New Kensington Lobby Made by a Local

It's easy to buy local in Kensington. Veggies at the Youthmarket, art at —you can even get a whole new lobby, courtesy of resident Ula Bochinska. 

Bochinska, a native of Poland who moved to Kensington in 2005, recently finished renovating the front lobby of Kensington Co-op using her characteristic style ("modern, with a twist") to add improved lighting, additional seating and porcelain tile, among other things. 

Though Bochinska works primarily in Manhattan and beyond—she recently designed her father's apartment in Warsaw, working almost entirely from New York—she was recommended for the project by a Kensington Co-op resident, and suspects her proximity was one of the reasons she was selected. 

“It is definitely better—easier—to work on something where there’s easy access to the space," she said. 

Bochinska conceived the idea for the lobby partly from practical considerations, like reducing the size of a large ramp to accommodate a seating area, but also based on suggestions from the co-op board, like using a wood veneer on the walls and pictures from historic Brooklyn. 

Bochinska took those ideas and made them her own, integrating the pictures into the wood paneling, "so they became more architecture than decoration," she said. 

Kensington Co-op is located at 227 Ocean Pkwy. You can see photos of the lobby—both before and after—at right. To visit Bochinska's website, click here.