The Living Room Designer Danielle Colding reupholstered the Bolier chairs, originally made for the St. Regis, in a Gert Voorjans fabric for Jim Thompson. “The framed wallpaper panels from Voutsa were a smart, affordable solution for a wall that needs large-scale art on a budget,” she says Photo: David Land

The author Rumaan Alam and the photographer David Land raised their sons in a Brooklyn townhouse for 14 years. They accumulated a lot of stuff, and the kids got tired of sharing their space as they got older. When Alam’s brother saw an opening in his apartment complex in Fort Greene, Alam and Land made an offer on the 1953 three-bedroom with a view of the park right away. They were downsizing, but their teenage sons would have their own rooms.

“It was pretty much ready to move into, and we could have,” Alam says, “if we weren’t so fussy about design.”

The couple called on interior designer Danielle Colding and her contractor husband, Fred Troadec, for the upgrade. “They wanted it to be fun and funky, and they wanted to take it up a level from what they could do on their own,” says ­Colding. In the living room, two columns were refinished with tiles. In the galley kitchen, Troadec retrofit existing cabinets, added new hardware, and custom-built a banquette with extra storage. Still, the toughest part of the move for the family was deciding what to leave behind. The art collection came with them, but Colding replaced most of the furniture with vintage pieces she reupholstered with new fabrics. Wallpaper, wild and chintzy, would play a starring role—everywhere.

Alam and Land’s sons, Simon, 16, and Xavier, 13, also had strong feelings on the renovation. Land says, “Simon was like, ‘I want an all-white bedroom.’ We said, ‘Well, we aren’t going to do that, but we’ll make a compromise.’ ” That meant a textured white wallpaper Colding found at Thibaut paired with a paint-splatter pattern for the ceiling. Xavier’s walls, meanwhile, are bursting with bright stripes. His only request: a loft bed.

Sitting in their living room, which has ­semolina-colored walls, Land and Alam, who is working on his fifth novel, admit they had been looking for a brownstone before this apartment came up. “We wanted the marble mantle,” Land says. They had even extended an offer on one, but once they found out what bringing it up to code would entail, they backed out.

“It scared us straight,” adds Alam. They will eventually be empty nesters and figured it was the right time to scale down without the hassle of a major construction project. “We wanted to live with less stuff but no less sense of color and vitality,” Alam says.

The Entry Hall Rumaan Alam and David Land commissioned Cecilia Roberts for a portrait of their sons, Simon and Xavier. The wallpaperis Stones of Venice by Madeaux. Photo: David Land

Xavier’s Bedroom The wallpaper is by Christopher John Rogers for Farrow & Ball. Photo: David Land

Simon’s Room The Spatter Dash wallpaper is by Peter Fasano for John Rosselli. The vintage Basquiat exhibition poster is from the books and ephemera dealer Geoff Snack. Photo: David Land

The Parents’ Bedroom The wallpaper is Tortoise by Schumacher. The bed cover, headboard, and window shade are in the Canton Corbett fabric from Clarence House. Colding installed the bed inside a former closet and moved the storage to the opposite wall. The painting is by Robert Colescott Photo: David Land

The Powder Room The wallpaper is Limerence by House of Hackney. The blush-colored sink is from Dyke & Dean. Photo: David Land

The Main Bathroom The wallpaper is Empire by House of Hackney. “Who doesn’t love sloths?” says Colding. “We didn’t redo the full bath, so it was important to make it fun and match the spirit of the rest of the apartment.” The light fixture is from Schoolhouse. The striped Missoni towel is from ABC Carpet. Photo: David Land

The Seating Area The Edward Ferrell sofa is upholstered with pinstripe fabric from Malabar. The Dunbar chartreuse leather armchair is from Auctions at Showplace. The gallery wall features artwork by Patrick Eugène, Kara Walker, and Gretchen Scherer.“The bust of Jean-Jacques Dessalines is papier-mâché that David bought on a trip to Haiti in 2012,” says Alam. The graffitied bust is by Kelly O’Nea Photo: David Land

The Kitchen The cabinets were painted in Arsenic by Farrow & Ball, and the handles were replaced with horn pulls from San Diego Hardware. The window cornice is covered in Voutsa’s Poppy Linen with woven ivory fabric shades by Natasha Baradaran. Photo: David Land

The Nook Land and Alam with their sons, Simon and Xavier. The custom cabinet and banquette seating were constructed by Atelier Troadec and painted in Benjamin Moore’s Alligator Alley. Land’s grandfather’s work hangs on the wall covered with Voutsa’s Fiona wallpaper. The vintage dining chairs by Giovanni Offredi for Saporiti are from Etsy, reupholstered in Milton Textiles. The pendant lights are from The SkLO Studio. Photo: David Land