apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Wow! Yes, more!

Love it all, but especially the dining room!

Boston is looking so good these days!! I would love to see more of this fantastic makeover!

what a huge difference! lovely!

Vastly improved! So much easier on the eyes with the removal of the existing drapery. re: livingroom - did you paint the ceiling the same color as the walls?

I love your art, and you've really opened up the space.

A truly fabulous transformation! From overstuffed (heavy and dusty) to hiply streamlined (breathe easy)

LOVE the after. Can we see more photos other than the couple of sneak peaks?

In the before, half the living room was electronics equipment. Much better without. (Do you not have TV at all,or is it in the bedroom?)

This is very typical of AT... modern is better than traditional. I don't deny that I personally prefer the AFTER, but the BEFORE isn't actually bad... it's just a different style of taste.

Angorian,

I've seen AT do tours of some country cottages that weren't quite modern, but I do agree that most readers/editors here seem to prefer a modern aesthetic. I must admit that I prefer modern over old-fashioned, but I also like to see rooms with layers and contrasts, old and new, country rustic and modern sleek.

It is such a different aesthetic that it makes me wonder if the "before" pictures didn't belong to other people--like the ones who lived there before, perhaps?

I love those "before" dining room chairs.

What exactly is after? The pot lights? They're beautiful. And the cutouts pillars are fabulous.

Really nicely done.

But, um, what do people have against area rugs?

Angorian--

I think this same space could be beautiful with more traditional furnishings... I think the story here is how lighting, cleaned up floors and some fresh thinking (but with definite respect to traditional elements, like moldings, or example) vastly improves the envelope and livability of this space.

I'm one of those people who doesn't think the before is that bad--it's really very different. I like the before-after concept--I wish, though, that it was the same person's space before and after. I guess that wouldn't be as dramatic. You have a great apartment!

Really nice. I'd have cupboard doors installed to cover the storage built in under the dining room pass-throughs. Look at how much better they look from inside the dining room.

The most stunning thing about the "after" pictures is how the new decor lets the architectural details of the apartment shine. The moldings and floors are just beautiful.

Can you tell me where the dining room chairs are from? Love them.

Very nice, Love the way you kept the old architectural details, but used modern furniture and art.

Alana in Canada - The text says "The before pics were taken when the condo was still owned by its former owners."

I love before-and-afters, but it's even better when it's the same person's stuff so you can see some of the old elements in the new. There's a consistency to a before/after that's lost when it's really more like a total renovation. I guess I like to take away some ideas of what I can do and changing all my furniture/lighting isn't really possible. It sure is a beautiful apartment in the AFTERs though.

Hello everyone,

Thanks for all the comments!

The "before" pics were taken before we took ownership of the property, hence the totally different aesthetic. Like someone mentioned above, there was nothing truly wrong with the "before" style. Architecturally speaking, I think the living room felt long, narrow and dark and the space flows better now with the wall gone and the removal of the decorative beam. I actually don't have anything against "traditional" furnishings, and there was something appealing about the way the place looked while furnished traditionally. (Especially the dining room). However, I do feel that the former owners had too much stuff and that the furniture was not scaled appropriately for an apartment. It would have been nice to see traditional with less stuff, more color and with smaller-scale furnishings.

On the built-in cabinets: we left one side open for a flat screen TV that we have yet to buy. However, we did have a door built so that the cupboards can be closed off. It's not installed in the photos, though.

The dining room chairs: Are from IKEA. I hate to say it, be we adore IKEA, and bought both our dining room table and kitchen island from IKEA. Almost all of our furnishings are very low-cost and modest, (notice that our livingroom couch is a futon!) with the exception of the Mitchell Gold Ava Chaise which was my one splurge.

The artwork: All artwork was done by myself: www.pamreynolds.com

Area rugs: We have a cat and a dog, so we don't do rugs!

Oops, I forgot to answer the question about the paint:
Ceiling was Benjamin Moore ceiling white, trim was BM Super White and walls in the livingroom, dining room and sunroom were BM Alpine White.

I echo the kudos Pam - very fresh and inviting and shows off your art beautifully.

A side-note about IKEA - don't be ashamed! Come out! I think that every 1 in 10 pieces they produce is a keeper. Its interesting that quite a few folks on AT bash the Swedish place yet the # for the free IKEA living room keeps getting bigger and BIGGER!

Hello fellow Bostonian. I love the place. Your style is wonderful.