Before and After: A Home’s Remodeled Floor Plan Shows How to Maximize Space Wisely
Dana and Dan’s Brooklyn apartment is located in a big, pet-friendly, Art Deco-style co-op building which Dana describes as having a “[g]reat neighborhood coffee shop downstairs, and my favorite bar of all time, Sycamore (it’s a flower shop too!), right up the road.” But while the area was just right for the couple, the apartment needed renovating.
The couple’s second renovation in three years was redoing this 925-square-foot unit from top to bottom in 2016, and Dana says a lot of the work was done by themselves and family.
“My mom runs her own small kitchen/bath business in Boston and lent her skills to maximize space for a new kitchen, pantry, bathroom, and office space. Dan worked alongside our contractors to do a lot of the demolition and building.”
“My husband, Dan, was interested in learning what goes into a renovation, so he worked alongside our contractor doing a bunch of the actual labor for a small discount on our costs. He touched everything in the apartment, from beginning to end (initial demolition to final touches on molding) and top to bottom (installing new recessed lights all the way down to sound-proofing the sub-floors),” explains Dana.
“The entire renovation took about 3.5 months while we sublet another apartment in our building. During that time, we were living with all of our boxes and furniture and the sublet owner’s stuff, only able to move around through tiny pathways between piles. (We do not recommend this. In retrospect, I wish we had sprung for a few months of storage).”
Dana also says that DIY and repurposing were a big part of the design of the renovation. “We made the metal bookshelf in the dining room, dining room tabletop, and a few other goodies with our friend Andrew McNay on weekends at his metal shop.”
“We also essentially re-made a scratched up Tavolo Con Ruote coffee table that a friend was otherwise throwing away, and had to completely rebuild the old MCM wood chair in our living room (it actually collapsed under me when we had guests over… facepalm).”
Dana played a big part in the renovation, as well: “My job was more cosmetic: picking out cabinetry, tiles, lighting, paint, and layouts. We suspected we’d only be in this apartment for a few years (which is true, because we’re moving to San Francisco next month!), so I chose fairly safe finishes that would make the apartment easier to sell. That included oak floors, off-white walls, quartz countertops, and yes, white subway tile in the kitchen. Those made for a neutral base to build off of; we added the bulk of the character with art, furniture, and plants.”