Step Inside A 1stdibs Editor’s “Normcore” Home

Midcentury design has developed an aura of rarity over the last five years, evolving from beloved American design epoch to the defining aesthetic of the blogosphere. Whit and Becca Bull live firmly outside the world of design blogs and Instagram lifestyle porn, despite the fact that their home seems tailor-made for some serious social media love.

That's because the couple, who married in 2011, have the design gods on their side: Whit's grandfather is the iconic midcentury Danish designer Jens Risom, and much of their now classic furniture was passed down through the family. "Luckily we both love it, but it’s not hard to love. It’s very sexy furniture," says Becca. But, the couple's Park Slope home is by no means an austere shrine to a specific movement.

Situated in an 1880s brownstone building, the Bulls' recently redone condo was a fortuitous find. They'd seen the space for all of 10 minutes before putting in their bid, which eventually won out with a little help from good old-fashioned neighborliness — almost unheard of in New York real estate. 

“It’s a fevered process to begin with,” says Whit, a director for a mid-sized investment firm, of the horrors of apartment hunting in the city. “The broker got like 15 bids, so we quickly had to come back with the best and final offer.”

Becca, the Senior Editor at 1stdibs, an online antiques marketplace, used her unique position as leverage in the fight for the apartment. How? The couple wrote a letter to the sellers. "Given the job that I do, I could appreciate all the work she’d done [renovating] the space. [I knew] this furniture we’d inherited would finally get the home it deserved. It was very genuine."

The couple's earnest appeal paid off, and they're now perfectly situated in their new home — and expecting their first child. Click through to find out more about their new neighborhood, planning for a family, and living with furniture history.