Time Remaining: 60 days
To those naysayers who thought it would never happen, behold the carnage! While we're still two months out from day 0, we're in the thick of it. In scarcely a day and a half, 2/3 of our micro luxury suite has been stripped away by the hard work of three strong Russians who are also super nice.
While this is happening, SK is working out on Long Island, and next week I'll be staying right across the street with a friend as the floors and tiling get done.
The big slowdown is the fact that we're putting in new wood floors and the wood has to sit for up to five days in the apartment before you can stain or seal it. It needs to acclimatize.
While wiping away all this old karma in our apartment is causing undue joy in ourselves, our landlady - who was born in the building - has had a hard time of it. Getting rid of old things is completely counter-intuitive to her and we've had many conversations about how why we're taking things out and what we're going to do with them. We had to remove the huge old sink, and we have agreed to store it for her until she needs it one day. Anthony Riccio, our contractor, has been a tremendous help in all of this because, being Italian like my landlandy, he *knows* her. He has been great in speaking with her and assuaging her anxiety and she seems to trust him more than she might trust a shifty Irish like myself. But she needn't be worried. We're improving her building and it is going to look like a million bucks when we're done. AND we're going to save all the old bits for her.
If this saga interests you at all, you may like also hearing that our building had termites about 6-7 years ago and another problem we have with our floor is that it has been eaten up and is gone in some places. It looks like we're going to have to take the floor out in those spots and put down plywood to patch it. At least the termites are gone now.
Oh, and the floor. Vincent Devaney has chosen 5 1/2 inch planks of unfinished larch which we will then stain a dark coffee brown. It should look terrrific and tone down those big grain marks.
Once we get through next week we're home free.
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Keep the pictures coming. And I'm glad SK is able to be out of the demolition and hopefully thinking beautiful thougts.
Nothing excites me more than demo days. Nothing.
Wow. Those pictures give me a strange combination of an anxiety attack and the thrill on knowing that what's next is going to be VERY exciting and gorgeous.
It sounds like to me that you and your landlady are very lucky to have each other.
I'm looking at my screen and I can see the future...what my kitchen is going to look like in a few months.
The zen of demo.
Keep the picture coming!
This is so exciting. Really love the choice of wood floor and dark stain (and secretly wishing I had them).
Melinda -
You should look PAST those pictures at what BOTH kitchens will look like in yet another few months after that!
Just think about the fact that "boresome tasks will fly" in the words of the text on the back of the 1941 wallpaper sample that I copied onto my kitchen walls.
In a way it's kind of nice that your landlady clings to old things. My landlord is gutting our lobby and replacing it withe really yutzy finishes -- before and after pictures to come when he's done.
Kudos to Maxwell and SK on sharing this project with us!!!!
I am SO excited about your new kitchen! Thanks for sharing.
I've been going through the same thing with my kitchen (though I'm not relacing the floor). I'm gnashing my teeth over the bumps I've encountered ... and It gladdens my heart to see your fearlessness!
I seem to recall that you bought a new dishwasher or was it a mini-fridge not to long ago. Just curious if they were being configured into your new kitchen design.
I've been putting off making much needed changes in my one-bedroom rental because I have a two-year old and always assumed we'd move to a bigger space next year.
But you know what? It is *totally* do-able, meaning sharing a tiny space with a small child. I used to think we'd only be able to do it while she was a baby, but now I'm thinking we could easily stay put for another 3-4 years if we needed to -- provided I declutter, get super-organized and make a few key changes. (Time to stop procrastinating, huh?)
I applaud your decision to stay in your apartment and look forward to stealing some of your ideas for making it work with the offspring ;-)
It is totally do-able... just takes some imagination and discipline (neither of which you lack).
A few years agao I gutted my kitchen> Just an little tid bit about timing of your project, if you are told 60 days, plan on 90+. I was told 3 months, start to finish, and it was more like 6! It is worth the time and frustration. Good Luck!
Hey, did you vent that hood yourself you cheeky bastich?
Can't wait for more pics.
You are INSANE-O. I'm sure it will look great, but if it were me, I'd get my landlord to recomp me at least some of the expenses most likely in the form of reduced rent for at least a year. Enjoy.
You are very, VERY lucky to:
A) Have an alternate live/work space
B) Be able to stay within supervision radius
Can you tease us with a materials board or some sketches?!?!
I'm with P2. Some teaser pictures of what's to come please!
AND more pics of the three strong Russians, please!
the bath demo pics make me feel a little better, as this past weekend i cut up the cheap white tile and drywall and underneath shiny yellow and black deco tiles, primo condition, no water leaks, still shiny after cleaning off the mold from the drywall -- except for the areas where it was nailed into, fixtures were pulled off, tiles chopped out to remove the sink. So no Loretta bathroom for me. Why can't these DC folks just leave well enough alone? so i'm anxious to see what you'll do with your bath. please keep us updated.
Am also curious to hear what going to happen with the bathroom. Thanks for the photos!
I am responding to the July 13 page where many of you slammed Maxwell for renovating his rental apartment.
I rent in DC and would love to makeover my Adams Morgan apartment.I want new cabinets and an under-counter fridge in the kitchen.I want to pull out the bathtub and put in a large shower so I can add storage space in the bathroom. I want to choose tiles and finish floors!
As it is right now, I keep thinking about how much money I would "waste" if I renovated a rental and how little money I would have if I bought a condo.
I need to know there are others out there who have the courage to invest in their daily lives ... regardless of what others may think.
thank you for AT ...
Wow! I'm so excited!! Can't wait to see the progress (and the final floors -- wonder if they will wind up looking like ours -- we stained 'em really dark to hide grain too). Our renovations so far are not progressing -- no fixtures ordered because we can't seem to agree on our approach (keep the bathrooms tiny -- husband's choice -- or enlarge them -- mine).
Good luck! And please keep the pictures coming!
Well, Leslie, if I were thinking of doing major work on a rental, I'd consider these issues.
1. How long can I count on staying here, at roughly the same rent I'm paying now? Since rehab on a rental has no ROI for you when you leave, it's important that you stay to enjoy it.
2. Assuming I'm not intending to move away any time soon, am I really better off renting than buying? In some major coastal cities, it's more economical to rent, thanks to the cost of owning (with tax benefits) being double or triple the cost of renting a comparable unit. (Yes, owning builds equity, but only when the market is going up. And that's no help if you just can't afford the payments!)
3. How much would it cost me to just rent a place that has the features I want? The difference between your current rent and that hypothetical rent, multiplied by how many months you know you'll stay in the unit, starts giving you an upper limit on how much to spend on rehab. If it would cost you $500 a month more to rent with the features you want, and you plan to stay at least 36 more months, then your upper limit to break even is $18,000. (If renting the dream apartment would also mean a move with more commuting, the numbers can be made more complicated...)
4. Assuming I have the money at all (you can't get a rehab loan for a rental, so you'll have to use savings or credit cards -- don't forget to factor interest payments into your budget limit!), will the benefits of this rehab outweigh the benefits of using it in some other way (saving for a down payment, paying tuition on more education, backpacking around Europe, etc.)?
There are situations in which the finances of rental rehab do make sense. They're just rare outside a handful of big cities with rent control and bubbly housing markets.
Maxwell, is your renovation project being documented by a home desgin/building tv show by any chance?
An episode of you and SK re-doing your own place would be fascinating to plenty of viewers and AT fans. Check it out and see if you can get professional camera/production team for one of these shows to go to your place and record the process.
ATers and others would love to see video coverage like that. : )
Leslie,
Growing up I lived in different rental apartments. My mother always treated each space like her own home, painting, wallpapering, and doing whatever adjustments she wanted (it helps that she is the queen of DIY and can do everything).
From her, I learned:
-Invest in your daily life/environment (exactly your point).
-Always leave a place better than you found it.
Unless I missed something, I don't think the landlady of Maxwell and SK's apartment should comp them in their rent. She doesn't want to change the apartment. But they do, and she is allowing them. And they will be leaving her a beautiful gift.
That sink is beautiful. I don't blame your landlady for wanting to keep it.
To Wende and Lori 2: Thanks for your responses ... I keep hoping my current building will go condo and then everything will fall into place. For now, I'll focus in on Maxwell's book, spend some time editing and implement those changes that are portable, i.e., add an under-counter fridge in place of the monster fridge I have now.
Leslie
"Always leave a place better than you found it." is HIGHLY subjective.
Looked at your floorplan and noticed that you're only changing the desk to a baby station, and adding a rocker. What pray tell, do you need to rip and gut out your entire apartment for? Sounds like it's not just for the coming 3rd person.