a line of luxurious yet accessible mirrors inspired by the fashion industry. The designs, sculptural mirrors made out of sunglasses’ material acetate, are sold in “drops” the way high-end clothing designers release their newest garments. And much like each season’s most sought-after dresses, RTH mirrors are collectible. They double as art, which is why Renz displays them all over the 1,100-square-foot Greenpoint, Brooklyn, apartment he shares with his family.

Renz poses beside the travertine dining table he built.

Renz’s mirrors bring character to the crisp, white walls of the modern rental. They’re the primary source of color throughout, since he and his wife opted for a palette of ivories, beiges, and wood tones otherwise. “When it comes to everyday living, we both appreciate a very calm, clean, neutral environment,” he explains. “My wife is from Spain and so she’s influenced the space a little bit with a Mediterranean feel.”

In the entry, a translucent red high-polished resin mirror called Jelly is paired with a cream formica console with a walnut edge that Renz crafted himself. “One benefit of being in the industry is that over the years I was able to make a lot of furniture myself,” he shares. “The company that I was with before ran wood and glass shops here in New York, so I was able to utilize those to create pieces over time.”

Natural light flows in through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Renz built the walnut and glass coffee table in his open living-dining area too. It mingles with a chunky, vanilla velvet Ellison Studios Muse sofa, an off-white woven Nordic Knots rug, and two painted hardwood Puffer mirrors in cloud. The floor-to-ceiling windows wash the whole scene in sunshine. “The windows really make it my favorite room in the apartment,” he says. “It’s obviously the one where we spend the most time. In the early morning, in the late afternoon, the light is amazing. It comes in from both sides, so we really enjoy that.”

The dining table, which is situated in the corner beneath a linen pendant, is Renz’s most beloved piece of furniture. To form its top, he combined a trio of travertine scraps using solid white oak strips, and then painted the wood legs cream to match the stone. The piece is surrounded by four CB2 chairs with leather seats and a Bezel mirror in pearl and black olive.

The Zip mirror in pearl and cranberry makes a statement in the long hallway.

“It is, of course, inspired by the fashionable food item of our past,” Renz says of the Jelly mirror.

A lengthy corridor leads to the bedrooms and bathrooms—which Renz considers an advantage. “The apartment is quite long and it has a lot more hallway space than I think most people would like, but because we wanted something as quiet as possible and we have a young child, it’s actually a huge plus for us,” he says. “It really adds some privacy and silences noise from room to room.” Renz also maximized the passageway with curated vignettes: a portrait of a woman that his wife painted sits above a shelf filled with books and records, while his postmodern-esque Zip mirror hangs beside a triangular, travertine-topped pedestal he built. “It’s not a full-length mirror, but it’s a bit larger,” he describes. “It gives you a little more security when you’re checking yourself out.”

A maroon aluminum sample mirror offers a sneak peak of a potential future RTH design.

In the primary bedroom, a white linen bed is flanked by playful metal Zara Home nightstands with chrome and glass lamps on top. There is a Bezel mirror on one side and a maroon aluminum sample mirror on the other. “The mirrors open up the space a lot,” Renz says. “They enhance the light.”

The mirror on the left features acetate details along the edges, which was made in a partnership with sunglass company Aperçu. “Their story is based around self-expression, which rang pretty true to us,” Renz shares.

On the opposite side of the room, Renz constructed a long walnut floating shelf complete with electrical plugs; it mingles with a 1960s armchair. Meanwhile, Renz’s daughter’s room features an orange Jelly and a butter yellow Gotchi mirror. “Interior designers recommend one mirror per room and I think I have overdone it there,” he jokes. “I just want to interact with the pieces. Each one is highly functional, but at the same time, they are pieces of art to us and we treat them that way.”

“We purchased both the bookshelves and the dresser quite a while ago, then I created these cylindrical forms to use underneath to give them a nice custom touch,” Renz explains. “They’re painted in a warm, fun orange. Above is a mirror that will be coming out in January called the Gotchi.”

An amber-colored Jelly mirror hangs in Renz’s daughter’s room.