The Upper East Side Home
How We Started
After eight months in the home, this family of five had a clear sense of where everyday routines needed more support, especially in the mudroom, kitchen, and basement. Coats, shoes, sports gear, paperwork, and seasonal items all moved through these areas and needed systems that worked together.
The Personal Details That Shaped the Project:
Spaces Included:
Basement
Mudroom
Entryway Closet
Kitchen drop zone
Daughter’s Bedroom
- Their basement had become the family’s primary play space because of its proximity to the kitchen and main floor. They wanted enough open floor space for the kids to build, play, and have friends over safely, without sacrificing storage for important seasonal and household items.
- School papers, workbooks, supplies, and tech naturally landed in the kitchen, and the client wanted each child’s items to have a clear home that wasn’t the dining table while remaining visible enough to stay top of mind.
- The kids were very active, with different sports and extracurricular activities in regular rotation, so the mudroom needed to support what they were using week to week without less-frequent and off-season items competing for space.
- All three kids loved Legos, and with multiple builds happening at once, the family wanted a way to keep active projects, loose pieces, and unopened sets from getting mixed together.
The Gallery
Project Outcomes:
In their words:
“We are loving the basement! It’s night & day.”
A mudroom organized around the kids’ current sports and daily routines, with coats, shoes, accessories, and weekly gear easy to find so everyone knew what to grab on the way out and where to put it back when they came home.
A kitchen drop zone that separated paperwork by child while giving workbooks, school supplies, tech, and other frequently used items clear, visible homes.
Three custom Elfa® storage systems gave games, toys, sports gear, household supplies, gifting, tools, and seasonal items distinct zones while preserving open floor space for playdates and family time.
A Lego system with dedicated zones for active builds, loose pieces, unopened sets, and projects in progress, making it easier for the kids to keep everything together and pick up where they left off.
