Tour This Picture-Perfect Brooklyn Author's Home

Home is all about family. It’s about creating a space where every member of the family feels represented, connected, and safe. Of course most of that happens outside of the realm of interior design, but when it’s reflected in the design of the interior, that’s when a space becomes truly special. Nestled away in a quiet corner of Brooklyn, New York, one home manages to capture all of these things spectacularly. In it, author of Leave the World Behind — soon to become a Netflix film — Rumaan Alam (far right) lives with his husband David Land (far left), a well-known photographer and video director, and their sons, Simon and Xavier. With family roots in Russia, Bangladesh and African-American heritage, the diversity of the family provides a fertile ground for design that is a beautiful melange of cultural pieces, family heirlooms and items collected during travels.

This Brooklyn home explodes in a variety of colors and lively patterns. A modern banana-leaf wallpaper creates a feature wall, providing a background to the bright pops of red, yellow and green furnishings and accessories. Collected pieces top off the dresser, including two works representing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. add to the history- and quirkiness-infused decor at this home to photographer David Land and author Rumaan Alam and their two sons.

When a photographer and an author share a home expect the decor to include a lot of pictures and a lot of books. This home doesn’t disappoint on either front as this corner of the living room shows. The central piece, a reproduction of a painting first encountered when the couple visited the Jaipur City Palace Museum in India, is accompanied by an image of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and a bust of Thomas Jefferson, pieces which show how the diversity of the family is celebrated in every element of the home.

The master bedroom is a serene affair. The perfect place to rest and relax after a long day. It combines the couple’s love of banana-leaf prints with soft grays and warm wood tones. In this restful retreat, a few plants become the perfect accessories.