Beveled Tile - The Problem With Finishing Corners

When we were renovating the bathroom, just as my marble-tub vision was starting to come to life we hit a snag with the tile that could have been a show stopper. I want to share some information that I wish I'd known then about beveled tile. Perhaps someone out there right now planning your bathroom reno will stumble across this in your planning phase, while you have all your options open. Or maybe you're right in the middle of dealing with this very issue right now, and this information might help.

Choosing Island Pendants

Some say choosing your island pendants is one of the most important design decisions you'll make when renovating your kitchen. It's certainly one of the most visible. And it's also the fixture most likely to look dated soonest. Luckily, it's also the easiest to replace. I'm going to have fun choosing my pendants. While the rest of the kitchen will have chrome fixtures, pendants are one place that I feel I can introduce a second finish, such as bronze or burnished gold — a trend I find appealing but feel is already on it's way out. Or black, also very trendy. Here are six island pendants I'm considering. Which would you choose?

I *Heart* Mid-Century Telephones

So I'm super-excited to show off my new bedmate. Before you get the wrong idea, I'm talking my vintage mid-century telephone. That works. Like a charm. It takes calls, it dials out, and oh how it rings. I missed that old Ma Bell ringtone! The cat is still recovering under the bed.

Midcentury Apartment Door Hardware

I finally got around to a small project that I'd been neglecting for some time: The entryway door. It's not that I was blissfully unaware of how bad it looked, but you know, other things. Anyway, here's a shot that I took on my first viewing of this home before we bought it. 

Could Roller Blinds Be the Perfect Midcentury Window Treatment?

Amy Lau Designs 

The window treatments really make this room, don't you think? I learned from reading the interior designer Amy Lau's comments on Houzz that the curtain fabric shown in this picture was designed by textile artist Judy Ross. I keep that bit of info tucked away for future renovations. Because my current living room isn't having it. And that's not really surprising when you consider that this apartment was built in 1946.

Fixer Upper Friday: Cost of Renovations $0

Our $0 renovation

This isn't going to be a post about scouring the internet for the best deal on fixtures. Or how to find upcycled goods at salvage yards. Or even how to cut your contractor costs by doing some DIY yourself. (Though, I can readily get behind any one or all of those things.)

This is about something very real that you don't hear too much about in the home blogs. How to buy a home that's equity will pay for your renovation.

If I were to add up the cost of the renovations to our new home - contractor fees, materials, and fixtures - it totals more than $40k. But it didn't cost us a cent.

Wa-wa-what what? That's right. Here's how we did it.

Goodbye Tulip Chairs, Hello Catifa 53

When form and function meet in perfect alchemy, there's no feeling like it in the world. I knew that I would have these chairs in my home some day. And that day has come. The tulips are out and the Catifas are in! Why?

Choosing Lighting Fixtures for Our Midcentury Home

Sputnik has landed!

I ordered the Sputnik light fixture for our foyer back in February, when, hot on the heels of the home purchase closing and with renovation plans still just a gleam in my ipad, it was, unbelievably, time to start deciding on fixtures and getting them in.

This is the reality of every renovation project that never fails to take me by surprise. Back out two months from your demo date, and you've got to start purchasing or you'll blow your renovation timeline.

Update Your Furniture with New Mid-Century Legs

As I mentioned before, our sofa is about 20 years old. One of the first major purchases of my life post-college, it came with a matching chair and ottoman and all were covered in "shabby chic" slipcovers - that were the big thing at the time. 

Fast forward 20 years, the furniture was starting to look run down and dated. 

Not the kind of thing that I wanted to put in our new mid-century home. But I wasn't ready to donate them to a thrift store just yet. Could this furniture be saved?

Mid-Century NYC Apartment: House Tour

The Building

Built in 1946, our building is a classic example of the art deco buildings of the era in New York City. It was designed by architect Philip Birnbaum, who went on in his later years to design hundreds of New York high rises, including Lincoln Center Plaza. Birnbaum was an architect best known for his interiors. Developers applauded his economical use of space. But, inspired by a British urban planning ethos called the Garden City movement, he packed a whole lot of light and air into his designs. 

Having grown up poor in New York City, Birnbaum brought an appreciation for small-space living and public vs. private spaces to his work, resulting in very congenial floor plans.

I love the interior architecture of our home, but I have to say that I quite like the exterior of our building, too, with its compact scale, minimalist marquee entry, and open balconies (despite some of the clumsy enclosures.)

For Mr. Renov8or a major attraction was the underground parking garage, and I've grown to appreciate that too, especially on summer weekends driving back from the North Fork. To swoop right into the "bat cave," unload bags, pets, and gear, and cart it all up the elevator in one fell swoop rather than spend hours circling the neighborhood looking for parking late on a Sunday night, as we used to in Brooklyn, is very hospitable. 

Now, let's have a look inside.

Marble Bathroom Reveal: From Gutted to Gorgeous

It's incredibly rewarding to renovate an old home, especially a mid-century gem like this one, which had seen better days. Weeks of excavating layer upon layer of poorly executed past remodels has brought out the beauty that was always hovering beneath the surface.

Do you recall my inspiration board and final design plans?

As bad as the bathroom looked when we purchased this home, you could see it had a few things going for it. First, a separate shower stall allowed me to delete the redundant shower head over the bathtub. Ditto the curved shower rod and plastic curtain. 

A new free-standing soaking tub became the focal point, and we wrapped it in marble. 

The art deco chrome-and-glass shower door is the original, manufactured in 1946 by G.M. Ketcham MFG Corp., Brooklyn. Luckily, it was in salvageable condition. I cleaned it and polished the chrome with Bar Keepers Friend, then had it reglazed with clear glass.

I'm so happy that we were able to save it—it's the old things like this that give a home character. 

Finally, we were lucky enough to encounter surprisingly good conditions beneath the walls. 

The plumbing was in great shape.

The beams were solid.

No leaks and no mold. 

It's rare to open walls of a bathroom and find zero issues—and testament to the soundness of this 1946 building.

Ready for some After vs. Before photos? (Let's have "dessert" first!)

Choosing a White Paint Color Is Harder than It Seems

BM "Super White"

I've always been a fan of Benjamin Moore Paint. My previous apartment pictured here was painted BM "Super White" and I loved it. That space, though, was spare and ultra modern. For our new home I also wanted a white, but not that same stark "art gallery" white. Our new home was built in 1946 and it has a real mid-century appeal that I would like not just to bring out but to honor. 

My Jackson Heights Apartment Is in NY Times - The Hunt

NY Times "The Hunt" covered a couple's move from Astoria to Jackson Heights – and I'm in it! 

Hah! Don't blink or you might miss the reference: 

"Early in their hunt, [the couple] saw a nice two-bedroom at an open house at Carlton House, a 1946 brick co-op building. ...Another two-bedroom on a higher floor, not as nice, was listed at $279,000. They disliked the wall of mirrors in the living room. ...The place they liked sold for $416,000, and the place they didn’t for $265,000.)" 

The "not-as-nice" apartment the couple disliked so much is mine. Yikes!

Kohler Bathtub Delivered Damaged

Our tub arrived a few weeks back in the middle of a snowstorm. And it is a thing of beauty... except for that horrible crack in the bottom and a ding in the corner flange.

When you order your bathtub, the fine print will tell you to inspect the product as it's coming off the truck. If it's damaged, do not accept the delivery. The product will go back to Kohler and they will send out a replacement. Sounds straightforward, yes? Not so much.

Choosing a Marble Slab

Today I visited a marble fabricator in Brooklyn - Empire Cabinets and Marble. And I viewed a few slabs that might work. I'm loving the deep veining of Statuary Marble.

When you go to "choose your slab" from a fabricator's yard, it comes out at you in big raw blocks like this. Having had to choose slabs before for kitchens, I can tell you that it's not always easy to visualize how stone will look once you get it inside and onto, say, a countertop. For one thing you are standing outdoors in a huge yard of stone slabs in glaring natural light.

Choosing the marble was easier somehow than those other times. I don't know if it's that I've been through this a number of times or that it's easier to visualize how it will look on the sides and top of a bathtub than countertops. Or if it's the size - we're not buying a whole slab for our small needs, just a remnant (much less expensive). Anyhow, I found the one I want and put down the deposit.

And not a moment too soon.

Bathroom Lighting & Storage

We are down to the wire! Literally.

It is time for me to firm up lighting specs and measure where the recesses for the medicine cabinet, tall side cabinet, and shower alcove will go.

It's always jarring in that stage of a renovation when you move from dream phase to purchase phase. It means the dreaming (and paging through Houzz and Pinterest) that I have been doing since I made the offer on this apartment in July is about to come to an end. But also that the end product is near.

So, these are my choices.

Measuring Your Bathroom for Subway Tile

If you are like me, you may have been poring over Pinterest and Houzz for months in preparation for your next home renovation project, but when the time comes to actually place the orders for all the fixtures and supplies, you find yourself scrambling.

When it came time for me to order our bathroom tile, I had some measuring to do.  

Final Bathroom Design

My Inspiration Board!

After many hours spent poring over Houzz and Pinterest, shopping tile stores in Chelsea, and comparing samples, I've decided that the bathroom in our 1940s mid-century apartment is going to be a modern take on the classic subway tile bathrooms of the era. 

Here's the plan.

The Timeless Appeal of the Black and White Bathroom

DecorPad

There is something classic, classy and timelessly appealing about a black and white bathroom. 

I have a few decisions to make. Help me, if you will, by sharing your opinion in comments.

1940s Bathroom: In Praise of Subway Tile

We are closing in on our purchase of our new home in Jackson Heights! On Friday I received the mortgage commitment, so the next step will be our interview with the co-op board.

Today I am sitting at the computer assembling all the financial information that the co-op board has requested. Well, that's what I'm supposed to be doing. What I am really doing is flipping through bathroom photos on Pinterest and Houzz.