GRAPHĒ: Interior Designer Delia Kenza Shares How to Power Up a Powder Room

They may be small, but these utilitarian spaces can really pack a punch if done right.

Interior designer Delia Kenza grew up in New York City and now lives in the Brooklyn brownstone her aunt once called home. It’s one of many townhouses she has renovated across the city, and she is an expert at revamping historic homes for contemporary living. One of the trickiest—and tiniest—spaces to add or update in these narrow buildings is the parlor floor powder room. Here are her tips for elevating your own.

Interior designer Delia Kenza at her home in Brooklyn, New York.

Photo: Pippa Drummond

First, can you give us some info on your background? From what we hear, being a designer wasn’t your first calling.

Delia Kenza: That’s right. I’m trained as a lawyer and I have my degree in that. But I grew up around design. My grandmother had impeccable tastes, and she was always styling her home. It was something that I learned from her and just did. I always had the nicest room in the house. When I went onto college, I always had the nicest dorm room. Then when I got an apartment, I always had the nicest bedroom in my shared apartment. It was just something I always loved doing, but I did not know it was something that I could make a living doing.

Kenza recently renovated her parlor floor powder room, which is tucked behind the staircase.

Photo: Pippa Drummond

When I renovated a property for myself and my family, one of my neighbors saw it and she was like, "Wow, this house is amazing. Next time I buy a house I'm going to hire you." And that's exactly what she did. I think that moment was when I realized I could get paid doing something I really enjoy doing. Then, I was profiled in The Cut. I’ve been developing for some time, but now more people know what I do.

A lot of your work has been in these townhouses, brownstones—basically, very narrow, confined spaces. How do you update some of the smaller spaces, like a parlor floor powder room for example, in these 19th- or early 20th-century buildings for contemporary living?