apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I'd like to see the after picture from the same point of view as the before picture.

I wish they had kept the windows the way they were. That was the only bit I liked about the before.

Completely agree with Charlotte. That's one of my biggest pet peeves.

As for their design aesthetic, it's pretty narrow. They seem to do one basic style on all their renovations, but the do it pretty well.

*THEY do it pretty well.

ceiling beams are not very "zen"...they disturb the flow of chi.

I absolutely love love love the hardwood floors, beams, entry door, and re-invented fireplace.

Lately, I've been seeing photos in design mags (e.g., Metropolitan Home) in which the mouldings (baseboard and window) were painted the same color as the wall, as opposed to white.

I'm thinking of trying this in my own home.

Definitely look forward to seeing this place with furniture in it!

From the look of the house across the street and the other portfolio photos, this room is completely different than the original style of the house. I wish they could have blended the styles and that door seems awkward...

The windows look the same to me, they just took the blinds off and cleaned them up. Fantastic renovation for a small room! Clean, modern and relaxing! I like it!

Yaah, I don't think the color scheme or the ceiling fits the era or existing vernacular of the house.

The windows are the same -- they just changed the casings to a more contemporary look.

As for the front door, it is a huge improvement -- they actually made it appropriate to the style and vintage of the house (they have likely done a sensitive restoration on the exterior). In any case, it is much better than the vinyl door with the fake fanlight!

So they take warm friendly rooms and turn them into cold office-style concrete boxes - not a good change in my opinion!

I totally agree with Violetsrose. We have got to learn to love the homes we have instead of turning them into something else. The new door is great but the rest of the modern changes is an abomination in my opinion. If you want a modern box then buy one don't take out all the architectural details of a beautiful histoic home and destroying it's character to do it.

Frankly, the first thing I thought of when I saw the after picture was Beetlejuice. Not a fan.

I agree that the door is certainly an improvement, and I happen to be a sucker for dark wood floors so I enjoy that, but beyond that I really think this is a disappointing change. The mottled-finish grey walls with the darker grey fake beams (which, p.s., look out-of-place and out-of-proportion) reminds me of late-1980's offices. The window moldings were beautiful, and to remove them was really a shame. They could have easily been worked into a new, fresher design as they were, retaining a great historical detail of the home.
Also, from the bit of porch you can see and the house across the street, this home is a craftsman-style. There are so many beautiful ways to put a zen influence into a craftsman style home that not only look great, but were actually used by craftsman designers and would therefore be historically appropriate: muted greens and khakis, Asian-style lighting fixtures, dark wrought irons mixed with lighter woods, the use of rice paper shades or panels in bamboo/light wood frames...

1. re: Ceiling beams. If you look closely you can see tht the ceiling has been raised and soffit lighting installed so there is a chance that those beams are actually structural. I don't necessarily like the glossy black finish chosen for them but it seems they weren't just slapped up to fake-ify a look.
2. 'Historic home.' Whatever the style or age of this house, it was decorated like a suburban crackerbox before, likely a poorly done previous 'renovation'. I don't see that any identifiable 'period detail' has been destroyed here. MDF cabinets, wafer brick, and beige carpet are not 'historical' and getting rid of them is not a sacrilege. That said, I think the style chosen for the reno is perhaps too extreme and 'urban' for the environs, but if it's what the owners wanted, it's their choice.
3. re: 'Cold office.' It's completely unfair to characterise an unfurnished room as cold and I'm surprised at the strong reaction to this post. We ATers usually love grey walls and impractical glossy dark wood floors. I think if the renovated room had been staged with some IKEA bookcases, a couple of Eames lounges, an R&B sofa and a cowhide rug, the reaction might have been totally different.

Love the door and floors, fireplace is okay but could be better, hate the ceiling beams and wall color.

@amed studio: they didn't raise the ceiling. it's the same distance from the top of the windows, though it might appear to be slightly (a couple of inches) more because of the thinner moldings around the windows. also, there aren't any soffits and therefore can be no soffit lighting; the lighting that was installed was recessed lighting.

as for the comments on it being an historic home, there don't need to be any specific 'period details' that must stay (although i still think the window moldings were nice), but a room should have a sense of fitting in the house it's in, otherwise things seem incongruous. i think it's more about a feel than any specific detail or singular characteristic.

The only thing I like is the new front door, although it's too warm to go with anything else in the new room. The changes to the windows and fireplace are just sad. Well, the old fireplace didn't do anything for me, but I think they could have done something else.

It doesn't look like the ceiling has been raised to me, at least not significantly enough to say that they beams would be structural.

I also think the wood floors are a mistake. I love the ebony wood in many applications, but definitely not this one.

I think it's important to honor the original style of the home (even if it was poorly updated at some point along the way), even if you tweak it a bit. In this case, they're trying too hard.

Um wow!

It's a nice upgrade, but I have to concur that the ceiling beams (particularly the one directly cutting the door in half) are very poor feng shui.

I'm no feng shui master, but many of the principles are common sense ideas about energy flow. Ceiling beams can be an issue!

Here's one article (but you can google a bunch of them)
http://fengshui-doctrine.com/index.php?q=ceiling-beam-with-feng-shui.html

Even Vastu (the Indian version of Feng Shui) has the same conclusion about beams.

"Exposed beams in the living room create an imbalance in the primary elements in general and the prana vayu (life breath in an individual) in particular and could cause discord, friction and difference of opinions among the family members or the guests."

Scroll down for the section on beams:
http://www.boloji.com/vastu/v14.htm\

I actually like this. The picture window needs some sort of covering, but once that happens and some appropriate furniture is added.

As far as honoring the original style of the home...A lot of the houses I've been looking at were built in the late 70s and the 80s. If this means that I'm going to have to get shag carpeting, decorate in seafoam grey and light pink, or hang border wallpaper, I'm going to take a pass. There's no reason the inside of the house should be slave to the outside, or to the era it was built in. Not everyone who likes the modern aesthetic can afford a loft downtown. Sometimes what we can afford, and what is practical for our family sizes, length of commute, etc. isn't our first choice.

Personally, if I found a living room like that in one of the houses I was looking at, I'd be overjoyed. No filthy, aged carpet or builder's-grade berber to rip up, and no obnoxious red-brick fireplace to constrain my color choices. I would paint the walls and the beams, though.

This bums me out. I live in Portland and know that there are plenty of housing choices where this contemporary style would be fantastic. This isn't one of them. I don't really understand why someone would buy a bungalow in a neighborhood full beautiful bungalows if they don't enjoy the bungalow style. I hope the window and other trim went to the Rebuilding Center. Sigh.

Honoring the original style of the house doesn't mean that you can't make changes. But you should pick some of the better characteristics and work with them, not against them.

My house was pure 1970s with dark green carpets and the original shag still in the closets. Carpeted bathrooms, even.

But it's a ranch. And previously we'd only been wanting a craftsman. So for instance, rather than putting in a bunch of crazy moldings and trim, we kept the walls and ceilings simple. We opened up spaces but kept the linear architecture since that's what made the most sense in a house full of huge sliding glass doors. We removed the (fake but original) beams but kept the huge rock fireplace and rock bench/ledge that ran the whole length of the wall. That fireplace almost got ripped out an replaced with something very modern/contemporary, and I couldn't be happier that we decided to keep it.

We ripped up the carpet, but we put down a classic wood that can blend styles. The bathroom floors will have terrazzo tiles (hopefully) vs. some kind of penny tiles or something that would look out of place. Etc. Etc. Etc.

Why buy a vintage cottage when you want to live in a loft? the "after" shot looks terrible.

The ceiling and fireplace are a million times better. It feels a little cold, but maybe once they get some furniture in there, it will be cozier. I'd certainly rather live in the after than the before.

Alas.

Pretty great before and after.

"It's completely unfair to characterise an unfurnished room as cold"

No its not!
They have painted the floor black and installed a black hearth and painted the walls AND the ceiling in a grey which imitates concrete exactly - the beams and firesurround and window mouldings are as square and plain as they could make them - it now looks like a cold concrete box.

Grey and black always makes me think of early 80s masculine loft spaces - for those colours to work well these days you need a different kind of dwelling than this bungalow presents - and you need to choose a better shade of grey than concrete colour!

The only thing in the after picture that gives any warmth to the room is the wooden front door.
To make this room not appear cold would take a lot of work with furnishings and if this is the kind of interior the owners asked for I doubt they are going to fill it with big comfy sofas and cushions and extravagant window treatments - I'm guessing there are going to be some blinds installed here making it look even more like an office.

Its such a shame as this could have been a beautiful renovation - still kept simple and clean but with some heart and soul - and in keeping with that beautiful green porch you can see through the window.

Red living rooms are so tired (and exhausting). Not sure if I'd pick mottled grey as a substitute, but I do like the overall result, particularly the fireplace.

Love it all! This is a tough crowd. Unless there is a George Nelson pendant, an Eames chair, and a stack of books, you're not likely to get much love. But this is such an improvement from what was there. Congratulations!

Sorry folks, but even with a beautiful George Nelson pendant, it's still the living room from Beetlejuice! not a fan.