Minor Adjustments

Sometimes, a little is enough—even when transforming a dark and dated construction into a light-filled dream home.

Attorney Dianne Bruning and her husband, David Owen, a technology entrepreneur, spent almost 12 years in a loftlike two-bedroom apartment in Lower Manhattan. “We loved it,” Dianne says. “It was the typical downtown industrial space, with massive windows and cast-iron columns.” Despite their shared affection for such quintessential city life, the couple felt it was time to give their two young children, Matilda