Wandernesting

The top floor was originally a separate 1 1/2 bedroom apartment, with a kitchen, bathroom, living area, and the typical small bedroom with one window, larger bedroom with 2 windows combination that is so common in Brooklyn brownstones. We wanted to transform this space into 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a linen closet, a laundry area AND keep the required access to the roof. A tall order, but nothing brownstoneboy, a protractor, scientific calculator and some good old fashioned ingenuity couldn’t solve.

First, the two kids bedrooms, to be constructed from the small/larger bedroom duo. There are a few ways to tackle this issue:

1. Leave the walls as is, otherwise known as the “who’s your favorite child” solution.

2. Make a zig zag wall, leaving one room with two windows, but giving them effectively the same amount of floorspace. Each room would have a large nook for a desk or bed.  Had our architect not come up with a really great alternative, we would have gone this route

3. Make a diagonal central wall.  I can certainly see the appeal of this in a more modern renovation, but we’re just a little too traditional for that solution.

4. The “King Solomon” solution: splitting the baby right down the middle.

We chose door number 4 and are very happy we did.  Both rooms feel ample enough, they get an equal amount of light, and there’s a fun secret chat window that our kids can leave open or closed. The dividing wall is extra insulated, and there’s soundproof, weather-stripped push latch windows as a secondary inner window.  The exterior window remains untouched, and the new shutters we installed are left closed, so that you’d never notice the solution from the outside. Genius.  Thanks again to Ben Herzog for this brilliant solution!

So, without further ado:

TOP FLOOR Larger BEDROOM BEFORE:

Perfectly usable front bedroom before. But, as I said, King Solomon solution would be employed.

TOP FLOOR LARGER BEDROOM AFTER:

Brownstonetoddlerboy’s room. He alternately loves and fears the stars. The split window is on the left. Color is Benjamin Moore Silvery Blue.

Note the effort to find a similar moulding and the work on the split window.  Another item makes this bedroom feel more spacious: both chimneys in the house were removed (note the chimney on the right hand side of this room). Neither had working fireplaces, so it made for less complicated room shapes to remove them altogether.  It certainly would have been nice to restore one of them, but budgets are what budgets are, and with no fancy mantel to hold on to, it seemed the better option.  Also, note how much higher the ceilings are in the after: there was actually an additional foot of space above the ceiling, so the front room ceiling height is now over 10 feet, making the smaller rooms feel far larger.

The shutters are new and were created by Devenco at www.shutterblinds.com. We highly, highly recommend them.  They are a great company and do beautiful work.

TOP FLOOR SMALLER BEDROOM BEFORE:

Smaller room used as an office before. Dark and really too compact to be used as a bedroom.

TOP FLOOR NURSERY AFTER:

Brownstonebabygirl’s room. Color is Golden Straw, same as the playroom.

TOP FLOOR HALLWAY BEFORE:

Hallway before. Technically, the Kids’ Bathroom is where this hallway really was before, but it serves as a visual.

A view of the before hallway in the other direction. This was the tenant apartment kitchen before, now part of our master bedroom.

TOP FLOOR HALLWAY AFTER:

TOP FLOOR BATHROOM BEFORE:

Upstairs bathroom before. Standard tub shower configuration – nothing wrong with it, just not located where it needed to be.

KIDS’ BATHROOM AFTER:

Kids bathroom after. Paint color is Iced Slate by Benjamin Moore. Grout is

Tile is penny tile from Supah Fish (Matte White Penny Rounds and Blue SD 244 Penny Rounds purchased from BuyTile.com).  We went with a slate grout on the floor, which is SO much easier to keep clean than a white grout. Sink is the Aquamedia line by Lacava (42 1/2 inches wide with double sinks) in cherry. Vanity mirrors are by Pottery Barn, light fixture by George Kovacs. There was originally a skylight in the upstairs bathroom but it was in a slightly different location. It was moved and modernized and makes all the difference with the interior windowless bathrooms so common in Brooklyn.

TOP FLOOR BACK ROOM BEFORE:

The top floor back room was the living space in the old tenant apartment. Note the chimney, which has since been removed, leaving more space for shoes!

TOP FLOOR MASTER AFTER:

Master bedroom.  Paint color is River Reflections by Benjamin Moore.

Custom wall to ceiling closets were a compromise instead of a walk-in closet, but we’ve got his and hers on either side, and our bedroom feels far more spacious than if we had opted for the walk in. Overhead light by zGallerie, bed and tables by Pottery Barn, door hardware by Emtek. No window treatments yet, but we’ll get there!

TOP FLOOR MASTER BATHROOM AFTER:

Our master bathroom. Color is Grey Owl by Benjamin Moore.

There was no ensuite bathroom in the old tenant apartment, but we made that a priority in the limited space. We’re very happy with the results.

Double showerheads were a must (these are by highpressureshowerheads.com and are spectacular). Doors were done by ABC Shower Door, vanity is 60 inch custom mahogany veneer over solid maple, created by our wonderful contractor, Naccarato Contracting. Stone and backsplash are white quartzite from marble.com. Wall-hung faucets (aka my nemeses) and all accessories by Grohe. Mirror and lighting by Robern. Sinks are Kohler Archer undermount sinks in White. Drains are Kraus PU-11CH Pop Up Drain with Overflow, Chrome (I know it seems silly to mention the drain, but we had a hard time figuring out what sort of drain is needed with an undermount sink and wall mounted faucets. These were the right kind). The skylight is new. Tile is Akdo basketweave carrera bella with lunar gray glass dot inserts, carrera bella 3/4 inch mosaic in the shower floor, and Canco’s white wall tile on the shower walls. Thermostatic valves in the shower are by Grohe Atrio.

Best thing in the bathroom, though, is the fan on a 60 minute timer (see our previous post on the 5 best things we’ve done thus far).  Not a mildewy towel among them.

TOP FLOOR LAUNDRY AFTER:

Laundry.

One more item needed to be squeezed into the top floor: the laundry. The laundry was off of the garden floor kitchen in an extension that has since been demolished, so we wanted it to be accessible in the most practical space. If you can put your laundry near your bedrooms, we highly recommend it (with extra thick doors for those late night washing/drying emergencies).

Machines are Electrolux IQ Touch. Great machines, though if we were to do it again, I’d recommend the Wave Touch. The salesperson we initially spoke with swore the machines are identical, but the Wave Touch has one feature (alternating tumble) that would be nice to have for keeping sheets untangled during extended tumble periods. Regardless, they really are amazing machines and we are very happy with them.

The top floor was truly a jigsaw puzzle and the rooms aren’t huge, but we’ve managed to fit everything we need for 2 adults and 2 kids in the space. Each room is light and bright, and the whole space really flows well.

Next up, the final space: the parlor floor! We are saving the best for last.

All inspections finally behind us, the packaging removed from the appliances, the permits down from the windows and the lovely sounds of birds, children and other people’s construction far, far away all that remains, we are at last ready to share the final results of our year long journey down the Brooklyn Brownstone Renovation Rabbit Hole.

So, without further ado, here are the before and afters, floor to floor. We’ll save the parlor for last:

GARDEN FLOOR:

The front room is our office/gym and is yet to be properly set up.  We’ll leave that space to your imagination for now but will edit this page once it is organized.  It was originally a living and dining set up and is now our catch all room that hurts to think about getting into order. We’ve started to sift through things, but I’d give it another 6 months before it will be in ship shape.

GARDEN ENTRY BEFORE:

The garden entry area was originally a dark, carpeted space that was impeded by a large closet area.  We removed that closet and plan to update with a more open set of mudroom furnishings in the next year or so.

GARDEN ENTRY AFTER:

All cleaned up, nice and wide for stroller storage, the aforementioned mudroom area yet to be defined.  The color on the wall is Benjamin Moore Light Pewter, a great neutral light grey that seems to blend very well with all color schemes; it is used in all hallways throughout the house.  All trim in the house is Benjamin Moore White Dove.

We were able to strip and refinish the original post, but all handrails and staircases are new in the house.  The doo-dads on the walls and ceilings are the thermostat for the new HVAC system, alarm system components, doorbell (different ring tone for the garden and parlour that sound throughout the house) and other niceties.  The doors are 5 paneled doors meant to replicate the feel of the original doors in the house. They were purchased from Brooklyn Window and Door and are 1-3/4″ MDF door with Ovolo Sticking w/ 5/8″ flat panel, Karona brand. It was a pain to get these right, but they are beautifully solid, quite soundproof doors, and we are glad to have the extra thickness.

The house’s original post has been restored, floors are character grade walnut from PC Wood Floors with a Bona oil modified finish. The old entry cabinet was removed, and there is now a  clean view to the back bathroom.

The back of the garden floor was originally a kitchen and bathroom space.

GARDEN BATHROOM BEFORE:

Garden bathroom pre-renovation. Wish we could have saved the wallpaper, if only for posterity!

Other end of the bathroom.

GARDEN BATHROOM AFTER:

Our garden bathroom. Concrete sink, saddles and tub surround from Trueform Concrete (custom Lavare sink, 48 inches, wood base color is Chocolate, concrete color is Cobblestone), Kohler soaker tub in the shower/tub wet room. Floor tile is honed Akdo Slate Trellis in Desert Sand. Wall tile is 4 x 12 glossy tile in Medium Gray (purchased from Home and Stone on Coney Island Ave. in Brooklyn). Wall color is Tapestry Beige.

Cobblestone

NORTH GARDEN ROOM BEFORE:

The North Garden room was the original location of the kitchen. It was a nice sized space but we wanted our kitchen to be on the parlor to maximize the light. We also wanted to create direct access for our future playroom out to the garden, so everything in this space was replaced.

The wall on the right had an odd shape and of course needed to be reconfigured. The door lead to the old extension, which we discuss below.

This old kitchen treated us well for the few months we lived here before our plans were approved. However, it all had to go!

PLAYROOM AFTER:

Playroom looking out.

What was once a dark, dated kitchen is now a playroom for our kids and their friends. Color on the walls is Benjamin Moore Golden Straw. White organizational units are from IKEA, carpet tiles from FLOR. Fan is Minka Aire – 52″ Concept II 3 Blade Ceiling Fan in Oil-rubbed bronze finish (and oh so quiet). It is so light and bright and has great access to the backyard. TV not yet installed and we’re still sitting on our old futon, but there will hopefully be time (and funds) for niceties next year.

EXTENSION BEFORE:

Original extension off the back of the house. It wasn’t built well and thus would either need to be rebuilt to code or demolished. We opted to remove.

BACK OF THE HOUSE BEFORE:

Outside view of the extension.

Back of the house looked fairly standard.

BACK OF THE HOUSE NOW:

New back of the house freshly painted white with black trim. Newly poured concrete a great place for the kids to play. Windows and doors are Andersen A Series.  External lighting, electrical and plumbing added.

The steel deck (by Lopopolo Ironworks) lies about where the extension once was and new glass sliding doors give easy access from the playroom to the outdoors. Deck furniture from IKEA.

Next up, we’ll cover the top floor!