What’s on your weekend to-do list? Laundry? Same. But if sisters Corinna and Theresa Williams have anything to say about it, the process doesn’t have to be a chore.

The sisters have backgrounds in design: Theresa was a product and eyewear designer in London, Corinna a fashion writer and editor-at-large for the German editions of Elle and Harper’s Bazaar. They were born in Germany, and they were—rightfully—appalled by the dingy laundromats they encountered in the U.S. And so they launched Celsious, an eco-friendly laundry co. based in Brooklyn (which you might recognize from our book, The Low-Impact Home).

“Since 2017, the Celsious team has been committed to a ‘cleaner clean,’ meaning laundry that looks and feels better than ever, achieved without the use of harmful ingredients,” the sisters write. (They initially offered in-person laundromat services, complete with a cafe to hang out in, but have since pivoted to focus on customized drop-off services and natural products.) Right now the two are hard at work on their own projects: “I love to use Remodelista as a source of inspiration for my new upstate home,” writes Theresa. Adds Corinna: “We’re are also in the process of launching a brand-new service at Celsious. It’s a unique garment care system called Lagoon that is made to handle the most delicate garments from cashmere sweaters to silk blouses—all without the use of dry cleaning chemicals!”

Today, Theresa and Corinna write in with a bold house upgrade, best Facebook Marketplace find, and what’s on their bedside tables. Read on… 

What’s on your bedside table?

Theresa: The book I’m reading, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari; homemade body butter; and my current knitting project: the Waffle Loop Scarf by Other Loops.

Corinna: I like to have a piece of nonfiction (currently The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates) and fiction (very excited to start Good Girl by Aria Aber) on my bedside table, plus reading glasses, hand cream, and a glass of water.

What’s your desert island design/art/architecture-related book?

Theresa: The House Book by Terence Conran.

What has been your best house upgrade?

Theresa: Color-drenching every single room in my Brooklyn apartment! They’re all Sherwin-Williams shades:

bedroom: Tatami Tan
hallway and kitchen: Anjou Pear
living room: Lucent Yellow
entry: custom-mixed inky olive shade
bathroom: Repose Gray

My go-to kitchen utensil is…

Theresa: A wooden spatula.

Corinna: A ladle? Thinking about it, I do tend to cook a lot of soupy, stewy things…

What item from your closet do you have on repeat?

Theresa: A vintage midnight-blue shearling coat and a hot red hand-knit wool sweater.

Corinna: An icy blue Iris von Arnim men’s half-zip cashmere sweater.

Favorite design shop to visit (online or in person)?

Theresa: Dream Fishing Tackle, a vintage store in Greenpoint.

Corinna: Not sure if this counts as a design store, but I love collecting hand-decorated dinnerware by Solimene. Their factory store is in Vietri, a picturesque town on the Amalfi Coast known for its ceramics. Whenever I visit with my Italian husband in the summer, we pick up some new pasta bowls and plates.

What is the last thing you purchased for your house?

Theresa: A red corduroy sectional from Facebook Marketplace for my new house upstate.

Corinna: A Kelly green USM Haller bookshelf I’ve been lusting after for the longest time.

Something you’re coveting?

Theresa: the “Egina” pendant lamp designed by Angelo Mangiarotti for Artemide.

I don’t leave the house without…

Corinna: A pair of reading glasses. Cannot function without them anymore.