At Home With Su’Juk Owner Su Beyazit
Su Beyazit, who owns the Clinton Hill boutique Su’Juk, describes her store as “homey and woodsy.” Her home in BedStuy, however, isn’t quite so modest. It’s a roomy, loft-style space with three — three! — sizeable walk-in closets. After searching all over Brooklyn and Queens, she stumbled across a Craigslist ad at four in the morning and snatched it up almost immediately. After taking a look for ourselves, we can’t blame her.
What do you do?
I own a store in Clinton Hill. A boutique. It’s called Su-Juk. It’s a clothing and home goods store, and also vintage and young designers. We also carry items from Turkey, which is where I’m originally from, so it’s a nice little collective of things.
How long have you lived in Brooklyn?
I’ve been in Brooklyn now for about three years.
Why’d you move here?
I’d been in the city for about four years prior, and then I wanted space. I was looking for an area that hadn’t blown up yet, so the rent was a lot lower in Clinton Hill three years ago. And I found this space and it was just an unbelievable deal, so that was the main reason. I was looking everywhere though. I looked in Queens, I looked in different parts of Brooklyn — Park Slope and Carroll Gardens — and this house just popped up on my radar at four in the morning in a Craigslist search. I was like, “Done.”
What’s your favorite thing about this apartment?
I think my favorite thing are the brick walls. Both sides of the apartment have brick walls all the way through, and I think that’s amazing. And I think the layout’s like this loft-y feeling, but still it has a second bedroom. I think that’s really dreamy, and you don’t see that a lot. Especially a proper bedroom, not just one that’s built out of plywood.
What’s your least favorite thing?
I would say my bathroom. There’s three massive walk-in closets in the apartment, which is unbelievably awesome. But the one right beside the bathroom, I kinda wish they just made that a huge bathroom instead of a walk-in closet. It’s very tiny. Compared to how big the house is, it feels small, and a little stuffy.
What are the first three things you would save in a fire?
My photos. I have a box of photos I would take. My work, I guess? The stuff that I’ve had for years, that I’ve been piling up. That’s hard. There’s a lot of things I’d want to save. All my stuff. There’s a few art books that were given to me from professors that have notes that are important to me.
What’s your favorite room, and your favorite time of day?
My favorite room used to be [the other bedroom]. I have roommates so I don’t live in the apartment alone anymore, and I live out here. And I think this room [the living room] is totally my favorite. And right around when the sun comes out, so like 2 or 1pm, it’s so beautiful. It’s the south side so it just soaks in. I remember when I first came to the apartment and I first saw it, it was in that same time of day, and it was a little bit of what made me fall in love with it.
If you suddenly received a windfall of cash, what changes would you make?
The thing that I would do is split up the bedroom and make a proper two-bedroom, and make this space back into its original state, and I would change the bathroom. I would add like a beautiful, massive shower that had like five jets from it, two heads, you know? I’m really into big showerheads.
If you could move the house/block/neighborhood to another city, which one would it be, and why?
I’ve always wanted to go back to North Carolina. I think Chapel Hill, that area is amazing. I don’t think I would want to live in Chapel Hill, but Durham’s really cool, so Durham would be a good option. I also would love to try somewhere in California. I’ve never really explored enough to know where. Yeah, I think California would awesome.
