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In today’s economy some people just do not have the funds to renovate. There are some ways to get a new kitchen or a new look without costing your life savings. We had such a project recently where the client did not like their kitchen at all and their floors looked like they were 40 years old. They did not have a budget that would be able to afford a new kitchen so we decided to reface the cabinets. Instead of removing the existing floor and moldings we decided to sand, water pop, stain and then poly the floors. Water popping is where we open the pores of the wood so the stain soaks through giving a much darker, richer color. We also built a custom piece for storage and shelving

Before

I remember suggesting to a client that was on a very tight budget to look at Ikea for kitchen cabinets. She looked at me with such disdain and said “Ikea is a four letter word for a reason”.  As the years past more and more people started to ask me to install their Ikea cabinets. Each time we installed them they seemed to look nicer and nicer. Now we have installed so many Ikea kitchens and other cabinets that we custom make our kitchens with their cabinets. I do not hesitate to recommend Ikea cabinets to even my Hi-End clients, most of which will say yes and they are very happy when it is completed. Below is several photo’s of kitchens and a craft room we are finishing up right now

This was a nice project consisting of custom millwork, wall coverings and painting

This was a great project. We worked on all the common area’s as well as all the model apartments.

Townhouse

Townhouse office

Office

Playroom almost finished

Mudroom for townhouse

This project is with one of our favorite clients. It is the 2nd gut renovation and third renovation we have done with them. This project consists of 2 full bathrooms, new kitchen, new wood floors, painting etc.

The last piece (blackened bronze) finally came in today and looks great. This is one of my favorite rooms

In case you missed the Designer Showhouse here are the final photos. We were so honored to have been asked by Nina Freudenberger of Haus Interior (www.hausinterior.com) to work with her on this project. If you are ever in Soho you really should stop by her great shop at 250 Elizabeth Street.

This was a fun project for us. One of my favorite bathrooms which consisted of porcelain tiles and custom cut glass tiles with marble tiles on the floor. We custom built the tall bathroom cabinet and the frame around the window. The client did not want a glass enclosure so we recessed a hospital track into the ceiling which is much nicer then a shower rod. The kitchen was a bit of a challenge as we used 90% Ikea and 10% custom cabinets. We made the bookcase and microwave cabinet to match the new Ikea cabinets. The rest of the project consisted of Skim coating all walls, installing pocket doors and staining the floors as dark as we could.

We just started this project: Complete master bath and kitchen gut renovation, adding a powder room and adding all new doors.

 

This will be the new powder room

This project was very challanging and fun. We had to take the grand entry and transform it into a masterpiece. Designer Nina Freudenberger of Haus Interior (www.hausinterior.com) did just that.

After Photo by Michael Rodenbush

You can see this renovation was very much needed by just looking at the refrigerator, it has been a long, long time

We have the honor to work with the great people of Haus Interior on this project

This project was a lot of fun. We stained the floor with Jacobean, skim coated the walls, installed wallcoverings and painted as well as refacing all cabinets.

This is another great project we wrapping up with Haus Interiors, www.hausinterior.com They have such great vision. This wall looks like wallpaper but its actually painted

Great new wallpaper

We are starting a quick renovation with one of my favorite designers, Haus Interiors. This project will transform the existing space by staining the floors, skim coating the walls,  adding accents of wall coverings and custom millwork

This project was fun, they asked for dark black floors, thats what we gave them. The bathroom is one of my favorites.

This project was completed with Haus Interiors who are just a pleasure to work with.

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This is the 4th project working with Haus Interiors, one of the best in the business

This was a small project we did at this building as we were working in another apartment. The views from this apartment on the 54th floor were outstanding.

Click on the pictures to make bigger

Started the demo today, this project is being done with Gary Eisner and Terence Kinee, two great designers.

We will be renovating three floors in two stages. This should be fun

Before  and after

Grout can very easily become dirty and grimy. Laticrete makes all different grout stains that you can use to either make your grout look new or you can change the color completely.

It is a little time consuming but worth it.

Most of these cabinets are from Ikea, we added three custom cabinets to match as well as some floor to ceiling panels. The bookcase is custom made as is the open microwave cabinet

This is a great piece for first time home buyers.

Believing that the inconvenience and cost of temporarily relocating is far worse than putting up with a little construction, first time renovators are often tempted to live at home through their renovation.

This is rarely a wise decision. Unless you are able to hermetically seal the area of construction from the rest of your apartment, be prepared for a mess that will make camping seem cushier. Personally, I prefer a bed free of sawdust and always try to convince my clients they will too.

Here are my arguments:

Dust and debris

In NYC, where black is de rigueur, and dry cleaning is a weekly budget line item, dust is a serious matter. Despite even the best protection–such as zippered double plastic walls and daily construction site clean-up–your closets will be infiltrated by sawdust and fine white gypsum wallboard powder. There is also a lot of junk in your walls that will spill out when they are opened–particularly in prewar buildings – pebbles of plaster and lath, crumbled insulation, splinters of wood framing, an assortment of wires… Several years ago, I saw a contractor uncover dozens of oyster shells – the remnants of an 18^th century construction workers’ lunch.

Noise

Two floors away, the sound of demolition is disturbing. On-site, you will have front row seats to a serenade of screeching table saws and pneumatic screw guns.  Even if you normally run to work well before the construction crew arrives, there probably will be occasions when you and the workers are sharing the space. During those instances, forget about phone calls. And for napping you might consider a quieter place such as Bowlmor Lanes.

To read more:

http://www.brickunderground.com/blog/2011/02/nyc_renovation_chronicles_the_high_cost_of_staying_put

Plumbing is expensive they can at least install insulation. When doing your renovation please make sure they do this

This is an article from a great website call Brick Underground

I always know that I am dealing with a renovation rookie when immediately after briefly describing their project they want to know the cost.

As a basic ballpark, the minimum cost of a respectable New York City renovation is about $250 per square foot, but unless you are doing a gut renovation, the cost cannot be accurately predicted this way. And even then, the cost of renovation work varies dramatically based on a seemingly infinite number of variables.

While the size of the area of work is an important consideration, it is far from the only thing that affects the price. For an early indication of project cost I always take the following into consideration:

Trades involved

This is an old joke: A plumber is hired to do a minor repair for a prominent attorney and after 25 minutes hands the guy a bill for $250.

Furious, the attorney says, “$250 for 25 minutes! I’m a famous trial lawyer and even I don’t get that much!”

“Neither did I,” the plumber says, “when I was a lawyer.”

Read the whole article by clicking the link above

We will be sharing with you the good the bad and the ugly of all types of renovations