Name: Dale and Adam
Location: Union Square
Apartment Size: 1180sqft 2-bdrm coop
Favorite: The upstairs bathroom
When Dale and Adam bought this apartment, it had lime green wood floors, 24 inch, pink or brown/yellow built-ins everywhere there was a wall, and a rope/denim encased stairway...
They decided to pick their battles, working on the most dire interior design offenses first and planning to tackle less unfortunate situations when they saved enough money and regained the strength to embark upon additional home renovation projects. As opposed to the bulk, color, and texture preferred by the previous owner, Dale, a practicing architect enjoys what he calls "warm minimalism" or "abundant minimalism."
The first task was to reclaim the living room/dining area. It had been reduced to about 70% of its original size by all the built-in shelving, built-in dining table, etc. Dale and Adam prefer dark colored furniture and subtle, clean, simple lines. The only additions were new baseboards to match the new mantle over the marble fireplace, and soffits in which to sink the recessed lighting along opposite walls in this large room. The only place they wanted to see color was on 2 of the 4 walls. They chose a warm coral to "reflect a lot of light, and to add color without making the room feel smaller" and on the opposing wall, a very, very pale green.
Fortunately, Adam is of a similar mind when it comes to style and is amenable to most of Dale's well-formulated design ideas. Even Dale's mother accommodates Dale's style dictates. Dale's mother is an accomplished, but traditional mid-western quilter. Dale mentioned to his mother that if she made a quilt to his specifications and color palette, he would be much more likely to incorporate it into his life. Although her fellow quilters thought her odd, Dale's mother produced a beautiful quilt of somber hues in a very subtle pattern of alternating rectangles. It rests proudly on the bed in the master bedroom.
It is easy to understand why the upstairs bathroom is both Dale and Adam's undisputable favorite element in the apartment. Dale designed it down to the size of the width of grout that lies between each tile. The required intricacy of the installation forced Dale to come home every day during his lunch hour for four straight months to check on its progress. Dale and Adam took all their showers at the gym throughout this period and were understandably losing patience and sanity by the end of the process. Now, they don't regret a single choice. It is no wonder as the apartment has been restored to sleek and modern while the bathroom is unparalleled in its spa-like qualities.
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Very nice! Having had to rip out massive built-ins in my apartment, I sympathize. I would love to know what the coral color is. I tried a swatch of coral paint in my house, and it was just hideous, so any guidance is welcome!
Love the place.. their eye and attention to detail shines though in every inch. LOVE the dark shades.
LOVE the mom/quilt story!
Thanks for the peek and congrats on an enviable space which will no doubt continue to get even better!
inspirational... Thanks!
I can only imagine what this place looked like based on the description... It definitely now looks like the home of an architect. Love the coral accent wall and the wall color in the downstairs powder room. I think you've kept the really good built-ins. (I really like the ones in the bedroom and powder room.) Congrats!
happy to see an attractive implementation of dark furniture on a light wood floor, which is my own fraught situation.
wow! the limestone bathroom is simply amazing. It is inviting and slick at the same time. nicely done!
Wow, what a beautiful space! I think my favourite thing (though there are so many great things, it's hard to choose) is the sliding GLASS door! I love it! I wish I could do it!
What a great space, and clearly a labour of love.
dale and adam -- what a gorgeous place! i can see why the bathroom is your favorite -- it's stunning. where did you find the hardware for that sliding door?
thanks!
meg
I really appreciate that your showing the whole place to us, what with the triage approach, leaving some areas not addressed yet. I like the sliding door also--I've contemplated sliding doors in my place. Such a space saver. I like the bedroom built-in too. Also, your place looks sleek, yet comfortably lived in.
Your place is fantastic. I have a question about your sliding door. I've been thinking of doing the same thing, but haven't found any hardware nearly as nice as what you both chose. Would you share where you got it? The sliding mechanism and door stop? Thanks so much.
Hello everyone,
Thanks for the great comments. Adam and I got the sliding door hardware from Hafele Hardware (there's a store on 27th near Madison Sq. Park in Manhattan) and the stop and door pull came from Simon's hardware also in Manhattan on 30th and 3rd. The coral color is a Benjamin Moore paint called Adobe Orange.
What a great space guys. I really like the monochromatic color scheme. It makes me want to paint my whole place white (again). Can I ask where you got the checkerboard area rug? I've been looking for something like it for a while now.
Can I move into your bathroom?
That is so funny. My friend used Abode Orange in her kitchen, and I loved it. I was considering that as one of my options, and now I think I'm sold. I think it looked more red and less coral in her light, but both variations are lovely.
The glass pendant lights (with the middle frosted?) are beautiful...where are they from?
where did you get that great sink, also tell me the brand and size. thanks boys
Dale / Adam--
Wonderful place you have there! Can you tell us more about the sliding door? Was that a stock door, or did you custom build it? It looks like the floor is govved-- is it particularly noisy without a bottom track? Thanks
Yep, I like this place a lot also.
We are trying to pick window treatments and did order curtains because we have always had blinds and want a change as well as wanting to soften up our minimalist furniture. However, as soon as I saw your deep brown blinds and the weave on them, I sent a picture to my wife who agreed that these would be great in one or more of our rooms.
Also like the Boffi lights which are the same as the ones we had in our last bathroom. We also had the freestanding Starck2 where you have the wall mount one which I also really like the look of. I have never found another toilet that I like better than the Starck 2's. I have mentioned the finished trap under the sink before in Joey's place and your's looks great too. I know others told me where I could get them from but could you let me know where you got your's from please?
I am a big fan of sliding doors and have used Johnson hardware before because it was hidden behind trim but I much prefer the clean look of the Hafele track and I am familiar with Hafele because an architect friend lent me his catalogue once. I think I did call Hafele before and they said they only sell to the trade. Is that correct?
Loved it. I too would like to know where you got the dark woven blinds on the windows in your living room. Thanks for sharing!
Lime green wood floors? And you got RID of them??? They sound beautiful to me - but then again, I have a friend who's nicknamed me Lime Green Hatchback, after the guy in the eBay commercial.
Dale Here,
Thanks for all your great questions.
Lime might have been fine in the country or on the on the e-bay commercial, but not my thing.
Joey - I've had the checkerboard rug for several years and moved it from apartment to apartment. It originally came from Central Carpet in Chelsea, which I believe is now out of business.
Fiona - I love the adobe as well. It was shocking at first as it really reflects the light, so I recommend it on one or two walls of a room or for a bath/powder room. An entire large room of it would make me crazy.
Rob - The pendants came from Lighting by Gregory in China town. There are three clustered in the stairwell.
Naomi & Jamie - The sink came from Bizhan showroom on 19th btw. Park and Broadway. It was a huge hastle as they ordered the wrong one and the wrong parts. I recommend checking out AF Supply on line as they have many of the same things, a huge selection, and great service. The rest of the bathroom fixtures and fittings came from them, including the trap.
Meva - The blinds are from Smith and Noble, Espresso I believe.
Eric - The door is custom made from Walnut. The track on the top is the only glide, but there's a pin on the bottom corner and a groove in the bottom of the door which keeps the door in plane. The downside of a sliding door in the bathroom is its difficult to get a good sound seal. In this case, as its just Adam and myself, we decided we'd sacrifice a little privacy in this case. I thought Hafele was open to the public, but not sure.
Terry - The tub's great but would not make a comfortable bed. ;)
Dale & Adam, congratulations on your new beautiful home. The colors, materials, and light make it look like a true sanctuary.
I have a few more questions about the sliding door, if you don't mind. Can you recomend your source for the walnut / glass door? Also, it looks like you recessed the door and Haefle hardware flush in the wall. Was this construction difficult?
Thank you for sharing your wonderful ideas and inspiration!
Way too dark for my taste, but it looks like you've done a lot of hard work and planning. Congrats on all the work and to a successful renovation.
Love, love, LOVE that bathroom! It's a little too modern for my usual preferences, but absolutely beautiful-- that door is great. I also really like the idea of a seperate shower and bathtub. It's just so much more practical. My only negative comment: put the TV away! This is a pet peeve of mine. I never want to see a visible TV in anyone's apartment, ever. Sorry. I know some of the new ones are cool looking, but I really don't think that they make a good design statement. (I don't have a TV at all, if you couldn't guess!) Other than that, stunning!
Kimberly -
The sliding door was custom made from a mitered walnut frame and a piece of fluted glass. The contractor got the wood and made the door, the glass company (I think Academy Glass in Brooklyn) came to install the glass after the door was up.
Recessing the track to get the door in the same plane as the wall was a bit tricky. There was already a small column projection in the wall, so we framed this out and over the track, thickening the wall to receive the door track. Took a variety of thicknesses of plywood and drywall to get it all into the same plane. I've thought about painting the recess a bold color, but have left it be for now.
Thought about putting the tv away for the shoot, but that seemed a bit dishonest or unrealistic to me. Some cool flat thing on the wall is in order.
Very dark,the room needs femininity or soften it up a little.This place looks like it is totally a man's domain, as nice as it is, it need something,SOMETHING is missing.
Is that a Theatre Sofa from DWR? If so is it confortable at all? I love the couch, but it seems a little stiff looking.
Who is the artist in the drawings on the wall in the blue bathroom?
We have the theatre sofa and think it's pretty comfortable. I often fall asleep on it. You need a couple of throw pillows if you want to lay down because the arms are too high to be a head rest. We've had the leather version for four years or so and even with two cats and a dog, the sofa looks good as new.
My only problem with it is that I'd like the legs to be lower and the arms/back to be wider from an aesthetic point of view. We have a vintage Eames surfboard coffee table (very low) in front of it and the sofa's just too tall in comparison. We bought it in a rush for a party and will probably change it out.
Am I the only one who absolutely hates those auto slide shows?
Please, please, please, just post a link to a set of pics so I can scroll through them as quickly - or slowly - as I wish. Every time I spot something in a photo... oh, crap. It moved on to the next one.
Awesome job on the apartment though.
Love the bathroom. Is the sink by duravit? It looks like a vero model, but I have not been able to find a vero double sink in the net search I just did. Do you remember what it is Dale?? (I'd be really grateful if you could let me know!)
Am I, AT changed the way they do slide shows almost a year ago so you don't have to worry about that any more. In case you didn't know, this is an old post and old house tours are featured on Mondays while new ones are featured on Wednesdays.
Having said that, there is a link that says "See all pics at once!" up there and even if that was not there you can always click on the title of the album to the right of "Album:" (it has a little arrow for navigating up) and this will take you to the static thumbnails.
Jamie Pup, your emails make me so happy. Thank you.
your bathroom is a dream.....(sigh)
Dale here,
The sofa is indeed a Theater Sofa from DWR. It is quite comfortable, actually, although I agree with Juli that the arms are too high to use as a head rest. I thought (hoped) that our dog would prefer the older stuffed sofa, but he's decided that the theater sofa is his domain instead. You wouldn't know it from how well the sofa has held up.
Paluka, the bathroom drawings are just some sketches of Bramante's Tempietto that I did on a trip to Rome. Thanks for noticing them. We've been meaning to buy some artwork for the place, but just haven't been able to commit to anything just yet.
The sink is from Antonio Lupi, which is carried by an Italian furniture showroom in New York...whose name I'll leave out. They also have a single trough-like version similar to the Duravit, but I liked the form/function of the separate sinks better. The showroom was a nightmare to deal with, sending the wrong sink, then the right sink with the wrong parts, etc, etc. I finally gave up and bough the parts elsewhere. I'd shop around or try to get the sink from a rep in a different city if at all possible.
Thanks for the comments.
This approach is very nearly the center ring on my own particular design target, and so I am both highly appreciative of the effort and perhaps a bit more critical than most, as my eye is especially attuned to this aesthetic. Overall, you guys have done a beautiful job. I suspect that some of what I perceive as the "misses" probably has to do with the the fact that the project is still underway. Really two main things:
First, even though you are going for the subdued, elegant-but-comfortable, modern-but-warm look, and nothing terribly over-the-top, I do think you are somehow missing some drama. Was it Coco Chanel who said that taste is the enemy of great style? The big risk with this design approach (believe me, I know) is ending up with perfectly tasteful, lovely, tonal appeal, but having it all just sort of lay there. It could be the pictures (they all seem a bit too close to everything, it's hard, expect for a few, to get an overall sweep of things), but I suspect not. I'm not an interior design professional, but you always hear them talking about "focul points," and I think this applies here. I don't know if you need a spectacular piece of art above the mantle, or some amazing exotic wood paneling somewhere, or a floor-to-ceiling curtian, or what, but in my judgement, you need something striking to set everything else off.
Second, and more specifically, I would question the floor color. To me, the ubiquitous oak-looking flooring seriously undermines the modern, masculine, tonal aesthetic you are striving for. I would go dark. If you are concerned that much of your furniture is very dark and would not be properly set off, go with a bleached white or maybe a walnut; anything but Apartment Floor Color 101.
The rest are little things, many of which you've already identified. Nice job.
Okay, I think it only be fair that you share a 'before' photo or two. Particularly one of the ... uhm... "rope/denim encased stairway".
Of all the things listed, I can't even visualize what that must of looked like.
Loved it then, love it now.
lr5124's comment of "too masculine"/"man's domain" made me laugh. Er, um, it is, I believe, the residence of "two masculines," no?
And I disagree with Rascal on both points. I think the coral wall (not well represented in any establishing shot) does the focal trick, and the floor is just a floor that to me serves as a neutral.
Dale -
A great big THANK YOU for the sink info!!
You have solved our sink problems, i.e., finding a reasonable alternative to a Garvey teak sink (expensive, and not something we want to leave for tenants for 3 years) and an Inda H20 sink (12 week lead time).
There happened to be a double sink like yours listed on Craig's List which we scooped up, and the store had a matching single for our second bathroom. My husband did a 14 hour roundtrip into Manhattan to pick them up yesterday (along with a bathtub we ordered), and all is ensconced safely at home.
Thank you again for sharing!!
ioausdofj n asdf sdf
adsfkjalsdf
asdfas
asdf
a
adfa
asd
the lighting is just fabulous
view hanako66's profile
Coming up on the end of my renovation in Manhattan. I used numerous suppliers. One of the suppliers I had in common was AF Supply (New York). They carry a lot of high end products at a premium price. I was willing to pay this premium because I expected the service to come with it. WRONG! If I knew I would be the one doing all the follow up, tracking down, and math I would have purchased the products for cheaper through a different retailer. Spent nearly $15k for a bathroom. I received the wrong vanity which had a 12 week lead time already, didn't receive numerous parts for the shower and had to keep having the plumbers leave and come back to finish bit by bit. Parts that where needed for an installation I was not made aware of and hence wheren't included, and when that part finally came it was missing pieces. Had a custom piece made that would take 4 weeks, followed up at 4 weeks to check the status, and was told that they would let me know when it was ready. Followed up a week later and the same answer. Followed up a week later, and no answer. Called the company making the piece myself and was told it had been ready and they can install when I'm ready! So I scheduled the install myself. By the way... Still haven't received an update about the piece!
The only thing good about AF New York is that you have access to a showroom to see numerous high end products in one place and the ability to order it all in one place. The bad news is they have beyond poor communication and execution.
view GV10003's profile