Construction Diary: With $293K, Two Designers Make a Rhode Island Victorian Their Own
Emily Lindberg and Wu Hanyen took matters into their own hands—and those of their creative community—to save money where they could.
Emily Lindberg and Wu Hanyen took matters into their own hands—and those of their creative community—to save money where they could.
Emily Lindberg and Wu Hanyen’s home seems so distinctively their own because, for the most part, they made it themselves. Emily, an interior and architectural designer with a firm in her name, and Wu, a sculpture professor and furniture maker with her own brand, called Work in Use, replaced the nondescript interior of an 1870s Victorian in a historic neighborhood in Providence, Rhode Island, with earthen finishes, eye-catching patterns, and patches of color that reflect the owners’ complementary aesthetics. The rounded wooden furniture is distinctively Wu, while the mix of historic and modern details is right up Emily’s alley. Beyond allowing for creative control, doing the renovation themselves brought down the cost of the project significantly. Working in short bursts while Wu was on breaks from teaching, they spent months living on a construction site, doing dishes in a bathtub and cooking out of an instant pot.
Though the hard stuff was done by Wu, Emily, and, occasionally, contractors, the couple also drew on their designer and artist friends to finish the house. Providence’s creative community was a large part of why Wu and Emily put down roots in Rhode Island. They met in New York, but after living in Brooklyn for several years, they moved to Providence so Wu could get an MFA in furniture design from Emily’s alma mater, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Now, eight years after the couple moved to the city, their local creative community has made its way into the design of their home.
| $6,500 Structural | $30,000 Roofing + Exterior | $15,500 Wall Finishes |
| $2,200 Flooring (Wood) | $1,400 Floor Refinishing | $8,200 Electrical Labor |
| $5,600 Plumbing Labor | $3,000 Kitchen & Bath Fixtures | $8,300 Lighting Fixtures |
| $4,000 Countertops | $15,500 Appliances | $5,200 Windows & Glazing |
| $1,200 Doors | $34,000 Millwork | $6,700 Tilework |
| $3,800 Tile Installer | $35,000 Furnishings & Decor | $11,000 Gen. Contractor Fee |
| $96,000 Other Labor | ||
| Grand Total: $293,100 | ||
Old + New
Emily Lindberg: We’re trying to honor the Victorian style, but we’re not trying to re-create the past. We consider ourselves contemporary designers, but there was something about the spirit of this house that we could feel. Even though it needed some love, I wanted to not go too far away from the [original] style. For the entry tile, I came up with my own pattern. It feels traditional, but the scale and the color bring it into a contemporary space. Another technique that I use is painting the trim and the walls the same color. It’s more modern because you don’t have the busyness of the contrast.
See the full story on Dwell.com: Construction Diary: With $293K, Two Designers Make a Rhode Island Victorian Their Own
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