The House for When You Divorce Your Husband

"I let my ex have the old apartment...whatever."

Welcome to part two of our series, Divorce Design. To catch up on part one, read here. Today, we have a home tour with Julie Dickson, whose divorce led her to a beautiful Brooklyn townhouse (minus the pretension that usually comes with the phrase “Brooklyn townhouse”).

Photography by Paul Barbera. Paul is a NYC-based director and photographer whose work has appeared in publications like Elle Decor, Vogue Living, Dwell, Record Magazine, Frame, and more. He is the author of the book House Cat.

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An Astrid Cravens oil painting hangs above the fireplace. Candlestick holders are by LES Collection.

I’ve known Julie Dickson since 2009 when I wrote about her first salon — Fox and Boy, in Nolita — for DailyCandy (RIP!). Since then, my hair and I have followed her all over lower Manhattan — she’s owned and operated multiple salons in NYC. Her latest is Joon Drop on the LES, which NY Mag declared the “best salon for fine hair” and counts AOC as one of its patrons. Julie is the kind of person who is unwaveringly kind and cool — oh, and she never seems to age. When she began posting on socials about the progress of her new home under construction, I was immediately intrigued, and even more so when she told her followers that this was her post-divorce haven. Here’s our conversation about relationships and spaces.

Julie! Hi! You know, I was just thinking…how many salons have you had? 

I'm on my fifth.

Oh my goodness! It made me realize, your divorce aside, you are really good at reinvention. But, let’s talk about your divorce because that was the genesis for this project — and I love that you just, like, announced it on your IG.

I was married for a while to a guy who was pretty good, but…it wasn't good. There were a lot of [problems] going on and I always wanted to be the person who was...gracious. But, I didn't say anything about all this stuff because I thought it would be beneath me. But surely, normalizing all that behavior made me really, really lose myself to be honest.

Italianate details!

So you decided you were out and needed a new place.

Yeah. This particular space was me making that final decision to leave. I even picked a neighborhood (Clinton Hill, Brooklyn) that I knew he would never live in because it's nowhere near the train. And like, maybe that was a little bit of self-sabotage on my part because now there's no train for me either. It’s a classic townhouse; I have the first two floors and I rent out two apartments on the upper floors.

What made you suddenly want to be a landlord…lady…landperson?

I was living in Williamsburg (pre-divorce) and I'd walk past all these old ladies and they'd be in their house coats complaining about their tenants. And I thought, “Well, huh…those people are supporting you, lady.” I wanted a fixed income. So I kind of took on a bit bigger of a project than I expected, [as opposed to just finding an apartment to buy].

Rug from Rush House.

I mean, that risk paid off. Look at you…living the dream.

I was in foster homes when I was a kid and I moved to New York with $200 to do hair. And that's exactly what I'm doing. And now I'm a homeowner. That's kind of awesome.

Vintage mid-century cabinet. Lamp by Audo. Above is a Vitsoe shelving unit.

It IS awesome. So, you did a big reno, right?

It was a total gut renovation. This house has beautiful bones, a lot of the original plaster, original floors. It's a dream New York situation. I worked with my friend Kate McCann (of Grey Dove Design); she also helped to design one of my salons.

Vintage 1960s chairs purchased at 1stdibs. Maroon table by &tradition.

As far as decor, what kind of vibe were you aiming for?

So, I left all of my old furniture with my ex-husband. I also let him have the old apartment, whatever. Even though we spent a lot of time choosing [our old] furniture together…it was tainted for me. So, now, everything I have is kind of new.

In Julie’s bathroom, different hues of Fireclay tile create a quirky kaleidoscope.

Makes sense.

Overall, I wanted it to look like a home full of things I've been collecting over the years — and I think that comes through. Like all my books and art, art that my kids have done, art that my friends have done for me. And there are also books that I read when I was in school, that my kids read, books my kids have drawn in. What I really wanted to do is create a home. So, it’s the new, the old, the good…you know…the good. The good and the good.

Vintage rosewood table and chairs purchased via 1stdibs. The chairs were recovered in a boucle fabric by Knoll.

I love that. If you had name your interior style, what would you call it?

Ahhh…quiet elegance with shots of silliness? For example, in my guest bathroom, everything's pink, but there's one weird green tile. Otherwise, there are “silly” little things no one would really know about: weird shit or even a dirty book.

The sculptural chandelier is by Aerin; stools are Artless.

Tell me a bit about your kitchen.

This is a super cliché answer, but I just wanted a place where I could hang out and people could hang out if they're over. And I wanted it to be beautiful. I love my kitchen. I don't even really cook. I'm starting to. (Ed. note: In part one of Divorce Design, we discussed the kitchen as being a marker of reinvention.)

Julie, Luke, and some Reform cabinetry.

Are those Reform cabinets?

Yeah. Originally I had this guy who was going to do a bunch of custom cabinetry, but the quote was just insane. So we found Reform. At first, I was looking at a sort of buttery shade, but then we saw the wood and Kate (my designer) was like, “It’s kind of sexy.” So we did that and changed the handles.

This oven area is insane.

The backsplash is this really cool penny tile, which is pale blue surrounded by brown. It was actually a huge pain — penny tile comes in sheets and when we did it the first time, I could see almost every grid and honestly, it just looked like shit. So this poor man (the contractor), had to do them one-by-one.

I would have never thought to do penny tile for a backsplash. That’s so neat.

I've always really loved penny tile! I think there's just something kind of mesmerizing about it, almost like you're on drugs, but you're not.

In Julie’s moody bedroom, the walls are actually a subtle shade of purple. Those curtains are from The Shade Store(!).

Random aside: I love that your dog, Luke, seems so at home in the kitchen. 

Luke was being super protective [when Paul, the photographer] was over because he's like, who's this dude in the house?

Bamboo pendant light by Jake Coan.

Is he like that with any man who comes into the house?

Yeah.

In Julie’s guest room, she’s got an armoire by Dwell Studios (but from a decade ago). The rug is the Nordic Knots one I’ve been wanting forever.

Did you have Luke before your divorce?

No. I literally moved in here on May 3rd of 2020 and I went and picked up Luke on May 4th.

You're like, I need a new man.

Yeah, he saved my life.

Couch is RH. The circular coffee table was from 1stdibs.

As did the house.

Exactly.

Schmatta is written by Leonora Epstein, a former shelter pub editor-in-chief. Follow at @_leonoraepstein and/or @schmattamag. For consulting and collab requests, please visit my website.