Feltraiger isn’t the only retro-minded store that’s recently relocated to Williamsburg. After a little over a year in Dumbo, Thomas Buczkowski, a veteran of Brooklyn Flea, closed Rough Hewn in October and has now opened a new home design store, Rough Luxe, on Broadway.
“Dumbo ended up being a little small, population-wise, for selling furniture,” said Buczkowski. “In terms of population density, Williamsburg is much, much bigger.” Buczkowski is hoping to be part of the “renaissance in South Williamsburg” — he’s across from the newly opened Urban Market and is a block from the apartment complex coming to the old Domino Sugar factory site.
True to its name, his new store traffics in rough luxe, a style of design popularized by a London hotel of the same name. “It’s a cool kind of rugged look often using reclaimed or resourced materials, but also very well-made,” Buczkowski explained. “It’s like an old French or old Belgian style — updated to a modern world, of course. Real contemporary.”
Purveyors of rough luxe include Roman and Williams, the NoHo-based firm known for its restaurant and hotel work (Ace Hotel, Lafayette, etc.). “They like to see the beams and bricks and tool marks in what they buy,” Buczkowski said of rough luxe devotees. ”It’s honest.”
Currently, Buczkowski sells newly-made wares made by eight or so manufacturers, several of whom are in the U.S. “Things are not necessarily one-of-a-kind,” Buczowski said, explaining that he can offer better prices if he commissions a run of 10 or 20 pieces. To make the furniture suitable for Brooklynites, Buczkowski stocks his new store with products scaled down in size. “A lot of times you find tables that are huge and suburban,” he said. “Our customers don’t want a 92-inch dining room table.”
Rough Luxe, 20 Broadway at Kent Ave., 347-294-0955, open Wed. to Sat. from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sun. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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