I've been satisfied with seeing pictures, mainly because the process is slow and I can see the improvements week to week, I can envision! And also because it's a pain in the arse to get to the new place from my temporary apartment, too many subways in the sweltering NYC heat. But I had nothing to do yesterday and as luck would have it, Steve and Guillermo (the architect and contractor) were having a status meeting anyway.
The good news is that there's nothing like actually seeing the space in person.
'Wow' is all I can say.
I hadn't seen it with all the new walls up...you really get the true feeling of the flow of the design.
I can happily say it's going to be wonderful.
One of the first new things that came up was the interior of the fireplace.
The old firebox had finally been excavated and Steve and I were seeing what was behind it for the first time...the original exposed brick. The depth was much larger than what was there before AND it was much wider and deeper than if we were to go with the smaller tin firebox that came with the marble mantel, the one I found on Craigslist.
Here's that firebox:
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| Small tin firebox that came with the mantel |
We all decided the the REAL interior was the way to go, it looks more like a working fireplace and the depth makes the wall dimensions look more substantial. Steve suggested we paint the brick a dark charcoal gray, perhaps in a semi-gloss. Another challenge is that the hearthstone was cut to fit the tin firebox, it doesn't meet the interior edges now. So Guillermo said he'll match the stone all the way around inside and patch it; my thinking is that it will look like stone 'molding'. I don't even think you'll notice it once I place my nice andirons and birch logs inside.
Here's a wide shot of the wall, you can see how the depth of the interior looks better than if it would be the shallower firebox:
And because the 'panorama' setting on my iPhone is my new favorite toy, here are 3 pans of the place:
Here's a shot of 3 stain colors we were judging, we all liked the one on the left, a nice midrange (it's darker than appears in this shot). I find that when you go too dark with floors they show every speck of dust and lint, much too hard to keep clean in dirty ol' New York:
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| We chose the one on the left, it's closest to Steve's sample |
Finally here are a bunch of random shots of other things that stood out, nice progress on where things have been:
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| Marble tiles have begun going up in the bathroom on the curved ceiling |
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| The entryway coat closet |
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| View from the entryway looking into the apartment, wall of closets will be on the left |
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| View into kitchen; I'm very pleased with how much bigger it is in person |
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| Main hallway closets; the cabinetry inserts are coming soon |
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| View from main room into hallway, dining niche is on the right |
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