Looking good! My husband and I remodel apartments for a property management company. It's alot of hard work but I always love seeing the outcome!

How are you able to do this kind of renovation to a rental property? Did you get Landlord permissions? costs of floor and carpet would also be really interesting to know.

I agree with your reasons for preferring carpeting in the bedroom however the only comment I'd make is that it is the worst thing to have if you have allergies to dust mites. Years ago the allergist told me to rip up the carpeting in my son's bedroom for that reason....now I suffer from allergies so hardwood it is for me.

Gorgeous! The angles and structure of the space really POP now. Love the high contrast. It will serve all of your belongings well!

I'm surprised you redid the floors before dealing with all the mess of removing kitchen cupboards, bathroom reno etc and all the mess. Why, pray tell???

Sorry to disagree (and I have and like dark hardwood floors) but you've lost so much of the grain with this finish and that's what hardwoods are all about. I hope it's just your pictures and that the floors look richer in person.

I am advocate for NO carpet anywhere in the house. After seeing what is under them when they are removed...... you can never get them totally clean, and all that dust and filth is trapped down there, and how often do people change their carpet?! Wood floor can be cleaned, there is just no contest. I know people like soft things for their feet to walk on, especially upon getting up but nice fuzzy slippers are an easy fix or get an flat woven rug you can take out side and beat or have taken to have professionally cleaned.... anyway after that tirade I will say to each his own. HA! It looks like the floors turned out really nicely. Are you planing to paint the walls, give them color, or leave them white?

@mmhardy, if you click on the link in the post to the prior installment of this series, Maxwell talks about the apartement being owned by a friend who traded one month's rent for Maxwell to redesign and reno the place.

@moriahrose I agree about carpet. Rugs are easier to toss when allergy or insect issues arise. I had fleas in my home in my flor carpet tiles. At least I could just pull everything up and toss them in the dumpster as three rounds of bombing didn't kill them (they just hid deeper in the carpet fibers).

I'm curious too why the floors were done first. Looks great though.

Is the wood floor in the kitchen laid over the tile? Is there a moisture barrior? How is it secured/installed? Please let us know. Thanks. Chandler

what a huge difference! love it!
I have re-done apartments before and just decided I was willing to lose my deposit as it was my "home" so it can be done and of course you don't want to go outrageous..
Making a deal works well, this works when you show your landlord what you have done and what you want to do....
Can't wait to see the next post on this apartment!

Beautiful job Maxwell. I could easily see this paired with a pale shade of aqua on the walls. I am not such a big fan of grain on hardwood floors. I think that is called 'clear' when there is little to no grain. As an asthmatic I prefer minimal to no carpetting. I am looking forward to the next steps of your renovation.

I get all the pros and cons of carpeting bedrooms, but just want to add that if you have someone living in the unit beneath you, they more than likely really, really appreciate your carpeted bedroom! In fact, my condo association requires a carpeted bedroom for that very reason.

The kitchen floor is a marked improvement. I'm curious how the levels work -- is there a step up? I used to live in a house where tile was covered up because it was laid down with asbestos glue -- and the half-inch difference made everyone trip the first few times they came into the kitchen. Can flooring be laid directly on the tile?

I second what MulchMaid said.
I am sorry but I much preferred the floors in the ligher finish.

I agree in principle about No Carpeting. Bare floors are cleaner and sharper looking. BUT--if you're above a "certain age", carpeting could save your life. I've fallen in my apartment several times, and thanks to carpeting I didn't break any bones. I guess you pick your poison: dust mites or broken hips. At a certain point in your life it's no contest!

Way too dark w/ coffee and ebony brown stain dominating. Kind of gloomy. The original color allows light to bounce around. And I guess I'll take my chances and not have dust mites!

I like how people with allergies dictate how things should be... If someone doesn't have allergy they should not have to decorate in some way because someone else does...
Carpetry is great. It's isolating, it's comfy, it's not ugly to look at and it soundproofs the room.

Loving the coffee/ebony mix. A lot. It's amazing how much better the space looks, compared to the lighter floors. Great job. Can't wait to see more of the progress.

One more vote for dark floors. I thought the old ones looked fine but kept in mind that you'd said the photos were too complimentary to them. But when I saw the dark brown, oh yeah baby, that's what I like.

The industry needs to just bring out more area rugs, flexible ones like in the old days that you could just take outside and shake! I LOVE carpeting underfoot but gyah, like moriah said, I just yesterday pulled up some berber with a felt underlayment that was down only about seven years, and there was a layer of fine, light brown dust/dirt that was so thick, you could NOT see the floor underneath. I nearly fainted.

Will you be able to do anything about the bath? If not, I'd understand, but it seems like even new faucets might be really helpful, at a minimum!

Thank you for sharing, this is exciting!

Sorry to be such a downer but I think these floors look terrible compared to the originals. I have nothing against dark ebony floors but you lost all the grain here and it looks like a cheap new floor installation. Ugh. I would be pretty pissed off if a friend did this to my rental unit. I do agree that the kitchen flooring is a vast improvement.

I am not a fan of carpet in the bedroom or anywhere else. I am glad that it padded someone's broken hip fall - How plush was that carpeting?

I like the overlook, but laying carpeting over hardwood floors? I don't get that at all...

Such an improvement. The floors will be the last thing I do in my space, but I know they'll have the biggest impact. I can't wait.

I'm not a fan of dark flooring of any type (wood or carpeting) but I look forward to see what happens with the rest of the renovation. The kitchen is crying out for white cabinets to match the appliances instead of that awful almond tone.

I'm sure the place will look great when Maxwell is all finished with it. We can all add our two cents, but it's Maxwell's place and he is working with his own design ideas. As far as carpet over hardwood, I'd guess it's because it's a lot cozier in those harsh NY winters. And Maxwel does have a young child to consider. I can't wait to see the final results! Bet it will be awesome!

Yeah for hardwood in the kitchen!

Thorndale: Carpet was very flat--no pile or plush. But the carpet and the underlayer were enough to cushion a fall and prevent serious injury.

The floors look dynamite. I can't wait to see the final "after" pics of the whole renovation!

It's really fun to see a project from beginning to end and learn something about your process in thinking through each step. I'm looking forward to seeing the kitchen and bath.

I like seeing the kinds of changes wrought on a small budget with practical limitations. Huge budgets and lots of architectural changes are... meh. So what if someone gets a great space with an unlimited budget? It's limitations of time, money, and scope that demonstrate real imagination and skill.

Also, I really prefer carpet in bedrooms for all the reasons listed. But we're in the process of changing to hardwood because of our pets. Carpets and pets don't work for us. Sadly, it came down to getting rid of one or the other. The pets won.

I can't quite understand the kitchen floor. Is that wide piece of wood meant to be the reducer strip between levels?

If you own and want to put carpet in a bedroom, fine. But it is really stupid to do in a rental. Because people looking for rentals will pass it by. Especially in NYC, where hardwood IS the norm, and highly preferred. And because many people have allergies to dust and asthma. And because - eeew! - if you didn't put it in, you have no idea how dirty it is! I was recently looking to rent, and passed up everything with carpet. Even if it was new-ish. Allergies, asthma, aesthetics, and eeew, in my case. And all the carpet is ugly tan anyway, as this is, not that nicer color would matter much.

Loved the floors in the before pictures. The dark ones soak up the light. They look good in some places, but here, where the kitchen is far from the windows, you really need the lighter floors to enhance the light and bring it deeper into the apartment. The before wood floors did this very nicely.

Not that I live with bare floors. I have rugs and padding over my hardwood almost everywhere. I like color and the feel of them underfoot, and would use rugs even if not required. You can soak up sound with rugs and padding just fine, you don't need to install carpeting to do that. And you can send them out to be cleaned every now and then, which you can't do with carpeting, which just stays dirty, or grows mold and mildew when washed because it can't really dry quickly inside on the floor. Those of us who are allergic to it sense the presence of mold and mildew (in addition to years of dust) when we walk in right away. A rental with carpeting is by definition dusty and dirty, and if the carpet has been cleaned, moldy and mildewy as well.

I like area rugs with padding in my rooms and hallways. I like not having a rug under the bed in the bedroom, as it does get dusty and is harder to clean a rug under there, but easy to clean hardwood with a dustmop. But I have rugs all around the bed, where I walk, with padding. Rugs in my bedroom are not wool knotted rugs as I have elsewhere, but cotton rag rugs that are easy to pick up and shake out, and to wash in the washing machine sometimes, for less dust in the bedroom. Buildings require rugs and padding; they don't require carpeting.

If you want a carpeted bedroom, as a friend did where her child played on the floor everywhere and made noise that disturbed the apartment below, and it was a hard size to find an area rug to fit, do this: get a carpet remnant cut to fit the room, to avoid putting those carpet nail holes in the gorgeous wood floors, and to be able to send it out for cleaning, to be able to take it when you move, or sell it. After carefully picking non-toxic carpet (oh yeah, did I mention that much carpet is toxic and gives people headaches and asthma?), my friend found that the padding the organic green carpet place put under it had been treated with mildew killers that comes with a warning that studies show it is potentially toxic to her child, who plays on the floor. Apparently, mildew is such a problem with carpet that it is impossible, even for a green store, to find padding that does not have toxic stuff in it. Not so for are rug padding - that is usually untreated, I think.

So, if you do want a totally carpeted bedroom, get a carpet remnant cut to fit. All wool like the carpet they used here is good for you, though some synthetics are not toxic (it is just harder to tell if they are are are not), and buying a remnant is really cheap. Have the carpet place bind the edges (by sewing binding onto them, not using glue). Now you have an area rug, so go buy area rug - not carpet - padding, at a good persian rug store, to put underneath it. You can send it for cleaning, take it when you move, or sell it. No holes ruining your floor, no years of trapped dust, no mildew or mold.

You've just lowered the value of the rental considerably in the eyes of the next renter, and thus to its owner. Congrats!

Oh yeah, not to mention pet dander - stays in carpeting years after the pet has moved out, even when cleaned, as I found out the hard way staying with friends once. A lot of people are allergic - to pets, as well as to dust, mold and mildew, and others are phobic about dirt - so an apartment you can thoroughly clean is definitely more valuable than one you cannot.

Maybe a little 'suburban' for this project, but for allergy sufferers, a good alternative to carpet in the bedroom is Marmoleum. It's soft underfoot, good for sound insulation, hygienic and beautiful:
http://www.houzz.com/photos/1532658/Dyna---Portage-Bay-contemporary-bedroom-seattle
Also, it comes in lovely colours, great for a child's room:
http://www.houzz.com/discussions/145057/Love-the-floor--what-is-it-

Love the floors, Maxwell. We have had to keep our floors light because we have cats. Dark floors and cats do not go well together unless you're willing to vacuum...a lot. Nevertheless, when putting new hardwood floors upstairs (we pulled up the wool berber, and to those of you who commented: you're right; what was under them was unspeakable) I really wanted ebonized wood but decided against it for purely practical reasons. Sigh.

Why were the bedroom floors not stained to match the rest of the floors? I liked the original floors, but if you are going to stain, you might want to do the whole thing. The next person will want to pull out the carpet and will find non-matching floors.

Its one's own choice, I personally prefer lighter shade flooring,it make the room appear bigger and brighter

Looks good. Can't wait to see what it looks like with furniture.

I love the dark floors! Any light that is lost from the finish can be gained in paint, proper lighting and clean windows.

I really detest carpet but bedroom carpeting is forgivable, and luvmodernism made me rethink wood floors in my coming old age!

I would also imagine that a soft wool carpet feels nice on the feet in the middle of a NY winter. I can't wait to see this space furnished!

Adore the dark floors. We stained our blond floors and it really looks so much more warm and cozy, not to mention more elegant and beautiful. Goes well with our furniture too.

Wow but I have trouble reading rants that tell someone why he shouldn't like what he likes.

I love the rich floor color, and a few rugs/bright pieces of furniture and glass frames on the wall will liven the old place right up! I look forward to the next developments - it's such a nice open space.

Mu feeling: a dark stained wood floor "grounds" a room. In our 1860's Italianate I did "blonde" floors, the first time around. It was, well, undistinguished. Lots of light pours in here, and we have 12 foot ceilings. Next time around I did a dark stain and the grain certainly shows. yes, all the cat hair does too, plus flour in the kitchen, crumbs from sandwiches, and footprints and lint and dust. But I still love the crispness of dark floor next to the white woodwork. In a more contemporary house I like pale, bleached or pickled floors and we did that in a beach house (imagine tracking sand in on coffee-colored wood floors!), but that medium kind of honey blonde color - doesn't make a statement for me. Oriental rugs look smashing against the dark stain.

@pierre.foucart I don't think any commenters who mentioned allergies were trying to dictate what everyone else should do. In a discussion on flooring it's normal to bring up pros and cons of different types of flooring. What we all prefer depends on our own needs and our location.

There is a small room that was carpeted, and it looks like the wood floor staining stopped at the door. Wouldn't it have been better to continue with the staining into the room then add the carpet later? or why add carpet at all? Stain the wood floor, then use an area rug, or no rug at all. I don't get it? Yes, it would have been additional expense and time, but if someone decided to remove the carpet later there would be the hassle of trying to match the stain.

You might give some thought to porch paint on your bathroom floors. I did a kitchen once and it lasted for years.

What did the porch paint do for your kitchen floor?