FSBO: How to Get a Good Appraisal

When I set out to sell my Brooklyn apartment FSBO in 2013, I was expecting a challenge with the appraisal. Though the real estate market in NYC had fully recovered from the wake of the housing bubble of 2008 and prices were back up, lender appraisals were not keeping up with fair market values. I knew that I had to take charge of the process to ensure that the appraiser assigned by my buyer's lender would have all the information I needed them to have at their fingertips.

Adding Shelves to Organize an Antique Cupboard

Inspired by Daniel at Manhattan Nest, who added shelves to his antique hutch with great result, I was inspired to make some long-needed changes to the cupboard in our cottage. The scope of the job seemed fairly straightforward - I simply needed to add a shelf to both the top and bottom sections of our hutch. In fact, getting the shelf in the top to fit the interior properly took more "tries" than I anticipated. Hopefully you can avoid my mistakes.

Bathroom Design: Encaustic Tiles Have Real Art Deco Appeal

Marrakech Design

I'm drooling over encaustic tiles lately. Over at Sweeten Blog, Pepper and Marshall share their bathroom reveal and the tile they chose for their Washington Heights art deco era home. 

Fixer Upper Friday: Large Studio in Jackson Heights for $160k

Photo: Streeteasy

If I had my way, I would move every year, just for the sheer fun of getting to renovate another home with Renov8or potential. Sadly, Ross does not share my penchant for "fresh starts". Little did I know that when I found our current home - a 2BR with parking and a doorman - I was setting the bar pretty high for me ever convincing him to move again. Try finding another deal that that in New York City.

It doesn't stop me from "looking" of course. I'm always culling StreetEasy for new homes on the market that have good Renov8or potential. Some of these I send to friends who are looking. Others I simply ogle and dream about.

Take this large studio in Jackson Heights, for example, that recently showed up on StreetEasy:

Rafter Storage to Organize the Garden Shed

Having the little garden shed has certainly made life at the summer cottage a lot more organized. The renovated front porch has become a favorite place to relax with a morning coffee or evening cocktail. And all the stuff we used to store there - bikes, beach chairs and umbrellas, patio cushions, kayaking gear - is all tucked away in the shed. I'd like to say "neatly tucked away".

Problem: The shed is filled to capacity.

Solution: HyLoft Ceiling Storage (not a paid endorsement).

Custom Garden Shed for the Cottage

When we screened in the front porch of our cottage and turned it into a sitting room, it had a huge impact on our daily living. When 5 or 6 people are living in 1,000 square foot space for the summer, every inch needs to work for you. Making the porch a sitting room gave us a great space to enjoy our morning coffee or an after beach cocktail or simply lounge and read. In addition, as it's the first room you see upon entering the cottage, it set the tone for the "feel" of the house.

Here's the porch before and after:

Great change! Except for one thing. We effectively eliminated the obvious place to dump beach bags, shoes, toys, and umbrellas after a hot sandy day. And when it rained and we had to bring in the patio cushions, they'd end up piled on the porch - the one place we liked to congregate on a rainy day.

What we needed was a shed.

Installing an Elfa Custom Closet in the Summer Cottage

When we bought the cottage seven years ago, this little armoire functioned as our bedroom "closet". It worked for us more or less, because we only visited on weekends during summer months and we tended to leave behind only bathing suits, shorts, t-shirts, and towels. But now that I'm freelancing again, I've been spending more time in summer here, and this little armoire wasn't cutting it anymore.

How to Replace the Mesh in a Torn Window Screen

Screen Repair Kit from Home Depot SRP $10

When we moved into our mid-century home it was in fixer-up condition, with a lot of work needed. One of the things pretty far at the bottom of the priority list was fixing the torn screens. Back when I was a novice home owner, I would have started pricing new window screens. But now I know how easy (and much less expensive) it is to simply replace the mesh, and yes, there is a kit for that. It comes with a roll of mesh, a length of rubber "spline", and a tool to push the spline into the frame.

I'll explain in more detail and take some photos as I go along. Ready to fix some screens? Let's go.

Midcentury Lighting Fixtures I Love

Choosing lighting fixtures when you are planning a remodel can be difficult. You may not have firmed up in your mind's eye, where exactly you are putting various pieces of furniture or how you plan to particular areas of the home.

In our new home, built in 1946, there is a sweet foyer. The kind that New York developers rarely devote the space to these days. It is a true entryway - about 9 feet by 12 feet of room intended for nothing other than getting one's bearings upon entering the apartment.

I was not sure how I was ultimately going to use that space - in fact, I'm still not certain I won't one day move the dining table there and expand the kitchen. I did know that I wanted a light fixture that would set the tone for the entire home. Here's a look at some of my runner's up.

Custom Metal Designs for Your Home

A while back I posted about how difficult it is to find a security gate that doesn't look like prison bars. I ended up having a mine custom made by Brooklyn metal sculptor Vallessa Monk.

The Wall Street Journal just published a profile of Vallessa.

Wall Street Journal

I love this glimpse inside Valessa's studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It makes me wish that I had visited her on the job, though I may have keeled over with tool-shop envy!

Artwork in the Bathroom

It had been a little over a year since the big bathroom reveal, and I still had a blank wall. I'm a big fan of artwork in the bathroom. Well, I'm a fan of artwork everywhere, really. And for many years, the bathroom was the place where I'd hang some of my lesser favorites or framed posters, thinking any moisture damage wouldn't bother me so much. But I've spent so much time designing this bathroom that I couldn't put just anything in here. I was holding out for the right thing.

First-Time Renovation? What to Expect and Some Things to Avoid

Inspired by this floor I saw on Houzz, I made it a focal point in my bathroom renovation.

Preparing for a renovation project and wondering what to expect? Projects vary, depending on the room you are renovating and the scope of changes. But the process, from inspiration through execution, remains pretty much the same. Most renovation projects follow these phases in this order.

Remodeling Around an Ugly Granite Countertop

Would you choose this granite for your countertop?

Our home's previous owner (PO) did. I think it's a Juparana Florence or Juparana Bordeaux or Juparana Crema. It's hard to tell for certain. The color looks different, depending on the light.

The Right Height for Hanging Artwork in Your Home

This weekend I broke down and did something around the house that I'd been meaning to do for some time: I re-hung every single piece of artwork the proper height. So, what is the right height?

Restoring Luster to Mid-Century Wood Furniture

One of my favorite antiquing finds since we've moved into our home are the little mid-century console table and mirror in the foyer that I found on separate trips to Beall and Bell in Greenport, my go-to for their great eye and nicely edited selection of mid-century furniture.

After a year, the table was starting to lose some of it's luster.  I had heard about Feed-n-Wax from bloggers like HouseTweaking, so I decided to give it a try.

Our White Kitchen Makeover for Under $3,000

After we closed on our 1946 home in New York City, we immediately embarked on a gut renovation of the bathroom — taking walls down to the studs, floors down to the beams. A bathroom renovation of that magnitude back then ran about $20k-$30k, so I knew there'd not be a whole lot of budget left to upgrade the kitchen. I had to get creative and focus on things that could be most easily and most economically changed. Here's a look at it "before":

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.

Roof Reveal: Cedar Shakes = Cottage Love

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There are a lot of new plastic or rubber shingles that have a cedar look, but we chose to go with old fashioned wood shakes. And Arthur and his crew installed them the old fashioned way, nailing them in one by one (with the modern application of course of the nail gun!)

We chose white cedar because it weathers gray - and gray will be a sweet look for a modest cottage like ours with white trim.

How to Remove a Broken Lightbulb From a Fixture

Sutton Double Sconce - Restoration Hardware

We've been very happy with the fixtures we chose for our bathroom renovation. The chrome medicine cabinets and sconces complement the console sink and give the room exactly the retro modern look we were going for.

So I have to say I was surprised and a tiny bit annoyed when a bulb blew out in one of the sconces after only 7 months wear, and when I went to replace it, the bulb snapped apart with the metal base remaining stuck in the fixture.