In Central Park South, this before-and-after exhibits how a mid-century trendy lounge transform remodeled a one-bedroom residence by {custom} millwork, a Carrara marble function wall, and an electrical mid-century trendy hearth, a comfortable focus that Manhattan residents love for metropolis residing.
- Owners: Geoffrey, an architect, and Alicia, who works in operations at a FinTech startup, posted their lounge transform on Sweeten
- The place: Central Park South, Manhattan, New York
- Main renovation: A reimagined lounge with a Carrara marble function wall and a mid-century trendy hearth, {custom} oak millwork, and a desk area of interest designed to maximise residence performance.
- With: Sweeten common contractor
- Home-owner’s quote: “Sweeten was a useful useful resource in serving to us discover an preliminary record of contractors. I had entry to evaluations and see their work, multi functional place. It was additionally nice to know that that they had my again if one thing went awry.”
Written in partnership with home-owner Geoffrey. “After” images by Kate Glicksberg.
A chance to put money into Central Park South
In the course of the pandemic, we noticed lots of people giving up on New York, and thought it was the proper time to double down. We drew a field across the southern half of Central Park and began looking out. Numerous items had lately been taken off the market however we reached out to realtors to see if the sellers had been nonetheless fascinated about making a transfer. We discovered our dwelling in a super constructing and placement, and made a suggestion.
Our 1,000-square-foot residence is in an iconic mid-century constructing on Central Park South, which we felt provided us the most effective of all worlds. The Higher East and Higher West sides had been straightforward to get to, and we love having the ability to spend our weekends alternating between the 2.
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A love of pre-war layouts
Previously, we’d at all times lived in pre-war buildings with architectural character and well-defined ground plans. You don’t get loads of that in trendy buildings just like the mid-century one we landed in, so we created our personal. We posted our mission on Sweeten, and employed our common contractor.
We wouldn’t be including molding, chair rail, or opening up the kitchen, that are so in style today. As an alternative, our plan was to outline the structure in discrete ways in which would create separate zones—a correct entry lobby, a beneficiant area for eating, and a desk area of interest.
Our residence’s authentic lounge was 13 ft throughout and greater than 30 ft lengthy, so we had loads of area to work with. Our aim was to create a extra intimate and purposeful area that may very well be used for entertaining in addition to a devoted workspace for these work-from-home days.
Creating niches in a contemporary lounge transform
Like most New Yorkers, this was all about maximizing the accessible sq. footage. We had a chance to divide the extra-large residing area for various functions. By including a small wall close to the doorway to the residence, we created a lobby on one facet and an workplace space on the opposite.
In the lounge, the point of interest was a 14-foot wall with custom-designed millwork crafted from European white oak and marble. The single slab of Carrara marble homes a mid-century trendy hearth and a recessed TV.
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“[M]ake certain that you simply’re aligning your individual expectations with the type of cash that you simply need to spend. You possibly can’t anticipate million-dollar work on a thousand-dollar price range.”
In the course of the winter, the residence may really feel a bit dreary (our courtyard views forestall us from getting a ton of pure mild). Putting in a hearth would flip up the dial on cozy, and we designed your entire residing area round that concept. We couldn’t do an actual hearth and weren’t fascinated about coping with the effort of gels or gasoline logs. We selected a lovely electrical hearth that was probably the most convincing synthetic unit we may discover.
The white oak used all through the renovation featured sturdy horizontal traces echoing the constructing’s iconic mid-century exterior. The fabric additionally helped brighten up the area. Bump-outs of the partitions close to the window created an outlined eating space.
Marble slab realities
The one greatest subject through the renovation was with the big slab of Carrara marble that will clad the entrance of our hearth and media wall. It was 7 ft tall and about 5 ft broad, and we insisted that it have mitered corners. We had no thought what an ordeal it might be—the mitered corners had been fragile, and a slab that dimension was very unwieldy. Maneuvering it by the parking storage and up the freight elevator was a half-day train that culminated in hours of positioning, tweaking, and sharpening. We had been scared your entire time that this 500-pound piece of marble would break and we’d have to start out throughout!
Align your price range and your expectations
Sweeten was a useful useful resource in serving to us discover an preliminary record of contractors. I had entry to evaluations and see their work, multi functional place. It was additionally nice to know that that they had my again if one thing went awry.
My recommendation to renovators? Actually dig into the contractors you’re interviewing. Just be sure you’re 100% certain that they will do the type of work that you really want, and just remember to’re aligning your individual expectations with the type of cash that you simply need to spend. You possibly can’t anticipate million-dollar work on a thousand-dollar price range.
By way of our price range, we did fairly nicely and got here inside 1% of the projected value. It was about $35,000, together with the hearth. Total, we couldn’t be happier. The area is doing all the things we needed it to, and we’re excited to cozy up in entrance of the “hearth” this winter.
Thanks, Geoffrey and Alicia, for sharing your lounge with us!
Renovation Supplies
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