Stephanie Doucette is one of those incredible women who manages to be a full-time mom to her 19-month-old son Wilson and a partner in a thriving dress design business (Doucette Duvall) at the same time. And she always looks great. And her apartment, which she shares with her partner in crime, Web developer, drummer, and master builder Mark Robohm, is a knockout. Tiny in stature yet expansive in feel, their pad is full of personal touches that were custom designed and built by Mark "in his spare time." Maybe the rest of us aren't quite as adept with our hands, but we can dream, right?

 First things first ... tell us the story of the construction of your place.

Mark bought this place when we were dating. I was living in L.A., and we were seeing each other every four weeks or so--I would come here, or he'd go there, or sometimes we'd meet in the middle! He did so many things to the place ... he got rid of the fireplace brick by brick, he expanded the bathroom, he built the loft where we slept until just last year ... it was crazy. The remarkable thing is, when I would come to visit--and it was a shell of a place then--it was always so clean! So I never dreaded coming to stay, even though it was a construction zone. Every time I visited, there was something new, like a finished bathroom or a ladder to the loft-- sometimes he would send me videos of his progress that were hilarious. It was really sweet and inspiring because he still had to get his work done during the day plus he was playing drums and touring. But he made it all happen. Long story short, I moved here, lived in my own place for a year and then finally moved in. While I was pregnant with Wilson, we bought the studio apartment next door from our neighbor, a wonderful woman who is like a surrogate grandmother. We are very close to her and still refer to the bedrooms as Viv's place. She loves the fact that Wilson's crib is right where her bed was!

What a great story! Did Mark make everything?

He did all the work. It's pretty amazing. His whole family is like that. It's hard to believe that they are for real. Have you seen his father's website? I use his hooks and spoons and butter knives every day. DIY is not always smooth sailing, though--the kitchen cabinets were a very frustrating project. They kept sending the wrong sizes of everything. But once it was done we were so happy. It was worth the hassle. It always is!



This ladder is ingenious! It literally comes out of the wall.

Another Robohm special! It leads up to the loft bed which is where we slept until last October. My water broke up there ... that's where it all went down! Now it's a guestroom.


It looks so cozy!

It was pretty great up there, but I have to admit that I loooove my new grown-up situation. I went out West one weekend for a family reunion in Vegas and Mark's parents came to visit and to help him work on the place. They are industrious, man, they really get their hands dirty! I came home to this great bedroom. It was really cool.


A separate bedroom is nice, though I must say you do have a great view of the living room from this vantage. I love the wire head over your desk. Where's that from?

Mark found her actually. She belonged to theater great Helen Hayes! He stumbled upon an open house (Hayes's!) when visiting Nyack, New York, and wandered in. That wire head was tucked behind the washer and dryer. Why he looked behind the washer and dryer when in an open house is anybody's guess! Wilson loves her. We call her the Lady.


The living room seems to be such a reflection of your personalities with the big couch and eclectically hung art. How cool is the glass table with the pennies inside! And is that a vase full of toy horses?

Oh I love that table. I got it at Housing Works for around $150! That place is a total crap shoot but it is worth checking out. Especially at the beginning of the week because the weekends are a huge drop-off time. The pennies are Mark's--he's obsessed with those flattened pennies and has a whole collection. He just stuck them in there a couple of weeks ago. As for the horses.... I used to keep them in a little wagon and use the glass bowl for fruit like everybody else on the planet would. One day Wilson was playing with the horses while I washing out the bowl, and when he was finished, I just packed them in there. It was just an inclination but I loved it! And it is functional, because Wilson can see what's in there without having to dump it all out on the floor. We have such little space that I have to be careful with how many bowls we have. I have one less fruit bowl in my life but who cares! I can put my tomatoes on a platter for Pete's sake!


I love how serene your bedroom feels--and the contrast of the dark bed frame against the airy white brick walls is striking.

Thank you. I'll take the compliment even though we are not officially allowed to decorate until all the work is done. I would have pictures up all over the walls, but Mark is not a temporary guy. He likes to finish first. In fact, the John Deere poster in there was the biggest argument! I had given it to him while we were dating, so for him it symbolizes this romantic memory, but I just couldn't imagine a big tractor on the wall of my bedroom. It's so funny how two people can have such different ideas aesthetically. So now do I hate having John Deere in the bedroom? No. But will it live there forever? Absolutely not!


And now for the main attraction: Wilson's room!

It's so great that he has his own room now! I don't want to even think about how long he was just sleeping in his bassinet. We really lucked out with the crib and changing table. Mark found them for a song on eBay. They came from a little girl named Harlow who's mother was moving to L.A. to pursue her acting career.

Tell me about the photograph on the wall--is that Wilson?

Yes! He was 6 months old. It was from a Ducette Duvall photo shoot in Otisville, New York. They have a county fair there that rules! We showed the collection last fall at Christie's [the NYC auction house] and the pictures were on display as you entered the space. We really wanted to feature the Vote panties because we were all about getting Obama into the White House. The photographer really nailed it. Sure it's an underwear shot, but it looks hopeful and inspirational, instead of like a page out of Hustler.


Wilson's wardrobe seems to be part of the decor as well.

Oh, that's a part of the crib that we're not using. I like seeing stuff out--I just think it's cute. There's plenty of space for it and you can see everything this way. Plus we don't have a closet in there.


Your front door is completely covered with photos, stickers, postcards ... you name it.

That thing is a living installation. It changes all the time. It's an inspiration board, I suppose. We keep thinking about taking everything down and starting over, but I'm not ready to do that yet.


Looks like this encyclopedia says it all!

I guess it does! We are all creating our own little worlds, whether we know it or not. It's never easy--there are lots of frustrating moments for sure. You just have to figure out how not to focus on the bad, keep your perspective, and not let it spill over into your everyday routine so you become this bitter person who is mean to the guy who sells you coffee in the morning. You know what I mean?

I most certainly do! Amen to that.

Explore Stephanie's entire line of fabulous frocks on her website. And check out all of our house tours.

See more from Nesting contributor Brooke Williams at her blog, this is authentic.