Eastern Parkway Pre-War
WHAT: Renovation of Dining/Kitchen, Bath & Bedroom
CHALLENGE: Opening the kitchen but keeping the living room distinct.
adding a lot of storage in the kitchen on a tight budget. Keeping some of the prewar details, but accommodating the owner’s taste for mid-century style.
STRATEGY: Stealing just 1 foot from the living room and closing a service door adds a ton of usability to the kitchen. In return, the kitchen/living room wall is reduced to a low knee-wall, leaving room for a table to sit against but enlarging the overall space. The kitchen is Ikea, but with some of them clad in “Ikea hack” Semihandmade bamboo cabinets. The color choices are more modern, while some of the old the detail remains.
GC: STJ Contracting, PHOTOGRAPHY: Ben Rahn, A-Frame Studio
In order to maximize storage, the new kitchen has double rows of Ikea cabinets--the lower ones read like an "insert" and were clad in a nicer, pricier custom material, while the rest were kept as simple white Ikea doors.
Most walls are kept light and neutral, as the owner's wonderful and eclectic art and furniture collection adds plenty of life. However the main living room wall was painted out dark to visually hide the large TV and set off the day bed and entry area beyond.
A small hallway was painted out a very dark blue-black, including all the molding, to play up the lightness of the other rooms.
The bathroom was the one space where we kept the decor most traditional.
The owner’s bedroom doubles as her painting studio. Low Ikea kitchen cabinets double as storage for her art supplies and display area for her paintings.