"Renovating in NY: Let 'Er Rip? Not So Fast"

If you've been following my renovation journey so far you'll at least take away one thing: the process in New York City to revamp an apartment is very, VERY slow and fraught with hurdles and pitfalls.

To prove my point, the NYTimes just today featured an article about this very patience-trying odyssey. It's very informative and if you're going the process--like I am currently--all too familiar. Believe me: I. CAN. RELATE.
How do you get through it? First, you breathe. Then center. And "zen out" as I call it. You just have to ride it through. It is what it is as they say.
Read the article here

Opening bids

My Board package was approved.
The Board interview went well (I "passed").
The closing went off without a hitch.
And my renovation plan was (finally) greenlit.
It was now time to get bids from contractors.
My experience has been that three bids is usually customary.
Steve, the architect, knew of three vendors he thought would be right for the job.
I suggested perhaps using the contractor who did my last renovation, the joining of two studios to make a 2BR/2B, but they were booked up all summer.

Steve met with all three vendors at the apartment to go over the design plans. One of them even brought his mason/tiler to assess the aparment and the job as I had stressed how important the tiling was going to be in the look of the bathroom. Steve let's them know the kind of finishes, fixtures, and appliances we're looking for so they can input that into their bid. He did not, however, tell them the target price I was looking to spend. That number you keep close to the vest; you want to see where these guys come in on their own. Once Steve receives their numbers he does work with them a bit to trim any 'fat' or unnecessarily high line items. The process takes two or three weeks, then he and I will sit and go over the bids...once that happens we award the job and set a demolition date. It's so close I can almost taste it!

A rose is a rose is a rosewood

Since I'm having the platform bed custom made, Steve suggested that the wood we use should be a different color than the floor color. Otherwise, it would all look too 'match-matchy'.
Here's the side view schematic of the bed again:

We decided to go with a rich rosewood color to differentiate from the floor which will be a medium mahogany. Here's the color: 

My only other thought is to paint it  white like the trim color throughout the room...stay tuned for the ultimate decision on this.

Rear windows

I found out when I purchased the apartment that one of the prerequisites of any renovation plans I'd do was that all the windows had to be replaced with newer ones. This was fine by me because the current windows are in such a state of disrepair who'd want to keep them anyway? I mean, the one in the bathroom wouldn't even close all the way, the little old lady who lived there before me had stuffed Kleenex tissues all around the edges to presumably keep out the cold!

The unclosable bathroom window, ugh.

There is one big picture window on the opposite wall of the main room, you see it square in front of you when you walk into the space, and there are two large side windows on the adjoining wall.

Main picture window in living room

Same window, wider shot

Two side windows in living room

The kitchen also has a good size window for nice light.

The apartment faces the back of the building onto a small courtyard separating the buildings behind it. 

They afford the apartment a good amount of light especially in the middle of the afternoon where there is direct light coming into the space.

I loved the idea of casement windows from Day One. I want them to be metal in black or dark charcoal gray. I feel that not only will they feel right for the period of the building (late 1930's), but they'd be a nice masculine detail for the overall feeling of the space, sort of industrial chic if you know what I mean.

Steve agreed wholeheartedly and knew of a great supplier, Euroline,  who makes a very nice double paned model that is going to have just the look I'm going for. Here are some picture from their website, 

http://eurolinesteelwindows.com

Euroline casement windows

Euroline casement windows

Here's even a look at what the handles will look like...they're gonna be nice, huh?

Euroline handle detail

Home is where the hearth is

I saw this picture and I fell in love with the look of the fireplace and mantel.

The inspiration picture

White marble, probably carrera,  that looked substantial, masculine but not too heavy. And an Old World look that would counter some modern furniture and accessories. I looked further for some other pictures and ran across this one, the living room of Jenna Lyons, the taste maker and creative director of J. Crew. Same idea, different mantel configuration, medallion bracket is centered.

Jenna Lyons' living room

I was on a roll, two more that I liked (Pinterest was coming in handy)...

You get the idea. So I started trawling Craigslist again, my favorite haunt for searches like this. I quickly found out that mantels like this are quite pricey, they could easily go for upwards of $2000 to $4000 or more. The first one I found was in Southampton. It looked perfect. Not as detailed as some of the above examples, more geometric with clean lines. My sister was visiting from Atlanta and we went to meet the seller. He was storing it in the garage of a daycare center. It was beautiful. But it was WAY too big. Sadly I left thinking it was too good to be true. I spotted another a few weeks later. Again, looked great and the dimensions were right but the seller wanted $6500! No dice. Months go by, I keep checking and nothing is turning up. Lots of wooden Victorian selections, too ornate, too many spindles and tchotchke shelves on them. Also too many faux marble fronts for gas fireplaces. Not the thing I was looking for. 

Then came my lucky day. I spotted a posting that had just been put up that day. Someone was selling TWO identical mantels with the exact look I wanted. Here's the picture from the ad:

The Craigslist mantel for sale

They were the EXACT size I needed too. And best of all? The price was beyond belief. $950.00 each! I  had Steve double check the dimensions of the room.  He added it to the Design Document to show me how it would look:

Schematic of how mantel would look

I traded several emails with the seller. He suggested I come take a look at them in person to make sure they were what I wanted. He was in Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn. I had never been to that neighborhood. I decided to make an adventure out of it, I figured I had to jump on this or someone would buy them out from under me. Two days later I took the afternoon off from work and subwayed out to Brooklyn. The address was only 5 blocks from the stop I needed. What a nice neighborhood. Lots of cute shops and restaurants, very charming. Note to self: get out of Manhattan more. Anyway, the guy's name was Jay. He was renovating an entire townhouse. He met me at the front door, along with seven or eight construction workers. It was a beehive of activity...carpenters, masons, painters. You could see that it was going to be a really nice home. He introduced his wife, both of them super friendly. They explained that the mantels were purchased from yet another Brooklyn townhouse but they were too small for the gas fireplace fixtures they'd already ordered. Their architect had screwed the pooch on that one, now they needed to get rid of them. Jay explained that one of the top mantels was broken in two, so was the center medallion. I of course said I was only interested in the complete non-broken one. The hondler in me had to ask if $950 was his best price. He said he could do $900. I jumped on it not wanting to push my luck. He said, "tell you what, I'll give them both to you, I just need to get rid of them, you might need the extra pieces in case something breaks." I accepted. Duh, how could you not? Two for the price of one! We shook on it and I said I'd work on getting a man with a van to pick them up within the week. The following week my project manager at work, Catherine, helped me locate a courier service who did small deliveries and pickups. There was a lot of coordination with my building and the super; these buildings are super picky about insurance with moving companies. God forbid they damage something in the building when they're moving stuff, they have to be covered for liability.

In the end it all worked out. The pickup in Brooklyn and delivery to Sutton Place came off without a hitch. I think the mantel is going to be stunning. 

Here's the BEFORE shot of the ratty mantel in the apartment as it exists when I bought it:

BEFORE

And here's a ROUGH AFTER take on what the mantel will look like...

ROUGH AFTER 

Dis-assembled mantel pieces in apartment

I didn't get to see the mantels in person for a couple of weeks as I was out of town shooting. They were delivered all in pieces, each one was eight pieces in total (mantel, hearth, firebox, medallion, and four sides panels). I layed out the best complete pieces in front of the existing fireplace in the room. Once it's polished and re-assembled it's gonna look sharp. Steve suggested we tile inside the firebox in a herringbone pattern, here's a piece of scrap, we'd do it in polished tile.

Inspiration for tile in firebox

Net net, the whole adventure was worth it. I'm very happy, it was a great find at a fantastic price...how can you beat that?

The lights fantastic

Steve emailed me some selections today for a couple of permanent light fixtures.
The first is for the fixture inside the little dining niche in the gallery.

He gave me a couple of options and I really liked this one from Arteriors, it's called the "Polaris Sconce". I think it will make that little space special and it will emit a good amount of light as I see myself reading, eating, and maybe working on my laptop there.

The Polaris Sconce from Arteriors

The other fixture we picked out was the bathroom fixture above the sink.

I liked the idea of a pendant and Steve found this great looking one again from Arteriors. It's called the "Tresor Octagonal Pendant". Both these lights are in brass like all the kitchen and plumbing fixtures. In such a small space I think it's important to maintain some continuity in these metal details.

The Tresor Octagonal Pendant from Arteriors

'Ron takes a bawth'

They say kitchens and baths can really sell an apartment. And even though I have no plans whatsoever to sell this apartment anytime soon, I do want to make the bathroom very special, a sanctuary for long hot showers which I love to take.
Steve came up with a brilliant design based on several pieces of scrap I gave him.
Here's the layout and elevations:

We're going to do a classic subway tile throughout. My favorite thing is that it will go up to and cover the ceiling. The ceiling edges will curve. It sort of reminds me of the curved tile work in the famous Oyster Bar restaurant underneath Grand Central Station.

Grand Central Station Oyster Bar

Just like the kitchen, I want all the plumbing fixtures and lighting to be aged brass and the pedestal sink and toilet white porcelain. There's also room for a small linen closet and a niche for some shelves...the perfect place for toiletries, towels, a box of tissues, and toilet paper, all within easy-to-reach access.

Blessedly, there is also a window in the bathroom for light and ventilation (sometimes).

Here are some inspiration pictures:

I will do a pedestal sink like this

Subway tile

I like the brass fixtures here

Nice shampoo niche

The chesterfield

For years I wanted a leather Chesterfield sofa.
It's a classic piece of furniture named after the fourth Earl of Chesterfield, Lord Phillip Stanhope (1694-1773).

The Earl of Chesterfield

He designed and commissioned the first settee of it's kind, one that  had a distinctive deep buttoned quilted leather, low seat base, rolled arms, and finished with nail head trim. A gentleman could sit upright in it comfortably without wrinkling his garment. What better sofa for my new bachelor pad?
But buying a new Chesterfield was out of the question. They could be upwards of $3000 to $6000, too rich for my blood. Besides, getting a new one wasn't what I wanted either; it had to be one with lots of age on it, distressed, worn-in, with some history.
Here's the look I was craving...the Old World look of the sofa juxtaposed with some more modern pieces in a room with some architectural details and character...like the one I just bought :)

I decided to trawl Craigslist to see if I could find one. Now let me say right away that buying upholstered furniture on that site sorta gives me the heebie-jeebies. One word: bedbugs. So I started looking with a bit of apprehension. As luck would have it, I saw an ad for one the first time I searched.
I answered the posting and the guy selling it gave me his phone number. When I called I found out I was talking to the manager of a men's clothing store down in Soho, Bonobos. I had seen their catalogue but never knew they had a retail location. He said, "You should come down to the store and look at it, it's part of the store decor." So that made me feel better. It was a pretty classy place, there was little chance the sofa would be crawling with vermin. I went to see it a couple of days later and the guy told me that they wanted to sell it because the sofa kept falling off it's legs, they weren't attached. Customers weren't able to sit on it, they'd fall off! The piece was exactly what I wanted, the leather was worn and comfortable just like an old baseball mitt, and it was a wonderful shade of dark brown. I discovered that it was even featured in a picture on the store's website, here it is:

My actual sofa as it looked on the Bonobos website.

He was only asking $1250.00 so I took a chance and said, "Listen, since it's got this leg problem I'll offer you $1100 cash." He said "sold" and I bought it right there. When I had it delivered (I found a reasonably priced man with a van), I realized the legs that came with it were totally wrong. No wonder it was having problems, all it needed was a little love. I got on the internet and found the right wooden kind of legs that would screw right in to the base frame if I used the right kind of bracket. And they were only $25. Perfect. A little effort with my electric drill and the whole thing was now a thing of beauty.
Here's a picture of it in my old apartment...

It looked good there but I think it's going to look even better in the new apartment, right in front of the faux fireplace and flatscreen TV with me sitting in comfy relaxation, feet up on the coffee table. The Earl will be proud.

Living life in the living room, pt. 2

When you live in a studio apartment you need to find storage space wherever you can get it. Space is a precious commodity. That's why I told Steve that I wanted him to design a built-in captain's bed for me.   It would allow me considerable 'dresser' space underneath it with three large drawers for keeping socks,  tshirts, underwear, etc. And since there was really only one true place to put the bed--the wall to the right of the step-down entrance to the main room--a permanent furniture fixture would not be a problem. In other words, I won't be re-arranging the room anytime in the future as there's no where else for the bed to go!

Here are some examples of captain's beds with storage drawers.

Steve also designed a little cubby hole to one side of the bed that will serve as a 'nightstand'...a place for the current book I'm reading, my reading glasses, the alarm clock, and a carafe of water. To each side of the bed we're going to put a small wall sconce/reading light. We've chosen the "Envoy" from School House Electric. Again, I'm going for the warm brass look.

The "Envoy" bedsconce from School House Electric

The headboard will be recessed into the wall with a tufting to make it comfortable to lean against. We haven't settled on the exact kind of tufting (Steve is suggesting it mimic the seating in the gallery's dining niche). The fabric is still TBD. Again, if it's the same as the other seat my fear is that it will be too "matchy-matchy", so stay tuned for these decisions.

Living life in the living room, pt. 1

The main room of the apartment--the living room as I call it--is technically also the bedroom and study.  That's life in Manhattan. Space is a luxury but I like to think that living small can sometimes be living large if you play your cards right. I lived in my last studio apartment for 11 years and never once felt cramped...but then again, I had the good fortune to have a house with a yard to escape to on weekends.
In any event, the main living room is generously proportioned.

You step down into it from the gallery space and it's got lots of light with a big picture window and two other large windows on an adjoining wall.

The feature wall with mantel and bookshelves

Picture window wall

My favorite thing is the feature wall. There's a faux fireplace mantel in the center flanked by two sets of built-in bookshelves with doors concealing more shelves at the bottom. The cable box and DVD player will be concealed in here along with all wires to the flat screen TV which I'll mount above the fireplace. I've been thinking I want to paint this wall in a high-gloss paint to catch the light and to off-set a marble mantel ( I found a vintage one, more on this in a future post). Above the shelves I want three library lights to shine a glow down onto the books. Here's some scrap to show the paint texture and lighting ideas. 

High gloss bookshelves

I like these library lights

I like this paint color for shelves

As for color I'm leaning toward a slivery sage-y green, something that will work well with wood tones and my brown leather couch. The floors are in decent shape, we're going to stain them a not-too-dark mahogany. Steve wants to leave them with no sheen but I think I will convince him that I want a satin texture, it will give a nice hint of polish to kick a little more light around the room. Wall color is TBD, Steve wants to paint the entire room in the high gloss feature wall color, I'm not so sure. I'm worried it will be "too too". I'm thinking a simple Decorator White...stay tuned on this one.