Room of the Day: Eclectic Living Room Showcases Couple's Favorite Finds

Flea market and thrift store shopping is a favorite hobby of designer and stylist Emily Barry and her husband, Kyle. The couple have been expanding their collection on these weekend jaunts throughout their relationship. “I could never really decide if I liked traditional or modern better, but because of all of our vintage shopping, I’ve found I like mixing the two together the best,” Emily says. The combination of their treasure-hunting finds with family hand-me-downs and new pieces has created a pleasingly eclectic space.

Photos by Emily Barry

Living Room at a Glance
Who lives here: Emily and Kyle Barry
Location: Jersey City, New Jersey
Size: About 200 square feet (18.6 square meters)
What happens here: The Barrys like to hang out after work, entertain, watch TV and eat dinner here. Emily is an interior designer and stylist and co-owns the firm Rehabitat, and Kyle works for West Elm corporate.


“At this point we’ve run out of room for furniture, so we mostly focus on collecting artwork on our weekend vintage shopping jaunts,” Emily says. “Kyle loves it but he has his limits — he keeps me in check.” They both love thrift, consignment and antique shops, and, of course, flea markets. Their favorite haunts include Brooklyn Flea; The Golden Nugget Flea in Lambertville, New Jersey; The Collinsville Antiques in New Hartford, Connecticut; and the Brimfield antiques fair in Massachusetts.

One of Emily’s favorite ways to hunt for interesting artwork is to browse artists’ portfolios at antique fairs and flea markets. “I love the idea of finding something that I appreciate, that the artist just kept in their portfolio and didn’t think was worth framing,” she says. “Often they are studies and test pieces and they are really interesting.”

For example, the figure study in the black frame seen here has unusual watercolor hues that she finds wonderful. The other figure study, rendered in pencil in the gold frame, is from the same artist’s portfolio.

Sofa: Macys; end table: CB2; floor lamp: World Market paired with vintage midcentury modern shade; rug: West Elm


When working for clients, Emily is more precise with gallery wall arrangements, carefully composing them with butcher paper templates cut to the size of the artwork. But at home she feels more free. “This wall has a lot of holes in it. It’s going to be quite a patch-up job when we eventually move,” she says with a laugh. “But when it’s more free and a little imperfect, it’s easy for me to add more pieces to it as we collect them.”

The coffee table has a glass top and hoof feet and is a dead ringer for the one Emily grew up with in the 1980s. The couple found it in Jersey City shop Kanibal & Co. The caned chair is a vintage piece they picked up while living in Chicago.


The bistro table is a hand-me-down from Emily’s parents. She and her mother, Diane Schmunk, have a similar design aesthetic and co-own their design firm, Rehabitat. To the right of the bistro table is a coat closet; the front door is just beyond it.

The bistro table serves several purposes. Emily and Kyle like to enjoy intimate dinners here, and they also use it as a work table and, when entertaining, as a serving table.

Emily paired up the traditional table with a modern wall sconce. The Thonet-inspired chairs are from Crate and Barrel. She found the watercolors in a vintage artist’s portfolio at Brimfield. “It’s really fun to take the extra time to open up and go through each page of an artist’s portfolio,” she says.

Light fixture: Schoolhouse Electric


Not only are the windows fantastic, but they offer a wonderful view of the Manhattan skyline and let in a lot of great light. Emily used flowy linen sheers on them, a soft contrast to the windows’ industrial look.

The couple hung a favorite traditional mirror next to the windows. The little industrial cart provides a nice contrast to the Windsor chair, which belonged to Emily’s grandfather. They transform the cart into a bar cart when they have parties, but most of the time it houses favorite books and vintage finds. “I love styling and re-styling things,” Emily says.

Sheers: West Elm


Here is a plan of the first floor of the loft, which gives you a good idea of how the furniture is laid out. The bedroom is upstairs and overlooks the rest of the apartment.





You can catch a glimpse of where the TV sits in the living room in the reflection of the mirror, in the previous photo. Emily used to be a visual stylist for West Elm and her husband works in its corporate office, so they catch a lot of sample sales, which is where they scored the cabinet. It juxtaposes rough reclaimed wood with a gloss lacquer top.


The framed photo is of Emily’s grandmother in the early 1950s. “I love this photo because a) she looks so glamorous and b) I love that sofa,” Emily says. “It’s a great look into what the home decorating style was like back then.” Seems there’s another family member with the design aesthetic in her DNA. The room appears to combine the burgeoning midcentury modern look with more traditional pieces.

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