Brooklyn Garden Apartment: Before & After

I'll never forget the first time I laid eyes on this apartment. The salvaged french doors leading out to the garden instantly won me over. I could already picture it  in my mind's eye looking somewhat like it does today. But it took some imagination, because the apartment back then was raw. 

Check out the before and afters.

The previous owner was an architect, and while she did a lot of the heavy lifting, like new floors, new walls, and bless her, those salvaged french doors, it seemed she ran out of steam after that.

There wasn't even a real kitchen to speak of when I viewed it. Just this ancient stove, a dishwasher that didn't drain, and a fridge circa 1970 that didn't get cold enough to make ice.

I hired a contractor who gutted it down to the studs. In the new design I made better use of vertical space, with tall wall cabinets and a skinny Leibherr fridge. Putting the sink in the corner allowed me to put the tallest appliance, the refrigerator, in the one place that wouldn't block the line of sight to those gorgeous french doors. 

 

The cabinets are a now-discontinued line from Kraftmaid called Venicia. They had the high end look of a Poggenpohl, don't you think? I love the simple chrome pulls. The white recedes into the stark white of the walls, but the slate countertops and backsplash pull it dramatically forward again in just the right places. 

 

I'm really happy with the way this kitchen turned out.

A similar transformation took place in the bathroom. While the original did have a quaint peg-legged sink and clawfoot tub I loved, the tub was just 4 feet long. 

 

I'm not particularly tall, and my knees were under my chin when I tried to bathe. Showering wasn't much better, unless you like the feeling of being cocooned in reams of plastic shower curtain. 

 

In addition, the walls surrounding the shower were peeling paint, it wasn't tiled, and once we tore it all out we found there was no backer board—it wasn't built to code. 

I put in a Kohler jetted tub, Purist fixtures, and a frameless glass enclosure to show off the tile work. The only thing I kept of the original was the herringbone floor because it was cemented in.

Even the garden, while it boasted a giant composter, had no living green things—just a pit of river rock.

Adding real fencing to the back, a few plant beds, and some deck furniture sure did go a long way.

There walk-in closet was completely monopolized by a stackable washer/dryer. I put a combo unit under the counter in the kitchen. Then we knocked through the wall to combine the space with the bedroom closet and, presto, walk-in closet.

Organized = Happy!

This made the bedroom appear smaller, but it is front-facing and full of light.