Before & After: Shifting the Stairs Upgraded the View and the Vibe in This Sunken Den
Photo by: Clark Hodgin
It all started with small talk. Miles Kohrman and Stefan Klecheski were busy sourcing inventory for their design firm Steppe, which has a storefront in Brooklyn, by traveling all over the Tri-State area searching for treasures. As they picked up an auctioned item they’d won in Norwalk, Connecticut—a Gideon desk lamp by Martine Bedin—they were approached by Carolyn Surgent.
“She mentioned that she bid on the lamp and lost, and Stefan told her about Steppe and our store,” Kohrman remembers. That’s how they learned Surgent had recently bought a 1960s home in Greenwich and was looking forward to furnishing her den and office. By chatting up a stranger, Kohrman and Klecheski scored their first client.
