The Sub-Living Room The masks are gifts from friends or made by “avid mask-maker” James McGann. “For years, he sold masks under the handle ‘maskbread,’ ” says Madison Berg. She made the organ pillows, and McGann helped sew them. The duck lamp and easy chair were reclaimed.
Photo: Annie Schlechter
Madison berg and James McGann try not to buy anything new. They drove hours upstate to pick up a living-room couch they found on Craigslist. And on a drive to the Catskills, they found a lamp and a chair on the side of the road and hauled them back to the city. Considering the monumental work McGann has done painting their Jackson Heights apartment, it’s clear the couple, both in their 30s, know how to economize on materials too.
“We go to the Home Depot ‘Oops’ paint section and see what they have,” Berg says, referring to the discount corner of the store stocked with incorrectly mixed paints. “That’s how we decide what to color a room.”
Over two years, McGann, who studied illustration at the University of Hartford, has spattered every square inch of their one-bedroom in different colors. The foyer is red plaid, the dining room is baby blue, the hallway green with a patterned ceiling.
“Honestly, I paint with whatever I have around,” he says.
The DIY approach is something the couple observed growing up. McGann remembers his grandmother plastering their den in Guilford, Connecticut, with newsprint. “There was a section of one of the newspapers that had a picture of Alice in Wonderland,” he says. “I always loved that part of the wall.” And Berg’s grandmother in Omaha still crafts now well into her 90s. “She had 11 kids, so it was really never about frivolous art-making. It was making beautiful things but for a function,” Berg says.
Berg continued the tradition with her own design business, Fancy Frog Knits. She also repairs vintage knitting machines and teaches at the Textile Arts Center. McGann works at the prop house Acme Brooklyn. “Being an artist in New York,” Berg says, “you have to have like five jobs.”
Berg traveled to Russia in 2015 and developed an interest in the traditional embroidery, knitting, and weaving she saw. “It was just very eccentric and colorful, and I became really obsessed with it,” she says. On her return to the Brooklyn apartment she shared with McGann and other artists, she learned how to embroider and then how to knit with a machine.
Two years ago, they found the apartment in Queens just for themselves. It features a large foyer they call their “sub–living room,” and the bedroom is big enough to accommodate Berg’s knitting machine. There’s also a kitchen with a breakfast nook. “Since living in New York, I don’t think we ever had room for a table to eat at, to be honest,” Berg adds.
The Entrance McGann has painted every door and wall in the one-bedroom apartment.
Photo: Annie Schlechter
The Foyer McGann painted most of the skateboards, too. “He skates on all of them,” Berg says. “When they’re too worn,they become permanent decorations.”
Photo: Annie Schlechter
The Hallway The green hall punctuated with cheery skulls and the patterned black-and-white ceiling were McGann’s first big painting projects in the apartment.
Photo: Annie Schlechter
The Dining Room McGann painted the room and ceiling. He and Berg located the red-and-white polka-dot pattern at a dollar store. “I found the table on Craigslist for $50,” Berg says. “We just wanted a retro dinette-style table.”
Photo: Annie Schlechter
The Living Room Berg and McGann are shown among objects that are mostly hers. She says, “My mom’s family has a strong appreciation for heirlooms, keepsakes, and trinkets.”
Photo: Annie Schlechter
The Bedroom It’s large enough to accommodate Berg’s knitting machine. McGann made the shelves and the painted rack for Berg’s yarns.
Photo: Annie Schlechter
The Bed Berg labored intensely on the tapestry by the window during a Textile Arts Center residency. She found the hanging above the bed on a trip to India.
Photo: Annie Schlechter
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